Happy Friday, Longmont! There are many combinations in life that don’t seem like they would work but do anyway: Snoop Dog and the Olympics, an emu on an insurance commercial, and donut burgers. Speaking of which, the latter will be offered this weekend at one of Longmont’s most beloved restaurants. More on that, later…

Today, we’re previewing the 157th Boulder County Fair, breaking down Longmont's water update, and Longmont's new e-bike program.

Let’s dive in.

Finding things to do for free are about as a rare as a Colorado Rockies playoff appearance. But they still exist.

After recording historic attendance last year, the Boulder County Fair will return to Longmont on Wednesday for its 157th year. As the oldest county fair in Colorado, it’s continuing to honor its past and maintain traditions while keeping an eye on evolution.

“I think a lot of fairs do the same things over and over again…but this one feels dynamic,” Zachary Thayer, the fair’s marketing manager, said.

2026 Attractions:

The fair offers free admission and free parking, as well as…

“Our fair manager, Brian [Mulligan], does a great job of finding talent that is quite honestly out of the league of the budget that we have for these bands,” Thayer said.

Officially, a record-150,000 people visited the fair last year. But Thayer said two independent reports showed that number could’ve been as high as 300,000. That type of traffic demanded some changes.

What’s new?

X-factor:

The Boulder County Fair is about far more than entertainment and thrills. Perhaps the most valuable aspect is the connections between visitors.

“The environment here screams interaction,” Fair Board President Chase Walstad said. “There are a lot of people that walk out of this place having a conversation that they never even came close to anticipating walking in.”

Thayer spoke about once seeing a 90-year-old rancher laughing it up with a Gen-Z individual.

“Where else is that happening?” Thayer said.

The fair takes place August 5 - 9 and the kickoff parade is tomorrow (More on that below).

Longmont launches e-bike share program: Locals have a brand-new way to get around. The City of Longmont announced that about 30 e-bikes from bicycle sharing company, BCycle, are now available for public use at five docking stations throughout Longmont, with plans to build a sixth. Bikes can be used by downloading the BCycle app and buying a pass, which offer riding options for as short as 30 minutes or as long as a year. Low-income passes are available as well. This program is part of a multi-city expansion that will allow riders to take bikes across Boulder County and into Broomfield, Lafayette, Superior, and Westminster. Although, Longmont is the first of these cities to launch its e-bikes. The city will host a ribbon-cutting on August 12 when attendees can take a free introductory ride.

Longmont Food Rescue expands food options for large families: The anti-hunger nonprofit announced yesterday changes to free food distributions at its Produce in the Park events. Beginning Sunday, LFR will increase the amount of food allocated to families with six or more people. Formerly, each household was limited to filling just one of LFR’s designated shopping baskets with food at these events. LFR says the change aligns their operations more closely with the very-similarly-named Produce in the Parking Lot events, where larger families already receive additional groceries.

Longmont drones are taking flight: City of Longmont drones will launch in two areas next Tuesday to gather data related to infrastructure projects. A flight at 17th Avenue and Airport Road will gather surface elevation data to determine water flows that will help mitigate drainage and flooding issues at that intersection. Another flight at E. Longs Peak Avenue and Lashley Street will help engineer safer pedestrian crossing designs. Learn more here.

Just like your stomach after a trip to Taco Bell, Longmont’s water supply is stable but fragile.

As Longmont continues to endure the effects of one of the driest winters in history, the City of Longmont offered an update on Longmont’s water situation. This comes after Longmont announced in May that it was cutting city water use by 10% across the board. Let’s start with the good news before flirting with anything too grim…

What’s been going right?

A cooler and wetter beginning to summer allowed Longmont to keep its water use lower than normal — although not by much. The city says through the end of June, water use citywide was running at about 98% of the 10-year average. Plus…

But…

“July and August are Longmont’s highest water use months, so how we finish the summer matters most,” a city statement explained. “Once stored water is used, there’s no more until reservoirs refill next season, and next year’s supply depends on this winter’s snowpack.”

Big picture:

There does appear to be light at the end of the tunnel. A potentially historic El Niño has already started and could become one of the strongest on record, potentially even developing into a super El Niño. That bodes well for Colorado’s precipitation and snowpack, but a substantial improvement on drought is still in question.

“Summer rain helps lawns and gardens; however, it can’t refill reservoirs. Only next year’s snowpack can do that, and we won’t know how it looks until spring. That’s why conserving stored water now matters,” a City of Longmont press release stated.

Boulder County Fair Parade: The Boulder County Fair has nearly arrived and with it, the fair’s kickoff parade. Head to Main Street tomorrow morning and witness a “spectacular procession of floats, bands, horses, and tractors in a true display of summer fun and western heritage.” The action begins at 10 a.m.

Seven years of 300 Suns food: Tomorrow, 300 Suns is celebrating its “Scratchiversary,” AKA seven years since partnering with Chef Nate Say of Scratch Food Truck to create a permanent restaurant inside its building. To mark the occasion, the restaurant and brewery is hosting an all-day party featuring live music from two different bands and unique food specials, one of which is a donut burger, while another is a donut chicken sandwich. Learn more here.

Music at McIntosh Lake: It doesn’t get more idyllic than listening to live classical music at one of Longmont’s most picturesque spaces. Tomorrow night from 7-8:30 p.m., head to Flanders Park on the north side of the lake for a free concert from Melodic Light — a group of professional, classically-trained musicians who specialize in both the classics, as well as new compositions. Learn more here.