Goldfield Days celebrates town’s historic mining past

Goldfield Days returned to one of Nevada’s most iconic desert towns earlier this month for a weekend of all things western and rural.

“As an event, this year was very successful,” Goldfield Chamber of Commerce President Richard Dizmang told the Pahrump Valley Times. “We had more vendors than we did last year, we probably had more people than we did last year, and we had more events. All in all, it was a good thing.”

The three-day event took place on Friday, July 31, Saturday, Aug. 1 and Sunday, Aug. 2. Approximately 450 people, including visitors and locals, attended this year’s Goldfield Days.

“I think overall I’m pretty happy with how it went because everything came together and I think a lot of people had a lot of fun,” enthused Sharon Artlip, lead organizer of this year’s Goldfield Days.

Welcoming a modern era of miners to the Silver State

The theme of Goldfield Days this year was “Miners of the New Century”, which was decided upon because of Esmeralda County’s modern mining and solar industries.

“We have a lot of miners coming in and we wanted to say thank you for their participation and thank you for the companies that are investing in our county,” Artlip explained.

An always popular parade

2026’s Goldfield Days parade commenced on the morning of Saturday, Aug. 1. Crowds gathered on the town’s sidewalks to watch the procession through Goldfield. Esmeralda County District Attorney Robert Glennen III was the grand marshal of this year’s parade.

“Our road department made sure that things went well with the parade because they’re the ones that arranged for the closure, opening and closing of the roads, since this is on a public highway, we have to get permission in advance to close the road,” Artlip elaborated. “Carl Shrider at our road department, he made sure everything was taken care of and everything was on track.”

Parade participants were Hasana Dance Troupe, Goldfield Youth Athletics, Range Bums, Robert Worthylake, Glen Praiss, Vegas Valley Vettes, Goldfield Volunteer Fire Department, Radio Goldfield, Centerra Gold, Access Realty, Honey the Burro, Dick Johnson, Matheny’s Diamondfield Gulch, Esmeralda County Commissioner District 1 Republican primary winner Mark Stezaker, Blue Canyon Gang, Retain Judge Kim Wanker, Cody Whipple for Congress, Nathan Gent for District Court Judge and Great Basin College.

Bidding for a slice of rural Nevada

Land auctions are one of the most well known facets of Goldfield Days. Six parcels were available this year, two in Goldfield itself, one near Coaldale Junction, and three in Fish Lake Valley. In total, $133,155 was brought in at this year’s land auction.

“The land auction has been a major part of our Goldfield Days celebration,” Artlip said.

Local businesses and organizations

Approximately 25 vendors, selling handmade crafts, goods and food, set up at Goldfield Days this year. One of those booths at the event was the Burro Express, a newsletter focused on local humor, history, culture, philosophy and happenings around town.

“We have people coming from other states to visit Goldfield, on Goldfield Days, to come and visit the Burro Express booth,” Burro Express Co-founder and Publisher Peggy Carrasco told the Pahrump Valley Times.

The Burro Express is celebrating its 25th anniversary of publication this year.

“They’re as surprised as I am that it lasted 25 years,” Carrasco said about people’s reaction when visiting the Burro Express booth at Goldfield Days.

Experiencing Goldfield’s history

Those who attended this year’s Goldfield Days also had the chance to tour two of the town’s most historic buildings, the old high school and Goldfield Hotel.

“The tours went really well,” explained Heather Ingalls. “We didn’t have quite as many as we had had the year before, even the year before that, but we had a good, decent turnout for each tour and everything, so it was nice.”

Ingalls has given tours of the building for almost eight years now, and guided attendees through the building constructed in the early 1900s during Goldfield Days for the same amount of time.

“I do a very historical tour. I do talk a little bit about some of the paranormal stuff that goes on in the hotel, but I center mostly on the history,” Ingalls added. “So I talk about the history of Goldfield and the hotel and so on, so that people get a good understanding, because without the history, the paranormal is kind of non-existent.”

Tours of the high school, also built at the start of the 1900s, were provided by Steve Foutz, vice president of the Goldfield Historical Society.

“The purpose of the tours are to share the magnificence of the building inside and sort of expand the fan club of the high school,” Foutz said.

Contact reporter Elijah Dulay at edulay@pvtimes.com