Already in full swing, Tucson’s annual Rodeo is stirring up the dust. With its opening day this past Saturday, the nine-day La Fiesta de los Vaqueros, “Celebration of the Cowboys,” is rounding up cowboys and cowgirls donned in cowhide leather boots and dusty flannels, cheering on professional bull riding and barrel racing. It is not too late to jump in on the festivities and experience “one of the top 25 professional rodeo events in North America.”
For 85 years, Tucson pays homage to its Wild West roots and frontier days by hosting the Tucson Rodeo that celebrates the region’s southwestern spirit with professional sporting events and a parade. The year of 1925 marked this city’s dedication for a traditional and competitive western sporting event that has continued to excite spectators to this day. The rodeo was established during the prohibition era when stills and moonshine were captured and destroyed. It was the president of the Arizona Polo Association’s, Leighton Kramer, intention to attract tourists during the winter months and unstable era to create an event that revives the “heroic memories” and the “Old Frontier.”
The Tucson Rodeo kicked off the event this past weekend with steer wrestling , tie-down and team roping, and the Dodge Mutton Bustin’ and Justin Junior Rodeo for the little ones. Next up mid-week is barrel racing slack and gold card team roping. Then Thursday starting at 9a.m. the Rodeo Parade will keep the excitement and celebrating going as “more than 200,000 people enjoy the western-themed floats and buggies, historic horse-drawn coaches, festive Mexican folk dancers, marching bands and outfitted riders.” The parade is a glimpse into tradition and the Old West, when audiences practically expect to hear The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’s western, classic theme song right before it starts, breaking into the anticipation and hush that carpets the crowd.
Throughout the week until the final performance on this upcoming Sunday, according to the Events page on www.tucsonrodeo.com, the Tucson Rodeo features seven professional rodeo events: bareback riding, steer wrestling, saddle bronc riding, tie-down roping, team roping, bull riding and women’s barrel racing. These events then are defined by “two types of competitions – roughstock events and timed events.” For the audience, there is never a dull moment while watching a cowboy attempting to stay aboard a bucking bull as he uses only one hand or during the roping of a steer as the cowboy rides horseback.
More than 50,000 people attend the Tucson Rodeo to see who wins the $350,000 cash prizes or to shop through an assortment of authentic cowboy hats. A portion of the proceeds benefit the Susan G. Komen Foundation and the University of Arizona scholarship fund. Families may also be interested in the week-long “Rodeo Education and Children (REACh), [which] is a fun, educational program that celebrates the historic sport of rodeo and spirit of the American West.”
For more information, please visit www.tucsonrodeo.com.
