Pahrump Fall Festival | 2024 event will be medieval affair
This September, the Pahrump Fall Festival will return for its 59th year and town officials are already hard at work prepping for what is hands-down the valley’s largest annual public event.
Thousands of residents and visitors are expected to pack Petrack Park for four days of festival fun, including the ever-popular rodeo, the Fall Festival parade, the arts/crafts and food/horticulture exhibition, a carnival, entertainment and plenty of vendors. And while general admission to the park is free, the rodeo and carnival come with a cost, tickets for which are now on sale.
Carnival tickets are $35 for a single wristband and five game tickets while Mega Passes allow groups to score a discount, with five wristbands and five game tickets for $150. Saturday, Sept. 21 will be the only day with split carnival sessions, with the first session running from noon to 5 p.m., and the second from 5 p.m. to midnight. Session upgrades for Saturday carnival wristbands will be available for $15 at ticket booths on site. Rodeo tickets are $12 each until Sept. 13, after which the price is $15 per person.
Town officials are urging the public to only purchase their carnival and rodeo tickets in person at one of three authorized area locations, the Pahrump Tourism Office, Valley Electric Association or Shadow Mountain Feed and Tack. Tickets can also be purchased online through the town’s website but these come with a convenience fee attached.
“Use caution when purchasing from third-party sources,” town officials stressed.
The Pahrump Fall Festival parade is also seeking entrants, with a 2024 theme of “Medieval.” The Kiwanis Club of Pahrump will be heading up this year’s parade, entry to which costs $40 until Sept. 1, when an additional $10 late fee will be charged.
And residents shouldn’t forget the arts/crafts and food/horticulture exhibition, which is also following the 2024 Medieval theme. Entries into this portion of the Fall Festival will be accepted at the Bob Ruud Community Center between Sept. 16 and 18, with the exhibits to open to the public Sept. 20 through 22. There are all sorts of categories of competition available and organizers encourage all of the valley’s community members to get involved.
In 2023, the Fall Festival’s entertainment portion stirred some controversy, with several local performers upset at the balance of local versus non-local talent. Commissioner Frank Carbone didn’t shy away from addressing this during a discussion on the event at the board’s Aug. meeting, asking how the entertainment was being handled this year.
“Have we had communication with the folks and told them, this is what we have for our (entertainment) budget, this is all we can spend?” Carbone queried.
Pahrump Buildings and Grounds Manager Jimmy Martinez said staff was currently working with many local and out-of-town entertainers on that issue, noting, “As we did last year, we will have local entertainment and outside entertainment.”
Commissioner Donna Cox, who is serving her final year before terming out, then touched on one of the original hearts of the event, the open-bit barbecue that was closed down many years ago. She said she would love to see that revived, remarking, “That was an exceptional draw for out-of-town people to come here… And I actually still have the old-fashioned recipes for both the meat and the beans they used to make.”
Though that is not something town staff will be able to accomplish this year, Martinez said it’s on the punch-list for the future.
“The pits were no longer usable,” Martinez explained as to why they were closed down, adding, “We met with the health department, we got the requirements and we’re OK to do a new pit location, we have one picked out, but we’re working on funding for next year.”
The 59th Annual Pahrump Fall Festival is set for Sept. 19 through 22. For more information contact Town of Pahrump Administrative Secretary Courtney Kenney at 775-727-2825 or visit PahrumpNV.gov or VisitPahrump.com
Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com
