THE excitement and action of any Warwick rodeo performance will set your blood pumping this weekend.
Each performance offers spectators a unique opportunity to watch the toughest cowboys and cowgirls from all-over the nation compete in an APRA sanctioned sporting event.
More than100 years of tradition and cowboy spirit combine to create the most welcoming and hospitable rodeo event in the country.
Riders enter in the hope of earning a paycheck and taking home a championship buckle or saddle.
The audience rolls up to experience the thrill of rough stock events like bareback riding, saddle bronc riding and bull riding, while admiring the horsemanship essential for timed events like steer wrestling, team roping and barrel racing.
The must-see is the “Melbourne Cup” of campdrafting, the Warwick Gold Cup, regarded as the Australian Championship Campdraft. Riders and horses travel from every mainland state to compete.
The Warwick community throws down the welcome mat not only at the rodeo grounds for competitors and spectators, but also downtown.
Warwick really turns it up with the Rose and Rodeo Festival Friday night Mardi gras and Saturday’s Warwick Credit Union street parade.
True to a carnival atmosphere, the kids won’t know where to start with amusement rides, carousels, pony rides, jumping castles, laughing clowns, face-painting and hook-a-duck stalls at Friday night’s street carnival.
For rodeo enthusiasts keen to know how they would handle eight seconds on a bull, Cyclone the Mechanical Bull will be wired up for some high-flying fun.
Centre stage outside the Town Hall will host an impressive array of talent including dance groups, bands and the field of contenders for the Buchner Family Celebrity Horse Race, along with two-times Starmaker finalist Jess Holland.
This year’s Big Hats Brave Hearts Warwick Credit Union street parade promises a colourful, visual feast representative of Warwick’s exceptional schools, businesses and community groups as well as signposting signature events that give visitors a great reason to return.
The parade kicks off in downtown Warwick at noon on Saturday 26 October, with good vantage points all along the Palmerin Street route.
Large, colourful and a-buzz with atmosphere, the Leslie Park Markets from 9am to 2pm on Saturday boast more than 100 stalls showcasing the best and most original of the region.
Dust off your boots and “cowboy up” with your Wrangler jeans and a shiny belt buckle to visit the Warwick Rodeo – “Australia’s Oldest and Most Famous”.
