County Commissioners approved a $594,050 contract with NesteLive! for the night concerts at the 2023 Montana State Fair, which begins this weekend.

Commissioners Jim Larson and Rae Grulkowski voted on the item as Commissioner Joe Briggs was out of town for their July 25 meeting.

Neste Live is the talent booking agency for the county’s fair this year and the night shows include Chris Janson, Toby Mac, Josh Turner, Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias, The Commodores and AWOLNATION.

Montana State Fair concert lineup announced

The contract requires the county to pay $279,025 on Aug. 2 and the remaining $279,025 at the conclusion of the Aug. 5 show.

The full contract was not included in the commission agenda packet on the county website, though contracts for other agenda items were included in the packet.

Larson said the concert slate included a range of acts and styles.

They’d “done a good job of mixing this up so everybody gets a shot at what they want,” Larson said.

Grulkowski asked if the county had used NesteLive! as the talent book agency previously.

County approves use of new talent booking firm for state fair

Grulkowski was on the commission, and voted to approve the use of NesteLive! in February. The county had previously used Romeo Entertainment Group for years, which was discussed during the February commission meetings on the contract.

Nancy Donovan, a citizen, asked commissioners how to find financial information about the fair.

In years past, the fair advisory board had asked for specific financial information which became a point of contention with Expo Park staff and commissioners.

Commissioners disbanded the fair advisory board in 2021.

Larson told Donovan during the July 25 meeting that she could look at the Expo Park budget for the information.

County looking at new talent booking group for state fair

The county budget for fiscal year 2023, which ended June 30, projected that the fair would have a net profit of $89,000. The financials released by the county after the 2022 fair, which would have fallen in that budget year, don’t specifically detail that figure.

The proposed budget for the current budget year hasn’t yet been posted publicly.

County begins budget process

Last year’s budget document shows that the fair lost money the previous two fiscal years.

During their July 25 meeting, commissioners also approved six contracts through J. International Management for ground entertainment during the fair.

Those contracts include:

• Robocars for $15,000 plus lodging
• Plant Guy for $7,000 plus lodging
• Kardenni for $12,000 plus lodging
• Strolling Piano for $14,000 plus lodging
• Johnny Depp Characters for $7,000 plus lodging
• Elton John and Billy Joel Stage Show for $14,500 plus lodging

Earlier this year, the county solicited proposals for talent booking services through the Rocky Mountain Association of Fairs.

County releases 2022 fair numbers

Three proposals were submitted to the county from the current firm Romeo Entertainment Group, as well as NesteLive! and Pepper Entertainment.

The county had used Romeo for years.

A “Cascade County evaluation committee” consisting of the Montana Expo Park manager, marketing and sales manager, event coordinator and administrative assistant, met three times to score the proposals, according to the staff report.

The committee recommended NesteLive!

Last year, the county said the fair revenues were $1,882,000 and it was a “near record breaking year, only to be surpassed by 2021.”

County financials in 2021 showed the fair generated $1.8 million in total revenues.

County Commission disbands fair board [2021]

The Electric requested the county’s expenses for the fair and according to that document, the total estimated expenses for the 2022 fair were $1,791,784.

That equates to a net estimated profit of $90,326 according to the county financials.

In 2021, the county voted to disband the fair advisory board, which typically reviewed the financials annually.

The night shows generated $547,000 in revenue in 2022, according to the county, for “the greatest producing night show revenue in the history of the Montana State Fair.

County releases fair revenues; fair board says there’s room for improvement [2021]

In July 2022, commissioners approved a $451,000 contract with Romeo Entertainment for the night show concerts that included Mini Pop Kids, the Beach Boys, Skillet, Cheap Trick, Chase Rice and Dwight Yoakam.

In 2021, the Romeo contract was $496,060 and night show ticket revenue, according to financials provided to the since disbanded fair advisory board, was $481,134.