From horses to a petting zoo without animals, theres yet another slew of events marking the final weekend of June if you find yourself out and about in the Billings area. Saddle up; theres a lot to cover with just this trio of e vents out of many others happening this weekend.Spark Some Fun 2026When: All weekend long (8pm Friday, June 26 - 9pm Sunday, June 28)Where: MetraParkIf you have ever heard of AQHA showmanship horse shows, than you know they are all about equine class. Organizers for Spark Some Fun 2026 say this is the perfect start for amateur riders to break in their saddles and get their feet wet in competition. The Montana Quarter Horse Association Amateurs returns to Billings with this event, bringing you an opportunity to check out what Open Show is all about. Organizers also say this is a great way to get folks from outside of the AQHA circuit involved, so feel free to bring a friend. You can find out more from the Spark Some Fun 2026 page on Facebook.Big Machine Petting ZooWhen: 10am-12pm Saturday, June 27Where: Billings Public LibraryAt some point in our lives, weve been to a petting zoo, fed chickens and goats in their paddocks, and scrounged around for quarters to make that happen. This is a different sort of petting zoo, entirely. Starting at 10am on Saturday, you will notice that the parking lot of the Billings Public Library will have a few new occupants, including some heavy machinery and emergency vehicles. In this case, those are your animals. The Big Machine Petting Zoo is set to bring all sorts of machinery and equipment to the Magic City, featuring everything from emergency and construction equipment to city vehicles. Families and their kids will get up-close experiences with these various apparati, with their operators standing close, at-hand, to teach them everything they know about how they work and what they are used for. You can find out more on the Billings Public Library website.Field Day at ZooMontanaWhen: 12pm Saturday, June 27Where (or QTH): ZooMontanaPut away your old boat anchors and mind your rubber ducks for this weekends Field Day at ZooMontana. If you are a fan of ham radios, that first sentence will make more sense. In other words, QRV for a big day for hams, over? Im done, I promise. The stage is set this weekend for the Yellowstone Radio Club to bring their STEM outreach program to the zoo in full ham radio splendor. Once you get more details at the gate, youll be able to find three active stations throughout the zoo, letting enthusiasts tap into various modes of communication on a nationally-recognized occasion where ham radio operators from across the nation spark up their mics and join in on the same conversation, or QSO (theyve been doing so since 1933). Organizers say participants can tap into single-band (voice), CW (morse) and FT-8 (digital) technology all at the same venue. ...read more read less