The 71st annual rodeo gallops into the fairgrounds on August 3-6, with four nights of bucking horses, mean bulls, cowboys and cowgirls, and plenty of fun family entertainment!
Miss Rodeo Kansas State Brooke Wallace will be at the rodeo, riding in the grand entry and parade and signing autographs each night. She will also visit the Abilene Public Library on August 2 at 3 pm.
Rodeo clown Gizmo McCracken returns to Abilene with his brand of funny (and his ambulance), and Sammy Andrews Rodeo Co. brings the bucking horses and bulls. Abilene resident Ethan McDonald returns as a bullfighter, and Scotty Spencer steps in as bullfighter, to replace the retiring Dustin Brewer.
The rodeo and fair are much anticipated by kids and their parents alike. Dustin Deweese, an Abilene native and Market President of the Pinnacle Bank, grew up in town and estimates he’s missed the rodeo only about three of his forty-three years. “I looked forward to it,” he said. “Fair time, as a child, is one of a kid’s favorite times of the year, and the rodeo is a huge part of that.”
Deweese now has four kids of his own, three daughters, ages eleven, eight, and two, and a son, who is three, and they anxiously wait for rodeo week. “The two youngest ones are just getting cranked up (for rodeo), he said, but the two older ones really enjoy it.”
The older girls love watching the barrel racing, but the whole family enjoys the bull riding. The girls “like the barrels because it’s girls on horses, and they like the bull riding because it’s the scariest.” He also enjoys the bull riding. “To see the rush those guys go through, it’s pretty cool, and it’s one of the most dangerous sports in the world, if not the most dangerous. To sit front and center, and see some of the best athletes in the world come through Abilene, Kansas is pretty cool stuff. There’s some unbelievable talent.”
The rodeo parade is at 4 pm on August 4, and the carnival runs August 3-7. The demo derby is August 7-8, and the truck and tractor pull, featuring the NK Pullers Association, is August 7.
Tickets are available July 11 and cost $10 in advance ($7 for children ages four through ten) and $13 at the gate. They can be purchased online at CKFF.net and at various local retailers, including Astra Bank, First Bank of Kansas, Great Plains Federal Credit Union, Pinnacle Bank, Solomon State Bank, and West’s Plaza Country Mart. A full list of ticket outlets can be found online at CKFF.net.
For more information, visit the rodeo’s website at WildBillHickokRodeo.com or call the fairgrounds office at 785.263.4570.