The Soldier Hollow Classic is a sheepdog competition, and for decades it brought out thousands of spectators in the fall. Its website says it’s one of the most attended sheepdog competitions in the world with competitors from 19 different countries.
The usual Labor Day event was canceled this year, due to a major construction project at Soldier Hollow.
Competition manager Carol Clawson said she and organizers decided to move it to spring for the cooler weather, for the comfort of the sheep, dogs and humans. Starting in 2024, the annual event will be on Memorial Day weekend.
“It's hard on the sheep if it gets real hot, and it's hard on the dogs,” she said. “I mean, they are real athletes, but the final is a 25-minute course. It's a lot of heat. They did great last year and the last three years — they've run at over 100 degrees — but that's always something you want to be careful with. You don't want them to overheat. And, that field is so gorgeous in the spring, really it's just all so beautifully green.”
The Soldier Hollow Classic used to overlap with Swiss Days, known for drawing around 100,000 people to Midway.
Heber Valley Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Dallin Koecher said that’s another reason the new date could be a better fit.
“Those two events, they bring a lot of people to the valley and Midway specifically,” Koecher said, “but they're not super complementary, so they're both busy. I think they looked at it and said ‘Let's do it.’”
He also said the spring will better match the competition’s roots.
“You know, joking internally, I said, ‘That's kind of more like Scotland anyway.’ It's going to be colder and rainy here.”
More information about the Classic is available at soldierhollowclassic.com.
