FALLON — Since the mid-1980s, when a group of people lined up to attend the first Cantaloupe Festival and Country Fair, the event’s trajectory began a roller coaster ride.

Attendance began to slip eight years ago, and the festival committee voted to move the event from the Labor Day weekend, a holiday weekend with other major events in Reno, Winnemucca and Elko.

Now held the weekend before Labor Day weekend, the festival re-invented itself and began to have record number crowds. Consequently, vendors and exhibits increased, and the Country Fair returned to be part of the festival.

The paved parking in front of the Rafter 3C Center is the primary parking with overflow behind the center in the vaccination parking lot. Patrons cannot park alongside Sheckler Road, or the Nevada State Police could ticket them.

Since the easing of the COVID-19 restrictions in 2021, the Fallon Cantaloupe Festival and Country Fair has been on an upward climb as organizers said this year’s event will be the biggest to date with activities for all ages and entertainment.

“Last year, our attendance doubled from 2021-22, and we sold more tickets to the concerts,” said board member Zip Upham. 

Upham and festival executive director Adrienne Snow have been speaking to many groups and promoting the festival for months. Their efforts were successful last year as the festival added several vendors and exhibits. Meanwhile, Cantaloupe Festival king and queen Gordon and Ashley Robertson have also been promoting the festival.

Snow, for example, gave the Fallon Rotary Club a complete rundown of the festival and the many activities.

The three-day festival and fair runs Friday through Sunday at the Rafter 3C Complex (Churchill County Fairgrounds). Festival-goers will see what the various vendors have at their booths and the other exhibits. The festival is at 1 p.m. on Friday and closes at midnight. It opens at 9 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday and closes at midnight and 5 p.m.

The grassy area bordered by the Barrel House (multi-purpose building) to the north will still be used for vendors’ booths and exhibits. The area for the food courts and vendors remains a good spot for them to set up.

The entertainment lineup opens Friday at 7 p.m. with Queensrÿche, an American progressive metal band from Bellevue, Washington. Queensrÿche has released 16 studio albums, one EP and several DVDs. Doors open at 5 p.m.

Performing all three days will be local favorite Sam Malcolm, a popular entertainer who mixes wit with juggling – and sometimes fire. 

Upham said Saturday begins at 9 a.m. with a junior rough stock rodeo in the outdoor arena, which is fully sanctioned. Slack is on Saturday and Sunday, and the rodeo performance is at 6 p.m. on Saturday. In addition to contestants from Nevada, Upham said entries have been coming in from California and Idaho, and he predicts the rodeo has the potential to become a Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association event in a few years.

Ned LeDoux plays that night at 8 p.m. in the Rafter’s arena, and doors open at 7 p.m. The Wyoming native follows in the steps of his late father, Chris LeDoux, a rodeo star and musician.

Opening for LeDoux is Justin Lee, a performer with Nevada roots, including some that have been placed in Churchill County.

Lee began writing songs as a teenager and has mastered his craft with some of the top Nashville producers, engineers, songwriters and musicians. Six years ago, Justin released a single, “Like I’ve Fallen.” 

Upham said the number of vendors and the Farmers Market have both expanded. Visitors can taste and buy some of their favorite cantaloupe-made foods, such as salsa, ice cream, donuts and beer. Upham said the Brewery is brewing cantaloupe beer. 

Frey Ranch will supply the bourbon whiskey for Troy’s Double Shot signature cantaloupe cocktail at the Dry Gulch, and the market will showcase Oasis Teff. The beer garden is by Just in Time Heating and Air as a cooling space. The Grid, located in Fallon, will provide cantaloupe beer.

And don’t forget those cantaloupes.

Upham said Snow met with the farmers last year to encourage them to grow more cantaloupes. Lattin Farms didn’t have the bumper crop they usually have.

“We have a lot more people growing melons,” Upham said of this year’s growing season.

The growers have used one of the coolers at the former Sandhill Dairy farm west of Fallon to store the melons until festival time. Upham said the community is working to ensure the festival has enough cantaloupes.

“We’re getting back to the heyday to showcase the melons,” Snow said. “We have a lot of local farmers who will be here.”

Snow said last year’s lines were long, and it took some time for visitors to enter the festival because of the shortage of ticket scanners.

“We still need more people to help us, even if it’s for two hours,” she said.

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The main sponsors are CC Communications, the city of Fallon, Visit Fallon and New Millennium Building Systems.

For information, go to https://www.falloncantaloupefestival.com. To buy festival tickets online, go to https://www.falloncantaloupefestival.com/tickets.