Francis is celebrating its logging and agricultural heritage during the annual Frontier Days celebration — a three-day extravaganza from Aug. 31 to Sept. 3, excluding Sunday, at Francis City Park on 2317 South Spring Hollow Road.

Everyone is invited to attend and even join in many of the events. The festivities start with an Open Horse Show on Aug. 31 at 6 p.m.

“But it’s not your routine horse show. There’s more horsing around,” Event Chair Britni Harris said.

Contestants participate in a variety of games, such as an egg race, while sitting astride their horses. Sign ups are until 5:30 prior to the event and cost $5, which covers all the events.

A full country breakfast Saturday morning at the concession stand at 7:30 a.m. will keep the crowd’s energy up for the parade at 9:30 a.m. and the following activities.

The parade begins at the Wild Willow Subdivision and ends at the Francis City Park and Rodeo Grounds They are still taking parade entries for anyone who wants to participate.

“It’s free so you get free advertising. So that’s a pretty good deal,” Harris said.

An open softball tournament follows the parade, and the community is welcome to come participate as a team or to come watch.

The draft horse pulls are at 3:30 p.m. where the audience can watch the horses work as a team.

“It’s amazing to watch them with work with the driver,” Harris said.

This event has significance in Francis as the town began as a logging and agricultural town.

“People went up into the hills and brought logs down with their horses,” Kamas City Recorder Alison Weyher said. “Several families still have draft horses. It’s interesting to see how much weight a draft horse can pull.”

Every year they have a challenge between the local football team and how much weight a horse can pull.

“Last year the boys ended up beating the horses but it took a lot of boys. It’s a crowd favorite,” Weyher said.

Arts and craft booths and a Kids Karnival with games and activities run both Saturday and Monday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

From 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. a buffet-style barbecue will be catered by the local Gateway Grill in Kamas. $10 for an adult plate; $6 for six and younger.

“It’s going to be delicious and we’ll have live country western music there,” Harris said. “It will be a great afternoon.”

The C.R.C. Rodeo begins at 8 p.m. It is a full rodeo with bull riding and team roping, as well as some hometown events like the saddled cow event and the wild cow milking.

The saddled cow event also requires teams. A pasture cow is saddled and one team member rides it while the other holds onto the cow. They try to get the cow from the chute to the other end of the arena.

While the teams can choose their own cow, the one that looks gentle in the chute won’t necessarily be gentle out of the shoot once the saddle is put on and it’s ridden.

In the wild cow milking event they put a group of cows into the arena. One team member is responsible for roping the cow. Once the cow is roped, the other team member attempts to get milk from the cow. Some cows have milk, and some don’t.

“Around here [the hometown events] are extremely popular. It’s pretty entertaining trying to watch them try to get a few drops from them,” Harris said. “Some people have it down. We have a local team that whatever they do they can get the cow calm enough to get some milk.”

A 5K run starts off the day on Monday at 7:30 a.m. with 6:30 a.m. sign ups. While runners and walkers can sign up the day of the race, prices increase to $20 the day of the event from $15 in advance through the city’s website.

Breakfast is served again Monday, followed by the open softball tournaments, arts and crafts booth and Kids Karnival. The Junior Rodeo is at 10 a.m. with mutton bustin’ and steer riding, followed by the kids scramble where kids can chase chickens and greased pigs, keeping their captives as prizes.

The “Battle of the Bulls” begins at 2 p.m., again with hometown flair.

Besides traditional bull riding, there will also be trailer races and hide races where a person on a horse pulls a hide tied to the horse and the partner jumps onto the hide and rides around the arena.

The entire event culminates with the Ring of Fear. Brave contestants draw numbers and stand in circles with the correlating number.

A fighting bull is turned loose and the last person standing is declared fearless.

To participate in Frontier Days visit www.francisutah.org or call 435-783-6236.