Old West Days update: Chamber pulls plug on parade

JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. — The Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce pulled the plug on the Old West Days parade claiming waning participation and a struggle to find volunteers to staff it.

Old West Days, in general, has been on life support after COVID wiped out the traditional Memorial Day weekend celebration in 2020 and pretty much gutted it in 2021 (no parade, no Mountain Man Rendezvous, no ElkFest, no High Noon Chili Cookoff, no Town Square Shootout). The event boasting a celebration of the Last and the Best of the Old West is slowly fading away.

This year, several events are back including ElkFest, Mountain Man Rendezvous, High Noon Chili Cookoff, Town Square Shootout, and the Million Dollar Music Fest. But the parade portion of the Old West Days is no more.

The future of the event sometimes referred to by locals as “Cold Wet Days” for its unpredictable weather is sketchy. Horses, tractor-drawn floats, Boy Scouts, community band—once staples of parades past—are all being rapidly replaced by corporate concerts, fine art auctions, and real estate underwriting.