Ron Jeffries has been walking these fairgrounds since 1997.
He came on as a board member, took the fair manager job, and stayed. Ask him if all those years have worn him down and he’ll laugh you off.
“That’s one thing about the event life,” he said. “It keeps you young. You’re constantly moving. You’re constantly doing stuff. You’re meeting fun people.”
The Central States Fair and Rodeo is marking 81 years in Rapid City. Jeffries says the real number runs deeper.
The Fair Is Older Than the Paperwork Says
Eighty-one years counts from the year the fair incorporated.
Lyndell Petersen once pulled a book from the county and showed Jeffries the proof. Before Rapid City was an incorporated city, back when it was a camp, there was already an event on these grounds.
You work the land 365 days a year, calve in the cold, fight the weather, fix what breaks. Then for two days you haul your best animal or your best vegetable into town and let the neighbors see what you pulled off.
“People came in and started comparing vegetables and cattle and some of their handiwork, whether that was quilting or leatherwork,” Jeffries said. “And that’s still some of the same stuff we do today.”
Youth livestock and cattle shows ran this week at the Nerdy Nuts building. The open class exhibits are full of quilting, leatherwork, ceramics, and a hundred other things people made with their hands over long winters.
The Quilt That Took 14 Years
One open class entry has traveled further than most. A quilt at the Nerdy Nuts building won at state, won at regionals, and went on to Houston for what Jeffries calls the Oscars of the quilting world.
Fourteen years of work went into it. Slow down when you reach that display.
Why the Concert Weekend Moved
For years the concerts opened the fair. A few seasons back, the board pushed the music to the back half, and it worked. The concerts landed on the weekend, when more people can get out to a show. The rodeo moved to the front of the week, when the good contestants are free.
“We don’t have competition with other rodeos,” Jeffries said. “They’re able to come in and take on this rodeo, on these dates.”
Xtreme Broncs Finals: Wednesday, Aug. 26
Jeffries circles this one on his own calendar.
The PRCA produces five finals events. Most fans know the Wrangler National Finals in Las Vegas. The Xtreme Broncs tour is another, and Rapid City hosts the closer. The top 12 tour finalists come in, along with the top 12 from the general PRCA standings. That’s 24 of the best saddle bronc riders in the sport, in one arena, on a Wednesday night in South Dakota.
The stock matters as much as the riders. Rory Lemmel sources the livestock, and the saddle bronc representative picks which horses make the finals.
“They’re picking the best because they want to have a chance to win,” Jeffries said. “They want everybody to have a chance to win. So it’ll be the most even set of pens for a one night perf of the best saddle bronc riding you’ll see anywhere.”
Two of the PRCA’s five finals events happen in South Dakota. This one, and the Governor’s Cup in Sioux Falls in September.
The 2026 Concert Lineup
- Thursday, Aug. 27: Jo Dee Messina
- Friday, Aug. 28: Billy Currington
- Saturday, Aug. 29: Gary Allan
What Ron Looks Forward To
Ask him for his favorite part and he starts with the broncs. Then he keeps going.
“The other piece that I think is never talked about is how much fun it is for people to come see people having a good time,” he said. “You get a chance to sit back and visit with people. You get a chance to go on rides with the kids and grandkids. You get to eat some fun fair food, you get to listen to some great music.”
Rapid City and the surrounding metro sit around 140,000 people, and this fair still feels like a small town gathering when you’re standing in the middle of it.
Getting there takes work. Jeffries watches heavy equipment move dirt for weeks before a single gate opens.
“It’s a lot of work,” he said. “But when you get done, you feel like you’ve accomplished something by producing an event like this.”
Eighty-one official years, and a whole lot of celebrating before anybody filed the paperwork.
