4-H Annual Events - Gallatin County Extension | Montana State University

4-H youth members and volunteers are invited to participate in all county-wide 4-H events!

Check out the 2025-2026 Gallatin 4-H Calendar for a "Year at a Glance" list of county-wide events and activities: https://www.montana.edu/extension/gallatin/4hcalendar.html

Event	Event Information	Event Details & Links
National 4-H Week	First full week in October each year 2025 National 4-H Week will be October 5-11 Every year Gallatin County 4-H encourages Clubs, Projects and Individuals to show off their *4-H Spirit* to our communities during National 4-H Week to help with recruitment and promotion. National 4-H Week will be October 5^th – 11^th, 2025. Historically, these displays have been in the form of window displays usually in a local business, but this year we’re adding a twist – *HAY BALE* displays! Round bales, square bales, small or large – the more creative the better! Hay Bales can be on roadways, at businesses, or in front of personal homes - just get proper approval. Be sure your Hay Bale display promotes 4-H (green, clovers, the motto, a creative pun or saying to encourage people to join, etc). Prize money will be awarded to 1st, 2nd and 3rd place displays! Prize money will be allocated to the 4-H club/project of your choice. Displays must be set up by October 5^th, then taken down (& sufficiently cleaned up) by October 12^th. Email photos and location of entries to gallatin4h@montana.edu by October 5^th to be considered. Also as part of the 2025 National 4-H Week campaign, Monday (Oct. 6^th) of National 4-H Week is *“GO GREEN”* day. Show off your 4-H spirit by wearing GREEN - 4-H clothing or hats, 4-H sticker, face paint— anything green goes. A simple, cohesive way for youth, professionals, volunteers, alumni & supporters across the country to celebrate their 4-H programs being *Beyond Ready. Send us (gallatin4h@montana.edu) pictures of your 4-H GO GREEN* getup to be included on our social media and/or in the next newsletter!	2025 Display Winners 2024 Display Winners 2023 Display Winners 2022 Display Winners
MSU Concessions Fundraising	Gallatin County 4-H has the AMAZING opportunity to continue to work MSU Concessions and this has become a GREAT way to raise money for 4-H club/project activities! We commit to events (ex. football, basketball, volleyball, concerts, PowWow, Spring Rodeo) throughout the year as they arise and update the SignUp Genius accordingly. *What does working MSU Concessions entail?* All food is made and prepped by MSU Culinary/Concessions staff, 4-H members/parents just simply sell and serve it out of one of the concessions stands on MSU Campus (Stadium or Fieldhouse depending on the event). This is a super easy, fun and quick way to make money for your Clubs/Projects and gain some skills in the service industry! A Stand Leader and MSU Concessions staff will train you on the spot with what you need to know - No experience necessary! Depending on the event, the day/time/hours will vary and depending on our concessions stand location, the number of people we will need per game will vary. We will need a combination of youths (minimum age of 10 with parent accompaniment) and teens/adults (ages 15+) to run cash registers.	MSU Concessions SignUp
Better Batter Baking Contest	When: Saturday, February 28, 2026 (AM) Registration due by: February 13, 2026 2026 Contest Theme: TBD What: The Better Batter Baking contest is an opportunity for 4-H youth members to prepare an appealing, delicious baked good using food safe techniques and present their creation to a panel of judges for tasting. Why participate? This experience provides 4-H youth members the opportunity to show off their creativity, practice food preparation skills, become more confident, and discover where they can improve. Contest winners that are ages 8-13 can earn money towards a trip to our annual 4-H Summer Camp and those that are ages 14+ can earn money towards a trip to Montana 4-H State Congress. Divisions: Junior (ages 8-10) Intermediate (ages 11-13) Senior (ages 14+) Members can participate individually or as a team with another member. Awards: County Contest Awards Night: Tuesday, March 10, 2026 @ 6pm	Contest Guidelines 2026 Contest Flyer (coming soon) Register HERE Past Contests: 2025 Participant Recipes 2024 Participant Recipes
Stir-Ups Cooking Contest	When: Saturday, February 28, 2026 (PM) Registration due by: February 13, 2026 2026 Contest Theme: TBD What: Similar to competitions such as "Chopped". Stir-Ups is an opportunity for 4-H youth members to prepare an appealing, nutritious meal using food safe techniques and present their dish to a panel of judges for tasting. Why participate? This contest provides 4-H youth members the experience to test their time management, practice food preparation skills, become more confident, and discover where they can improve. Contest winners that are ages 8-13 can earn money towards a trip to our annual 4-H Summer Camp and those that are ages 14+ can earn money towards a trip to Montana 4-H State Congress. Divisions: Junior (ages 8-10) Intermediate (ages 11-13) Senior (ages 14+) Members can participate individually or as a team with another member. Awards: County Contest Awards Night: Tuesday, March 10, 2026 @ 6pm	2026 Contest Flyer (coming soon) Contest Guidelines Register HERE Past Contests: 2025 Participant Recipes 2024 Participant Recipes
County Communication Day	When:Friday, February 27, 2026 (10AM - 6PM) Registration due by: February 13, 2026 Why Participate?: These contests give members the opportunity to practice communication skills, become more confident, gain experience presenting to a small panel of judges, and have some fun! Contest winners that are ages 8-13 can earn money towards a trip to our annual 4-H Summer Camp and those that are ages 14+ can earn money towards a trip to Montana 4-H State Congress. Contest categories: Demonstration, Illustrated Talk, Speech (Impromptu or Prepared), Video, Career Communications (job interview), Promotional Package, and Commercial. Divisions: Cloverbud (ages 5-7) Junior (ages 8-10) Intermediate (ages 11-13) Senior (ages 14+) Awards: County Contest Awards Night: Tuesday, March 10, 2026 @ 6pm	Contest Descriptions 2026 Contest Flyer (coming soon) Register HERE
Animal Quality Assurance Trainings	When: TENTATIVE Workshop #1: Wednesday, February 18, 2026 6pm-8:30pm TENTATIVE Workshop #2:Sunday, March 29, 2026 1pm-3:30pm What: Animal Quality Assurance (AQA) workshops aim to teach youth about proper livestock management practices that can lead to the production of safe, wholesome, high quality food products for consumers and/or long-term care of breeding animals. Topics such as proper care & handling, biosecurity, nutrition, animal health and fair etiquette will be covered in this workshop. Montana 4-H policy requires that all youth members enrolled in any animal project complete an AQA workshop at least once as a Junior 4-H member (ages 8-13) and recertify once as a Senior 4-H member (age 14+) in order to particpate at the county fair. Parents are encouraged to attend. Note: this requirement will exclude Cloverbuds and all members in dog and cat projects.	2026 AQA Workshop RSVP (coming soon)
Big Sky Country State Fair	When: 2026 Big Sky Country State Fair 4-H/FFA youth events will be July 10-19 4-H Members involved in livestock projects compete in various show classes throughout the week. Those who have market animals sell through the Livestock Market Auction on the Friday night of fair week. 4-H members in Indoor Projects (ex. photography, sewing, cooking, shooting sports, woodworking ,etc.) can compete in the Indoor Exhibit Building with their creations and skills they learned throughout the year. Completing Record Book(s) and Project Interview(s) are both required to participate in the Fair. Interviews are the week before the Fair. More information is sent out May-July each year.	More information on this page
Market Livestock Auction	Beef, Sheep, Swine, Goats, Poultry, and Rabbits that are raised by 4-H and FFA youth sold for market. Friday, July 17, 2026 Buyer Check-in: 2pm-6pm Buyer BBQ: 3pm-6pm Auction Begins: 4pm	More information on this page Buyer Information
Indoor Project Silent Auction	Youth ages 8-19 exhibiting indoor projects at Fair are eligible to enter the silent auction (up to 5 items per youth member) The Silent Auction bidding will run from Wednesday of Fair Week starting at 11am through Sunday of Fair Week ending at 5pm.
4-H Summer Camp	When: Typically the last week of July/early August TENTATIVE 2026 Camp dates: August 1-5, 2026 2025 Theme:TBD Where: Yellowstone Alliance Adventures, located in Cottonwood Canyon just outside Bozeman Who: Youth ages 8-13 can attend as Campers (age calculated as of Oct. 1st, 2025) Cost: 4-H Youth Members = TBD Non-4H Youth = TBD Cost includes lodging (3 nights, all meals, activities and camp t-shirt!) Registration OPENS online through ZSuite on June 1st. Registration CLOSES June 30th at 5pm	Camp Information & Registration
Gallatin 4-H Annual Awards Celebration	Our 4-H Awards Celebration is our annual opportunity to celebrate Gallatin 4-H youth members and our volunteers! We have a program planned to celebrate youth who excelled in their projects this year and did an outstanding job being a part of the community. We will also recognize volunteers who have done some impactful work and who have been a part of our organization for years! You do not need to be receiving an award to be a part of this celebratory evening - Come cheer on your fellow volunteers and youth! When: 2025 Awards Celebration will be Sunday, Sept. 28th, 2025 (2pm-5pm) at the Bozeman GranTree Inn Outstanding Member of the Year Awards: Each year the Gallatin County Foundation gives awards to outstanding 4-H members in the form of scholarships. The 4-H Member of the Year Award Winners are to be recognized for their outstanding achievements in 4-H at our annual awards celebration and are determined off a points-based scoring system. We encourage ANY youth to fill one out – it’s a great way to potentially earn some cash for your 4-H involvement this year! Achievement Journals are scored against each other per age division (Juniors = 4-H ages 8-13 and Seniors = 4-H ages 14+). To be eligible for this award, youth of ANY AGE (8+) can fill out the REVISED 2024-2025 Achievement Journal document with the current 4-H year activities and email application to gallatin4h@montana.edu or print and drop off at the Extension office by September 12, 2025 by 5pm.	2025 Awards Night RSVP