That Famous Preston Night Rodeo set to begin Thursday

PRESTON – The 84th annual celebration of That Famous Preston Night Rodeo begins August 1, 2019 and runs through August 3rd.

Thousands of people are expected to descend upon the small city of Preston for three full days of entertainment.

In addition to the nightly rodeo, activities include the State Street sidewalk sale, food and craft booths at Benson Park, and a nightly parade.

We call it a million dollar weekend for Preston,” according to Rodeo Chairman Kris Beckstead. “We sell 15,000 tickets and have 300 cowboys come to town.”

“More families come home for rodeo then come home for Christmas. We have all the class reunions at rodeo time because they know people are going to be in town. This is just a really big deal and I love it,” she exclaimed.

The rodeo has been voted the best rodeo in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) Wilderness Circuit for the last 6 years, said Beckstead. “We attract the best cowboys because they like our stock and our crowd.”

“Our crowd is always a sell out,” she said. “They’re loud, enthusiastic and they’re involved. That kind of excitement goes over to the cowboys that are performing. We are pretty proud.”

Something new this year, explained Beckstead, will be women’s breakaway roping. The event is comparable to men’s tie-down roping, except the cowgirls are not required to dismount and tie the calf.

“We are one of the lucky rodeos that gets them. It’s very entertaining. It’s a crowd pleaser. It goes really fast, so we are going to start this year and check it out. If everybody loves it, we’ll keep it on the docket,” she said.

No rodeo is complete without an entertaining clown and Beckstead said they have one of the best on tap. John Harrison has been the PRCA clown at National Finals Rodeo for the last couple of years and “we love him,” she said. “I have to book clowns three years ahead because we get the most popular ones.”

The specialty act for this year’s rodeo will feature Felix Santana and his Andalusian stallion, Romano.

This year’s announcer is Andy Seilor. He is fairly new to the profession and has won a number of awards.

There are limited tickets still available for all three nights of the rodeo.

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1 Comment

  • From Tom Hirsig, CEO, Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo, in the July 27, 2018 WYOMING TRIBUNE EAGLE:

    “If it gets to the point where people think rodeo is inhumane or cruel, they quit coming, and then we’re out of business.”

    Rodeo’s days are numbered, and rightly so. For most of the exploited and unwilling animals involved, the rodeo arena is merely a detour en route to the slaughterhouse.

    Be aware that nearly EVERY animal welfare organization in North America condemns rodeo due to its inherent cruelty. Most of rodeo is bogus from the git-go. REAL working ranch hands never routinely rode bulls, or rode bareback, or wrestled steers, or practiced calf roping (babies!) as a timed event. Nor did they barrel race, which ruins the horses for more practical work (so says Larry McMurtry, author of the cowboys’ fave, “Lonesome Dove”). And they certainly did not put flank straps on the bulls and horses, nor work them over with painful “hotshots,” kicks and slaps in the holding chutes. Some “sport”! Only a tiny fraction of the nation’s 5,000 annual rodeos require on-site veterinary care for injured animals, and injuries and deaths are routine. The rule should be, “NO VET, NO RODEO.”

    Indeed, rodeo is not a “sport” at all. That word denotes willing, evenly-matched participants. Rodeo does not qualify. Rather, it’s an exercise in DOMINATION, and often blatantly sexist at that. The United Kingdom outlawed rodeos back in 19334. The rest of the world should follow suit. The animals (and we) deserve better.

    BOYCOTT ALL RODEOS AND THEIR CORPORATE SPONSORS AND ADVERTISERS. Follow the money.

    x
    Eric Mills, coordinator
    ACTION FOR ANIMALS
    Oakland, CA

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