Rigby Stampede Days starts ‘Roping the Future’ Friday
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RIGBY — It’s time for Stampede Days in Rigby. The two-day event will be held Friday, June 16 and Saturday, June 17. In time-honored tradition, activities will include a rotary breakfast, parade, vendors in the park and — of course — a rodeo. This year’s theme is Roping the Future.
The fun all starts when the gates at the fairgrounds open at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. The rodeo queens will be crowned at 6:30 p.m. and mutton bustin’ (that’s little kids riding sheep) will be at 7:30 p.m. The rodeo will start at 8 p.m.
“We’ll have bareback, saddle bronc and timed events,” Park and Rodeo president Carl Anderson told EastIdahoNews.com. The rodeo, he said, usually finishes up around 10 or 10:30 p.m.
Presale tickets do not guarantee you a seat, fair organizers noted on Facebook and they suggest arriving early.
The rotary breakfast will be held at the fairgrounds, from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Saturday. The rodeo queens will be there introducing themselves, Anderson said. Breakfast will be $8 per individual or $30 for a family.
After breakfast, head over to Main Street, where the Stampede Parade will begin at 10 a.m. It will start on the corner of First North and Second West, turn on Third West, then turn again to go down Main Street and end at Rigby City Park, on First North.
Vendors will be set up at the park from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. This year will include local favorites like The Popcorn People, Grandma’s Pantry, Grubslingers and more. And there will be vendors “selling their wares,” too, Anderson said. There will also be live entertainment at the park throughout the day.
Back at the fairgrounds, the Wells Barney Memorial Horse Pull will take place at 1 p.m. Saturday. This is the event’s 11th year.
“If you’ve never seen a horse pull,” Anderson said, “I’d highly encourage you to come over and watch it.”
The teams of draft horses pulling up to 9,000 pounds is always a crowd-pleaser.
“We’re getting a bigger crowd every year,” Anderson noted. “We get (competing) teams from around the area, Utah, Wyoming — even Minnesota, a couple years ago.”
Riding group Americana will present the flag before Saturday evening’s mutton bustin’ will once again start at 7:30 p.m. and the rodeo will begin at 8 p.m.