Idaho’s oldest rodeo, the War Bonnet Roundup, returns this week to Idaho Falls for the 108th Anniversary Celebration.
Held every year during the first weekend in August, this rodeo event is a PRCA sanctioned event. This year’s event will begin July 31 to August 3 at the Sandy Downs Arena.
Each night of the rodeo gates will open at 5 p.m. with pre-rodeo events beginning at 7 p.m. The main PRCA rodeo events follow at 8 p.m. Seating is based on a first come first serve basis.
Bud Cranor, the public information officer for the city of Idaho Falls shared all the details.
“We are gonna have hundreds of some of the best, most talented and exciting cowboys and cowgirls in the world decending upon Idaho Falls this weekend to compete in the War Bonnet in some of the most exciting rodeo action they are going to find anywhere,” Cranor said.
Each night hosts a different program with different focuses every night.
“Any night that people wanna come there will be some great rodeo action. We have a lot of people who are gonna come for all three nights, and we have some that will just come for one or two,” Cranor said.
The first night is the Downtown Kickoff in the heart of Idaho Falls. This event is free will include horse-drawn trolley rides, carnival games, photo booths, face painting and entertainment. One of the main attractions will be a downtown arena featuring free-style bullfighting. A live wild-west shoot-out will also take place. The kickoff event is on B St. in between Capital Ave. and Park Ave.
The next evening is Family Night which includes lots of family friendly activities and entertainment especially selected for people of all ages. Prior to the main events there will be a dozen free activities for kids including arts and crafts, games and a petting zoo.
On Aug. 2 the rodeo shows their support in the fight against breast cancer with their “Tough Enough to Wear Pink Night” where everyone is invited to wear pink. The last evening of this year’s celebration is a salute to the Veterans night, where they keep the focus on those who have served our country.
“Any night you come you are gonna be in for a treat because it is just some of the most exciting rodeo action anywhere,” Cranor said.
There are a large eleven events being featured in the PRCA rodeo.
“One of my favorite events is the Saddle Bronc Riding. It’s amazing to see the talent ride those horses and how high they jump and how they spin and buck and it’s really crazy to watch,” Cranor said.
This year a brand new event is coming for the first time to the War Bonnet, which is the women’s breakaway roping competition.
“It is one of the first rodeos really in the area to feature that and this is really kind of an up-and-coming sport for a lot of our women athletes to come out and participate with us,” Cranor said, “So we are really excited for that.”
Ticket vendors and the entire schedule of events can be found online at their website, https://warbonnetroundup.org/events.php