Preston, Idaho, the farm town where Napoleon Dynamite was filmed, is about 152 miles and three hours from downtown Provo, by an OpenStreetMap routing estimate (OSRM, no traffic) from Center Street and University Avenue to Preston High School. The route: I-15 north to Brigham City, US-89/91 through Sardine Canyon into Cache Valley, then US-91 north through Logan and over the Idaho line.
What you will find there: a real high school, a burger stand that serves tots, a handful of filming locations you can see from the street, and two private houses you should not knock on. What you will probably not find on a random weekend is a festival. The row on our roadmap calls this "the Napoleon Dynamite Day," and we could not verify that any such annual day exists in 2026. Here is what we could verify, and how to make the trip worth three hours each way.
The festival, and why we cannot promise one
There have been Napoleon Dynamite festivals in Preston. They have not been continuous, as far as any source we could read shows.
- 2005. NPR's Weekend Edition covered an upcoming festival in Preston, coordinated by the Preston Chamber of Commerce, with tater-tot-eating contests, a moon boots dance contest, look-alike contests and fireworks spelling "Vote for Pedro." The chamber told NPR it had logged about 6,000 visitors since January of that year.
- 2024. For the film's 20th anniversary, the Preston Area Chamber of Commerce hosted what East Idaho News called "Preston's first-ever Napoleon Fest" on July 26 and 27, 2024. The schedule on the festival's website included self-guided and school bus tours of film sites, a tot-eating contest, a liger drawing contest, a tetherball tournament, a longest-football-toss contest, a Preston High School tour and a screening of the movie at the high school.
In October 2026, napoleonfest.com still listed only the July 2024 dates, and searches turned up no announced 2025 or 2026 festival. That does not mean it will never return. It means you should not drive north expecting one unless the chamber has announced it.
If you want a big summer weekend in Preston, the event that reliably happens is the rodeo, below.
Why Idaho's Legislature wrote a resolution about it
The film's place in Idaho is official, in a cheerful way. In April 2005, the Idaho Legislature adopted House Concurrent Resolution 29, "commending Jared and Jerusha Hess and the City of Preston for the production of the movie 'Napoleon Dynamite.'" The House adopted it 69 to 0, and the Senate by voice vote.
The text, which you can read on the Legislature's website, is a run of "whereas" clauses that play it straight. Among them: that "tater tots figure prominently in this film thus promoting Idaho's most famous export," that "Uncle Rico's football skills are a testament to Idaho athletics," that Napoleon's bicycle and Kip's skateboard "promote better air quality," and that Preston High School's staff, "particularly the cafeteria staff, have enjoyed notoriety and worldwide attention." It also notes that Jared Hess is a native Idahoan educated in Idaho public schools.
For a Provo reader there is a local thread too: the filmmakers were BYU alumni, and the movie premiered at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. Our Sundance history covers that premiere, and our BYU history for non-alumni places it in the university's story.
The film sites, and the line you do not cross
The movie was filmed in Preston in 2003, according to East Idaho News. Most of the places are ordinary parts of a small town that people still live, work and go to school in.
Preston High School, 151 E. 2nd South. East Idaho News reported in 2024 that the lockers are "really that colorful." This is an active public school. See it from the street, and do not wander the halls on a school day. The 2024 festival offered an organized tour; that is how you get inside.
The tetherball pole at the elementary school was still standing in 2024, per the same report. It is a school playground. Look from outside the fence, especially during school hours.
Napoleon's house is, in East Idaho News' words, "several miles northeast of town," and "an elderly farmer currently lives in the Napoleon house." Pedro's house is the other big draw. Both are private homes. If you go, stay on the public road, do not block a farm driveway, and do not walk onto the property for a photo. We are not printing either address, for that reason.
Tots. Big J Burgers, 196 N. State St., served tots "like those in the movie" during the 2024 festival, according to East Idaho News. Google listed its hours in October 2026 as 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, closed Sunday. If you were planning this as a Sunday drive, check hours for anywhere you want to eat.
A practical point: the festival organizer in 2024 built a Google Map of film locations, and fan maps circulate online. Use them for orientation, not as permission to stop at someone's mailbox.
The rodeo: the summer weekend that does happen
That Famous Preston Night Rodeo calls itself the first night rodeo in the world. Its history page says it started in 1934 and has run every year since except one during World War II, when "all the cowboys were in the army."
The 2026 rodeo ran Thursday through Saturday, July 30, July 31 and Aug. 1. Its website said tickets were sold out, with all seats reserved and priced at $18 (child seats, ages 12 and under, $14), sold only through rodeoticket.com starting May 1. The rodeo warns in capital letters that scalpers resold tickets and that anyone asking more than $22, or asking you to create an account, is not the official seller. The Herald Journal reported that the rodeo sold out every night and plans to add a fourth night.
Around the rodeo, the schedule on its site lists a parade at 6 p.m. each rodeo night, a carnival after the parade, a sidewalk sale at Benson Park, a golf tournament and a Saturday chuck wagon breakfast. The rodeo itself starts at 8:30 p.m., which means a three-hour drive home after 10:30 p.m. Most people from Utah Valley who go either book a room in Logan or plan on a very late night.
If you want to go in 2027, watch for ticket sales opening in spring. The rodeo's dates fall between Cheyenne Frontier Days and Utah's Days of '47, which its history page credits for drawing top cowboys.
Two stops that make the drive about more than a movie
The Bear River Massacre site
Just north of Preston on US-91 is Wuda Ogwa, the site of the Bear River Massacre. On Jan. 29, 1863, soldiers from Fort Douglas attacked a winter camp of Shoshone people along the Bear River. Brad Parry, vice chairman of the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation, told the Bureau of Land Management in 2023 that "about 500" of his people were killed there.
The Band has purchased 550 acres of the site and plans an amphitheater, walking trails and a cultural interpretive center, according to the BLM's account of a November 2023 volunteer day. Before 1863, the BLM wrote, this was a gathering place where the Band's ancestors camped and held the Warm Dance each year, with artifacts dating back at least 3,000 years. Volunteers planted about 8,500 trees and shrubs along Battle Creek and the Bear River that day, part of a restoration that began in 2013.
There is a roadside monument by the highway, and Google Maps lists a separate memorial park with an overlook a short way up the road. Treat it as what it is: the site of a mass killing, being restored by the descendants of the people who died there. If you bring children, read the markers with them first. It is one of the most important historic places in the region, and it is on the same highway as the rest of this day.
Franklin, Idaho's first town
Franklin is about seven miles southeast of Preston, back toward Utah. KTVB reports it was settled on April 14, 1860, and that it was only after the boundary was surveyed in 1872 that the town was found to be in Idaho. In 1910 Idaho's governor officially designated it the state's first settlement. Its small Relic Hall museum is at 113 E. Main St.; Google lists no regular hours, so call ahead at (208) 646-2290 if you want to go inside.
Putting the day together
A school-year Saturday (the festival is not running, the school is closed, the town is quiet):
- Leave Provo by 8 a.m.
- Stop in Logan for breakfast; our Logan and Cache Valley guide has the dairy stops on the way.
- Preston by late morning: the high school from the street, the downtown, lunch and tots on State Street.
- Bear River Massacre site and the overlook, north on US-91.
- Franklin on the way home.
- Back in Provo by early evening.
Rodeo weekend (late July or early August, if you have tickets):
- Leave Provo early afternoon.
- Preston by 4:30 p.m., parade at 6, rodeo at 8:30.
- Stay in Logan, or plan on reaching Provo well after 1 a.m.
Is it worth three hours each way?
On a plain Saturday, for the movie alone, it is a lot of driving for a school, a burger stand and two houses you should only see from the road. It becomes a good day when you pair it: Cache Valley on the way up, the massacre site and Franklin for the history, and a stop at Bear Lake if you return through Logan Canyon in summer. Fans of the film who can wait should watch the Preston Area Chamber of Commerce for any sign of another Napoleon Fest; that is when the town opens the doors that are normally closed.
For more drives in this direction, see our list of day trips from Provo, and our guide to Lava Hot Springs, which is farther north in Idaho.
Frequently Asked Questions
How far is Preston, Idaho from Provo?
Is there a Napoleon Dynamite festival in Preston every year?
Can you visit Napoleon's house from the movie?
Is Preston High School open to visitors?
Where can I get tater tots in Preston?
Did Idaho really pass a resolution about Napoleon Dynamite?
When is the Preston Night Rodeo?
What else is near Preston?
Sources
The facts in this guide were checked against these sources. Hours, fees and rules change, so confirm anything time-sensitive with the source before you go. How we make Provo.com.
- House Concurrent Resolution No. 29 (2005): Napoleon Dynamite, bill status and text, Idaho Legislature. Checked October 19, 2026.
- Restoration at Wuda Ogwa: A time of healing (Nov. 20, 2023, archived), Bureau of Land Management. Checked October 19, 2026.
- Napoleon Fest (festival website, still showing July 26-27, 2024), Napoleon Fest. Checked October 19, 2026.
- That Famous Preston Night Rodeo: home, tickets and history pages, That Famous Preston Night Rodeo. Checked October 19, 2026.
- That Famous Preston Night Rodeo: events schedule, That Famous Preston Night Rodeo. Checked October 19, 2026.
- Have a 'killer time' at Preston's first-ever Napoleon Fest (July 6, 2024), East Idaho News. Checked October 19, 2026.
- A Sweet Festival for Napoleon Dynamite Fans (Weekend Edition transcript, 2005), NPR. Checked October 19, 2026.
- That Famous Preston Night Rodeo sells out again, plans fourth night, The Herald Journal. Checked October 19, 2026.
- Franklin, Idaho: first permanent settlement, 1860, KTVB. Checked October 19, 2026.
- OSRM route service (OpenStreetMap data), driving estimates from Center St & University Ave, Provo, Project OSRM. Checked October 19, 2026.
- Google Places listings: Preston High School, Big J Burgers, Bear River Massacre Site, Bear River Memorial Park, Franklin Relic Hall, Google. Checked October 19, 2026.
