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Crowds gather every year to cheer on competitors in the Timberworks Lumberjack Show at the Minnesota State Fair. The show takes place on the North Woods stage in the northeastern corner of the fairgrounds with four daily shows in the afternoon and evening.
Timberworks Lumberjack Show is based in Hayward, Wis., and travels across the country year-round, showcasing the skills of lumberjacks and lumberjills. For over two decades, the show has made a stop at the fair. Axe throwing, logrolling, speed climbing and boom running are four of several sports featured at the event.
For lumberjill Alivia Poppe, who is from Hayward, participating in lumberjack sports has been a fun-filled endeavor that began when she was a youth.
Now, at the age of 19, Poppe holds the title of world champion boom runner in the women’s category, which she earned last month at the 2025 Lumberjack World Championships in Hayward, home to the annual championships.
“I’ve been dreaming of this for so long, just like getting a real title — boom running at Worlds,” Poppe said.
In boom running, competitors run as fast as they can from dock to dock on logs strung together across a pool of water. The sport requires speed, agility and balance. The first competitor to fall into the water loses.
“It’s not a huge sport for women, so I just think it’s so inspirational for little girls to be, like, ‘Oh my gosh, like, she’s so cool,’” Poppe said as one of her reasons for continuing to participate in lumberjack sports, which was historically male dominated.
The origins of lumberjack competitions date back as far as the 19th century, when westward expansion was occurring rapidly. The logging industry in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin was crucial in the development of construction and other necessities.
Camps of loggers would chop and gather timber wood throughout the fall and winter, and each claimed and aspired to have the best workers. These claims resulted in the start of informal competition between varying camps of loggers. The competitions have since grown into what are now modern-day competitions and shows.
Poppe showcased her skill in boom running in Sunday’s afternoon shows against fellow lumberjill Samantha LaSalle. Like her opponent, LaSalle began her journey into the world of lumberjack sports at a young age, after her mother signed her up for logrolling school.
“I’ve been doing this since I was five. So, maybe it wasn’t as popular for girls or women to do all of these sports, but now that my kids can grow up and see it be so normal for gals to be competing, it makes me feel good to be a part of that,” LaSalle said.
In addition to being a competitor, the 36-year-old is the event director for the Lumberjack World Championships. LaSalle says despite the image of the sport being associated with men, there was a record number of women participating in the world championships this year, stating nearly half of all competitors were women.
“I feel like it’s a trend nationwide, women in sports but we’re seeing it here in our little sport, which is really fun,” she said. She says the show at the fair has showcased lumberjills for several years.
LaSalle and Poppe were pitted against each other in a best-of-three logroll competition while a crowd of spectators cheered them on. The first to lose their balance and fall into the water twice would lose the competition.
Poppe came out victorious as the show’s logroll champion.
Like many, spectators Nick Partington and Sydney Roston have been making the lumberjacks show a stop during their State Fair experience. This was their third year in a row stopping by.
“I feel like there’s something new every year that we see, even though we’ve come here many times. So, this is one of our mainstays,” said Partington.
Roston shared that watching lumberjills in the competition was inspiring.
“It’s fun to see women doing things that you know traditionally you wouldn't think of them doing,” Roston said.
For other spectators like Nora Guerin, the show on Sunday was their first time attending. She found the logrolling activity and crowd engagement to be particularly exciting.
“I like that they had both men and women participating, and it’s obvious that they’ve practiced and do this often,” Guerin said. “It’s really good for young people to learn, actually, for everyone to learn, that women do the same things that men do.”
At the end of the show, both the lumberjacks and lumberjills greeted those who watched them compete, including a crowd of youth who were eager to meet them. Poppe and LaSalle both smiled and signed autographs for the youth who approached them.
“The crowds here are just really good. It makes our job really easy, because you can just come out and, like, even if you're having a bad day or you're not in the best mood, they're cheering, and you can't help but, like, smile and just be into it and happy,” LaSalle said.
Poppe says lumberjack sports have led her to become the lead instructor at Namekagon River Rollers, a logrolling school in Hayward.
“I just really wanted to push myself and know that women can do it. And, you know, just empower women just to try anything,” Poppe said.
State fairgoers can watch the Timberworks Lumberjack Show daily at 12 p.m., 3 p.m., 5:30 p.m., and 7 p.m.
Chandra Colvin covers Native American communities in Minnesota for MPR News via Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues and communities.
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