Carey and Picabo’s Pioneer Days Festival
BY ISAIAH FRIZZELL
In the shadow of mountains and sagebrush, two small communities celebrate the pioneer spirit that made them what they are.
History
The annual celebration of how a place becomes a place has become the holiest of holies. It’s all about bequeathing the future while honoring the past with Carey and Picabo’s Pioneer Days Festival.
While Carey incorporated in 1919, settlement history runs deeper. With graves from the 1850s–1890s, the history is real and the Carey Pioneer Cemetery is a worthy stop for anyone looking to remember the past.
If one continues down Highway 20, Picabo boasts the Purdy family ranch, operating for over 135 years. Here you’ll find a living link to the 1890 era when Chinese miners comprised the majority of Idaho’s workforce and Mormon pioneers established agricultural communities across the land.
The 2025 celebration comes at a pivotal time. Carey recently lifted an emergency development moratorium after resolving infrastructure challenges. Yes, this means growth, but how do you keep your small-town character? This is the question on even Ketchum’s mind!
The Carey-Picabo Chamber of Commerce has worked to attract businesses and reinvent the community’s economic identity but the balance of progress and preservation is beguiling as you have to welcome the new while honoring the old.
Carey’s population is around 688 while Picabo, much like Stanley, sits around 128 people. Here we can see the rural paradox of how to grow and thrive while preserving what makes a place special; in general, yes, but more importantly to its longtime residents.
Pioneer Days
An annual celebration that has to be experienced in person, Pioneer Days is a dip into the past while honoring the present and the future.
Two days you’ll remember for a lifetime:
Friday, July 11. — the rodeo starts at 7:30 p.m. with Rough Stock Rodeo at the rodeo grounds.
Friday night. — Surprise movie after dark in the park.
Saturday, July 12
- Volleyball Tournament (9 a.m. sharp, $10 per player)
- Car Show 10 a.m.– 4 p.m. ($20 entrance per vehicle, free to spectators, at the Blaine County Fairgrounds)
- Parade 11 a.m. (Mountain View Dr. – Waterford Subdivision)
- Cornhole Tournament starts at 12 p.m.
- There will be a poker game at 1 p.m., a raffle at 3 p.m., and the Car Show awards will run around 4 p.m.
- Find the best of the best food from trucks and local food stands.
- Free Music starts at 6 p.m. at Blaine County Fairgrounds with Wildwoods Music (Chip Booth and Ember Jensen) with the Kim Stocking Band following. If you love live music this is a must see!
If you’re coming into town with a trailer, camping is available at the Carey rodeo grounds for $20 (.cityofcarey.org/carey-rodeo-association). Canyon Crest will have any cold beverage you could want! Pioneer Days is as much or (likely more) fun than the Hailey rodeo and just enough out of town to make it a special, one-of-a-kind moment in your year.
If you’re last minute getting your car into the show, contact Theron at (208) 650-5413. Enjoy an ideal experience in the most beautiful of Blaine County, Idaho.
