The annual "What The Hay" is coming up on Sunday, September 8, in central Montana.
"What The Hay" is the highlight of the Montana Bale Trail, and features displays of whimsical, cleverly decorated, and sculpted hay bales along a 22-mile route from Hobson to Utica to Windham.
This year, organizers expect more than 50 hay bale sculptures along the trail.
People’s Choice Ballots will be handed out at the contest entrances in Hobson and Windham, beginning at 8 a.m. Live ballot voting ends at 5 p.m.
Here is video of a previous What The Hay:
The
website for the event
provides the following information:
The “What the Hay” (Montana Bale Trail) is organized by the Hobson School and sponsored by local businesses and private individuals. It is held annually on the first Sunday following Labor Day in conjunction with the Bale Trail Fair at Hoson. 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.
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.
