The Central States Fair, Inc hosts the Annual Meeting and dinner the end of March each year. The dinner will be at 6 pm with the annual meeting scheduled to begin at 7 pm.
Mission Statement: The Central States Fair, Inc is a non-profit, member-driven organization which manages the Pennington Country Fairgrounds and produces Central States Fair and the Black Hills Stock Show and Rodeo®.
The Black Hills Stock Show & Rodeo® is South Dakota’s 2nd largest event. Yearly it attracts more than 300,000 people from the region to this ten-day event which features livestock shows and sales, the region’s largest western trade show, 12 different horse events, petting zoo, horse sale, sheep dog trials, ranch rodeo and bronc match.The Black Hills Stock Show & Rodeo®, is held annually the last weekend in January.
According to SD Department of Tourism, the Black Hills Stock Show has a $21.9 million economic impact to the state of South Dakota.
The Central States Fair held annually mid-August allows Rapid City residents and surrounding communities to partake in fair activities including; the carnival, free stage entertainment, along with exhibiting crafts and culinary in the open class competitions, cattle shows and multiple horse events. The Central States Fair also offers nine nights of grandstand entertainment from concerts to the Range Days Rodeo.
In addition, the Central States Fair hosts over 255 different rental activities throughout the year.
As a non-profit organization in Rapid City, the Central States Fair supports other community organizations and groups such as the South Dakota National Guard, the Rapid City Police Department, Pennington County 4-H and others. The Central States Fair, Inc donates a total of $101,971 in goods and services to other Rapid City non-profit organizations.
Over 200 members make up the membership-driven organization. The cost of a voting membership is $10 and must be paid prior to March 15 to participate in the Annual Meeting or to be eligible to run and vote for director positions.