The annual National Western Stock Show began over a century ago, in 1906. This event is Colorado’s largest agricultural show and one of the world’s richest regular-season professional rodeos. This event lasts for 16 days in January, and this year it ended on the 21st of January. The number of people that attend goes up to 700,000 people each year. This year reached the top 10 in attendance out of all of the 118 years that this has been going on. For those who are unaware of what the stock show is, farmers and ranchers from all around the Midwest bring in their animals to show them off, auction them, breed them, and put them into shows that they could win. The rodeo, on the other hand, is a competition not between animals but between people. People compete to do specific events in a certain amount of time, and then they get scored on how well they do. This event is such a staple within the culture and this community.

The Three Flag Ceremony performed at the beginning of every RodeoMany people are not big on putting Christmas lights up too early, but a tradition for not all but many people in Colorado is to keep Christmas lights up–if they celebrate– until the Stock Show has ended, so you can see the rodeo isn’t just for cowboys, but it’s for anyone that wants to enjoy a good time. My family has been lucky enough to get tickets from my dad’s work and be able to attend both the stock show and the rodeo. Sometimes we even have enough tickets to invite some friends, and it is always best to spread something different than what we experience in our everyday lives. It has made such a big impact on my life that I even dressed up as a rodeo announcer for Halloween one year.

Although the stock show is super cool to see the different ways of life that people have, along with the hundreds of booths that sell all types of souvenirs and different things like that (pictured above), my favorite part of this time of the year is the rodeo that happens each night. The events that are included within the rodeo are bareback horse riding, saddleback riding, barrel races, mutton busting, steer wrestling, tie-down roping, team roping, and one of my favorites, bull riding. These events are a variety of rough-stock events and timed events. Each one of these events requires specific skills to even attempt. Many contestants from all around the world compete; this year we even had one from Australia. They put their lives on the line to do the things that they love. Another one of my favorite parts of the rodeo is the clown; he’s mic’d up and never fails to make the whole crowd laugh, either in between events or between contestants. You may think this is a pretty simple and easy job, but he also puts his life on the line; he stays in the arena during the events, and during the bull riding event, he gets put into a barrel, and if the crowd gets lucky, the bull will go after it every once in a while.

The National Western Stock Show and Rodeo is such a unique and amazing annual event that our state is so fortunate to have hosted for the last 118 years. This event is something that has made an impact on me personally, and it will live with me forever. If it continues, maybe one day my own family will witness how fun it is for themselves.