Hamilton Fairgrounds Will Fill With Cars, Crafts

The first Hamilton "Fun In The Sun" show was a pretty good combination of car show, swap meet and craft show. It filled the south end of the Ravalli County Fairgrounds and had craft and food booths and some pretty shiny cars. That was a couple of years ago. Then, the pandemic hit and last year's show was cancelled.

This year, the Fun In The Sun show Saturday, August 7, is taking over every space (except the grandstands and rodeo arena) at the fairgrounds and will last into the night. Organizer Gina Deschamps said hundreds of cars, trucks and motorcycles have registered to be at the show, and the popular car parts swap meet is included. The registration for those entering their vehicles will be 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Saturday. The car show opens to the public at 11 a.m. on the north end of the fairgrounds.

The craft show from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. will fill the First Interstate Event Center and the south lawn of the grounds. There will also be a large selection of food trucks, providing food and drink for sale to everyone who attends. Admission will be through the regular Ravalli County Fair gates - Fairgrounds Road on the south and the North parking lot gate at the other end of the property. Admission is $2 per person and the little kids (age 10 and under) are admitted free.

After a full day of cars and crafts, the First Interstate Center will be reconfigured for a "Sock Hop" with the Tom Cats out of Missoula providing the tunes, starting at 5 p.m. After that, the evening will be bright and noisy at 7 p.m. with contests for the auto fans - loudest pipes and an exhaust Flameout contest. Due to equipment problems, a burnout contest has been cancelled. Bring your earplugs!