Fair week turns a quiet stretch of South Oak Street in Kennewick into the busiest gate in the Tri-Cities, and most first-timers don't find that out until they're idling behind a line of cars waiting to feed into one paid lot. The Benton Franklin Fair & Rodeo runs on a single main entrance, a single main lot, and one arena's worth of parking for huge numbers of visitors across five nights — which is exactly why a group that shows up together, in one vehicle, skips the part everyone else complains about.
Here's the short version: buses and cars share the same main gate off Oak Street at East 10th Avenue, the main lot runs $15 a vehicle with no separate bus rate published, and a free county shuttle uses its own dedicated gate at the back of the grounds. Below is what that actually means for a group trying to get 15, 30, or 50 people to the rodeo without splitting into six cars — where to drop off, what the fair's own rules say about parking and bags, and what a Pasco charter bus or party bus rental runs for a fair-week night out.
Why Rent a Bus to the Benton Franklin Fair & Rodeo?
A 4-H club, a company picnic, a birthday group heading to the grandstand — whoever's going, the math is the same. Send six cars to the fairgrounds and you've got six people hunting for the same $15 lot, six groups trying to find each other again once the crowd thins out, and six separate walks back to the car after dark. Send one bus, and the whole group arrives at the same gate at the same time and leaves the same way.
A Pasco charter bus rental or party bus rental also solves the part nobody plans for: the fairgrounds sit in Kennewick, a bridge crossing away from most of the Tri-Cities, and the fair itself only runs five nights a year. Nobody in your group needs to know the way, watch for the Oak Street turn, or figure out where the lot actually starts once traffic backs up. Pascominibuscompany.com makes it simple to compare vehicles sized for a fair-week group and get pricing for your date — fill out the quick online form or call 509-410-9970, and a large network of bus companies serving Pasco can quote your trip in about a minute.
Charter Bus & Party Bus Drop-Off at the Benton Franklin Fairgrounds
The fairgrounds' guest services page puts the main entrance plainly: gates are reached via Oak Street off East 10th Avenue. That's the address to give a charter bus or party bus rental for a straight drop at the ticket booths — no separate motorcoach lane is published, so a bus pulls up curbside at the same gate as everyone else, unloads the group, and clears out rather than trying to sit and wait there.
There's also a second option worth knowing about: a West Gate entrance, with an information barn nearby, according to the same guest services page. For a group that would rather split off from the Oak Street crowd — or one whose seating, like the rodeo arena, sits closer to that side of the grounds — the West Gate is the quieter way in. Either way, the bus itself doesn't need to park at the gate to drop your group off; it only needs a few minutes at the curb.
Buses and cars use the same Oak Street gate — there's no separate motorcoach entrance published for the Benton Franklin Fair & Rodeo. That's exactly why timing your drop-off a few minutes before the rush, and having a bus that doesn't need to find its own parking spot, keeps a group of 20 or 40 from getting split up at the curb.
Where Buses Park During the Benton Franklin Fair & Rodeo
The fair publishes one parking rate for the season: $15 per vehicle, per day, in the main lot, purchased at the box office or online, per the fair's pricing and info page. Nowhere in that published pricing is there a separate rate, or a separate lot, called out for full-size buses or motorcoaches. That matters for planning: the main lot is built around cars filling single spaces, not a 40-foot vehicle looking for room to maneuver.
The practical move for a charter bus or party bus rental is the same one that solves the drop-off question — the bus unloads your group at the gate, then leaves the immediate area rather than competing for a space in the $15 lot. When you request a quote, the booking company can confirm where the vehicle waits or stages during your event and when it returns for pickup, so nobody in your group is left wondering where the bus went.
The Free BFT Shuttle vs. a Private Charter Bus or Party Bus Rental
Ben Franklin Transit runs a free shuttle straight to the fair every year, and it's worth knowing about even if your group ultimately books its own bus. Per the transit agency's Benton-Franklin Fair shuttle page, service runs all five fair days with pickups roughly hourly starting around 9 a.m. and stepping up to every 30 minutes from 4 p.m. to midnight, from six park-and-ride locations across Pasco, Kennewick, and Richland — including the south side of the HAPO Center in Pasco. The fair's own Ride BFT to the Fair page notes riders get "hassle-free arrival and departure through a dedicated gate" separate from the main Oak Street entrance.
That free shuttle is a real option for one or two people willing to drive to a park-and-ride first, find parking there, and ride in with strangers. It's a different proposition for a group of 20 that wants to stay together, keep its own schedule, and skip a second parking lot before it even reaches the fair. A private Pasco charter bus rental picks your whole group up at one address — a home, a workplace, a hotel — and takes them straight to the Oak Street gate, no transfer and no waiting for the next shuttle run.
| Option | Cost shape | Arrive together? | Drop point | Best group size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Private charter bus or party bus | One flat rate, split by the group | Yes — one pickup, one vehicle | Oak Street gate, direct | 14–56 |
| Free BFT fair shuttle | No cost, but you still drive to a park-and-ride | Only if you board together | Shuttle's dedicated gate | 1–4, no group control |
| Drive & park in the main lot | $15 per vehicle, per day | No — separate cars, separate spots | Main lot, then a walk to Oak Street | 1–4 per car |
| Rideshare | Per car, each way | No — multiple cars, multiple ETAs | Wherever the app can get close on Oak Street | 1–4 per car |
Charter Bus, Party Bus & Minibus Rental Sizes for the Benton Franklin Fair & Rodeo
Fair week groups run the full range, from a handful of family members catching opening night to a 50-person company outing at the grandstand. Compare the full vehicle lineup against the size and gear your fair trip actually needs.
| Vehicle | Typical seats | Good fit for | Key amenities |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sprinter van | Up to ~14 | Small family groups, a single 4-H family | Individual seating, A/C, easy in-and-out at one curb stop |
| 18-passenger minibus | ~18 | A 4-H club or youth livestock team | Overhead storage for show gear, climate control |
| 25-passenger minibus | ~25 | A church group or youth group headed to rodeo night | Reclining seats, A/C |
| 35-passenger minibus | ~35 | An office outing or extended-family fair day | Reclining seats, climate control |
| Party bus | ~15–40 | A birthday or adult group making the ride part of the night | LED lighting, sound system, wraparound seating |
| Charter bus | Up to 56 | Large reunions, company outings, grandstand concert groups | Onboard restroom, luggage bays, climate control |
School and 4-H groups touring the exhibit halls or livestock barns on a weekday afternoon, before the evening crowd shows up, are common enough during fair week that it's worth checking Pasco field trip transportation for daytime group rates separate from an evening rodeo run.
Benton Franklin Fair & Rodeo Bus Rental Prices
To give you an idea: a fair-week charter bus or party bus rental is shaped by four things — the vehicle size, the total hours booked (including the wait during the show), the specific date (a Saturday rodeo night prices differently than a Tuesday exhibit-hall visit), and the mileage from your pickup point. Rates move with all four, so the fastest way to a number for your date is a quick quote rather than a flat listed price.
A Fair Week Example
To give you an idea: a 28-person youth group books a 30-passenger minibus for a Saturday rodeo night. Pickup at 5:30 p.m. from Pasco, at the Oak Street gate by 6:00 p.m. — well ahead of the evening rush at the one paid lot. The group heads in, the bus clears the gate area, and pickup is arranged for 10:30 p.m., after the rodeo lets out.
A 5-hour rental at that size might run around $900, or roughly $32 a person — with the Oak Street crawl, the $15-a-car parking, and the walk back to a scattered lot all skipped in one number. Check Pasco bus rental prices for a broader sense of ranges by vehicle size, or call 509-410-9970 for a quote built around your date and headcount.
Getting to the Fairgrounds from Pasco, Kennewick & Richland
The Benton County Fairgrounds sit in Kennewick, which means most Tri-Cities groups are crossing the Columbia River to get there. Pasco traffic typically funnels south across the Blue Bridge (US-395) into Kennewick before working over to Oak Street; Richland groups generally come in on WA-240. None of those routes are unusual on an ordinary day — they back up specifically because fair week compresses everyone into that same single Oak Street gate during the same few evening hours.
The draw isn't only local. Richland's Queensgate area sits on the transit agency's own shuttle list too, which says something about how far the fair pulls from around the Tri-Cities on a given night.
A charter bus or party bus rental doesn't remove the crossing, but it does mean only one vehicle has to find the gate, and only one transportation provider's plan has to be right. For groups making a full weekend of it — a concert night plus a rodeo night, or a fair stop tied to another Tri-Cities event — Pasco group transportation services covers multi-stop itineraries beyond a single fairgrounds run.
Fair Week Rules That Affect Your Group
A few published rules are worth knowing before your group ever reaches the gate, straight from the fair's guest services page and pricing and info page:
Gate hours run Tuesday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., and Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to midnight. The 2026 fair runs August 25–29, five days total. Admission is $15 at the box office or $17 online for adults 13–64, and $5 box office / $6 online for youth 6–12 and seniors 65 and older; children 5 and under are free.
Bags are subject to search at the gate. The fair's own guidance lists empty, collapsed tote bags, small bags or purses, and backpacks used as diaper bags as acceptable; weapons, alcohol, marijuana, illegal drugs, bicycles, skateboards, outside food and drink, animals other than service animals, coolers, drones, and motorized vehicles are all prohibited, and items can't be left at the gate for storage. That last point matters for a bus group specifically — anything left behind rides back with the vehicle, not the gate staff.
Free wheelchairs and courtesy shuttle service are available at the main entrance for guests who need them, per the guest services page — worth flagging when you request your bus quote if part of your group needs that accommodation on top of the vehicle itself.
Leaving the Fairgrounds After the Rodeo
Getting out is where a single Oak Street gate turns from a minor inconvenience into the reason people remember fair week traffic. When a Saturday-night rodeo crowd lets out at once, the same $15 lot that took an hour to fill in the early evening empties out car by car, funneling everyone back through the same Oak Street and East 10th Avenue intersection they came in on.
A bus group sidesteps most of it by agreeing on a pickup time and spot before the group ever splits up. Because the fairgrounds don't publish a dedicated bus queue, the smart move is picking a landmark at the Oak Street gate that's easy to find in a dark, crowded parking area — not "the bus," but a specific, visible spot everyone in the group already knows before the rodeo starts. The bus clears the gate area during the show and comes back for that agreed window, rather than trying to sit and wait through the crowd.
What's on the Calendar at the 2026 Benton Franklin Fair & Rodeo
The Benton Franklin Fair & Rodeo has run for more than 75 years and calls itself, per its own about page, "the grand finale of summer in the Tri-Cities." The 2026 calendar breaks into two parts worth knowing before you book:
Kickoff weekend, Saturday, August 22, 2026 — a separate date before the main fair week. The Demolition Derby runs that Saturday, with cars required to arrive between 1:00 and 4:00 p.m. The same day, per the fair's Grand Parade page, the parade itself starts promptly at 10:00 a.m. in downtown Kennewick — a different location entirely from the fairgrounds, entering near 8th Avenue and Dayton via 10th Avenue.
A group planning to catch both the parade and the derby is really booking two stops, not one, and that's worth spelling out when you request a quote.
Main fair week, August 25–29, 2026 — five nights of the Horse Heaven Round-Up rodeo, with themed nights listed on the fair's own events page including Opening Night, My First Rodeo Night, Tough Enough to Wear Pink, Visiting Royalty Night, and Patriot Night, alongside the carnival, livestock exhibits, and grandstand entertainment that fill out the rest of the grounds.
Booking Your Benton Franklin Fair & Rodeo Charter Bus or Party Bus Rental
Locking in a bus for fair week comes down to three steps:
- Request a quote with your group size, pickup address, the specific fair date or event (rodeo night, kickoff weekend, or a daytime exhibit-hall visit), and how many hours you'll need the vehicle.
- Compare vehicles and pricing from a large network of bus companies serving Pasco, sized to your headcount — a Sprinter van for a dozen people prices differently than a 56-seat charter bus for a company outing.
- Set your pickup window. Agree on a return time and a specific meeting spot at the Oak Street gate before your group splits up inside, so the bus is ready when the rodeo lets out.
This is a comparison site, not a fairgrounds vendor — Pascominibuscompany.com connects your group to options from a large network of bus companies serving Pasco, and you compare vehicles and pricing before deciding anything. No account is required, and a quote takes about a minute online or a call to 509-410-9970.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where does a charter bus drop off at the Benton Franklin Fair & Rodeo?
The main gate is reached via Oak Street off East 10th Avenue, the same entrance used by cars and pedestrians. A secondary West Gate, with an information barn nearby, is also open during fair week. Neither is a dedicated motorcoach entrance, so a bus pulls up curbside, unloads the group, and clears the area rather than parking at the gate.
How much does parking cost at the fairgrounds?
The main lot runs $15 per vehicle, per day, purchased at the box office or online, per the fair's own pricing page. No separate rate is published for buses or oversized vehicles.
Is there a free shuttle to the fair?
Yes. Ben Franklin Transit runs a free shuttle from six park-and-ride locations in Pasco, Kennewick, and Richland during all five fair days, using a dedicated gate separate from the main Oak Street entrance. It's a solid option for one or two riders; a private charter bus or party bus rental is the better fit for a group that wants to stay together on one schedule.
What are the fair's gate hours in 2026?
Tuesday through Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.; Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to midnight. The 2026 fair runs August 25–29.
What's the bag policy?
Bags are subject to search. Empty, collapsed tote bags, small bags or purses, and backpacks used as diaper bags are acceptable. Weapons, alcohol, marijuana, illegal drugs, bicycles, skateboards, outside food and drink, animals other than service animals, coolers, and drones are prohibited, and items can't be left at the gate for storage.
How much does it cost to rent a bus to the Benton Franklin Fair & Rodeo?
Pricing depends on vehicle size, total hours booked, the specific date, and mileage from your pickup point. A quote takes about a minute online, or call 509-410-9970 for pricing built around your group.
What size vehicle fits our group?
A Sprinter van covers up to about 14 people; minibuses run from roughly 18 to 35 seats depending on the model; a party bus suits a group that wants the ride itself to be part of the night; and a full-size charter bus covers groups up to 56 with onboard luggage bays and a restroom for the ride home.
What roads back up during fair week?
Most Pasco-based groups cross the Blue Bridge (US-395) into Kennewick before working over to Oak Street; Richland groups typically come in on WA-240. The routes themselves aren't unusual — the fairgrounds' single Oak Street gate and single main lot are what compress traffic into a bottleneck during the evening rush before rodeo performances.
How do we handle pickup after dark?
Agree on a specific pickup time and a visible landmark at the Oak Street gate before your group splits up inside. Since there's no dedicated bus queue published for the fairgrounds, having that spot decided in advance keeps a large group from trying to relocate each other in a dark, crowded lot after the rodeo lets out.
Can school or 4-H groups book a daytime visit?
Yes — daytime exhibit-hall and livestock-barn visits, ahead of the evening crowds, are common during fair week. Pasco field trip transportation covers group rates for that kind of daytime run, separate from an evening rodeo booking.
How far in advance should we book?
As early as your date is set. Fair week only runs five nights a year, plus the kickoff weekend, so the right-size vehicle for a Saturday rodeo night or the demolition derby can book up before a weekday exhibit-hall visit would. Call 509-410-9970 as soon as your headcount and date are confirmed.
Book Your Bus to the Benton Franklin Fair & Rodeo Today
Whether it's a 4-H club heading to the livestock barns, a company outing at the grandstand, or a birthday group making a night of the Horse Heaven Round-Up, the fair only gives you one gate and one lot to work with — a private bus is what keeps your group out of the scramble for both. Compare vehicles and pricing through Pascominibuscompany.com online in about a minute, or call 509-410-9970 any time for a quote built around your fair-week date.
Also planning a game at Gesa Stadium or a show at the HAPO Center? Those guides cover their own drop-offs.
