The “What the Hay” (Montana Bale Trail) is held annually on the first Sunday following Labor Day in conjunction with the Utica Day Fair. This truly unique event features “am-hayzingly” creative and (most often) quite amusing sculptures made of hay and straw.
Beginning in 1990, “What they Hay” has grown from a friendly, tongue-in-cheek, competition between two neighboring ranchers into a full-blown, major tourist attraction. In 2003, it was named Montana’s Tourism Event of the Year, and last year-the twentieth anniversary edition-saw over 50 beautifully sculpted entries. Although local farmers and ranchers construct the majority of the creations, there have been entrants from all parts of Montana as well as California, Arizona, and as far away as New York.
The fantastic and imaginative bale sculptures are displayed in fields along the “Bale Trail,” a 21 mile loop just south of U.S. Highway 87. The “Bale Trail” runs along state highways 239 and 541 with the eastern end being in Hobson, the western end at Windham, and Utica (home of the famous Oxen Yoke Inn) being the halfway point.
http://www.montanabaletrail.com/