Special Events in Miles City

Cowtown Beef Breeders
No other time in the year are Miles City's ties with the ranching industry more visible than when it donates Main Street in early February to display some of the best young bulls in the region. The Annual Cowtown Beef Breeders Show, Ag Trade Show and Craft Expo are held the first Friday of February.
The format allows people interested in livestock to interact one-on-one, with leisurely conversation about breeding programs and sale dates. A wide variety of breeds are represented. The owners have extensive information or literature about the advantages of their animals. The bull exhibitors also represent a wide geographical section of eastern Montana. Entries come from Wyoming and the Dakotas, and also from Wisconsin.

Miles City Bucking Horse Sale
The Miles City Bucking Horse Sale is a major auction of rodeo stock held every May in Miles City, Montana and the premier social event for the community. Accompanied by a parade, a horse racing meet, a bull riding rodeo and a number of social activities, it attracts rodeo stock contractors from the United States and Canada who are looking for saddle bronc, bareback bronc and bucking bull prospects.
Horses consigned to the sale are not "wild" horses or Mustangs which, under the Wild Horse and Burro Protection Act, cannot be sold. Rather, consignments are horses selectively bred as bucking stock, excess or unsalable young horses from large ranches, and spoiled riding horses that have become particularly adept at bucking off riders. Likewise, most consigned bulls are bred specifically as bucking stock.

Eastern Montana Fair
Eastern Montana Fair is made up of Custer and six surrounding counties. Attendance runs about 14,000 for four days. There is lots of free midway entertainment, rodeo, concert, demolition derby, fireworks, carnival, exhibits (4-H and open) and commercial exhibits. Midway entertainment consists of fiddlers, a band, a walk around act, petting zoo and face painting. There is also an open pet show. The Eastern Montana Fair is held at the west edge of Miles City on old Highway 10.

Miles City Bluegrass Festival
This festival is the only and best in Southeastern Montana featuring the best of Bluegrass music. Ron "Banjo" Mills, a local musician and founder of the festival, welcomes all tourists coming to the show and invites them to visit historic Miles City.
The "Music on Wings" bluegrass festival takes place at the Eastern Montana Fairgrounds inside the Home Show Building. Friday evening begins with a bluegrass jam where any bluegrass musician can join in to kickoff the festival. On Saturday the formal schedule begins at 10 AM. Bands from surrounding states play one-hour sets continuing until 9 PM. The final day begins at 9:45 AM with a Gospel themed session, with more bands playing throughout the day. A Weber mandolin fund-raiser and door prizes are also part of the schedule.