On the last full weekend of October every year, the nation’s top rodeo riders and the best broncs and bucking bulls gather for the Warwick Rodeo – known far and wide as “Australia’s Most Famous”.
The riders and the bucking stock come together to try and prove the old saying wrong – “never the horse that couldn’t be rode, never the rider that couldn’t be throwed”.
Warwick Rodeo was immortalized in song by Australian country music legend Buddy Williams in the early 1940s but well before then, Warwick had a tradition of horsemanship and great riders to match the city’s sandstone buildings, fine churches, rose gardens and wide, tree-lined streets.
Today, Warwick Rodeo and Gold Cup Campdraft attracts crowds in excess of 30,000 people with competitors and horses travelling from every mainland state to compete.
From 25 October to 31 October, after a year hiatus due to Covid-19, the Rodeo is back and better than ever.
This year they will continue to host the APRA National Finals, where Australia’s top Cowboys and Cowgirls will compete for their titles.
The Gold Cup Campdraft is known as the Melbourne Cup of campdrafting and the Warwick Show & Rodeo Society can’t wait to welcome the competitors back to the arena.
The event has pushed through a few tough years with drought and the issues it posed with water security.
Now, thanks to not only the recent rain but the Society investing in measures to ensure the grounds have a reduced impact on the urban utilities, things are looking up.
The Events and Marketing team have worked closely with Queensland Health, and will deliver a Covid Safe event for patrons.
The event is hosted in the picturesque Southern Downs with stunning waterfalls to one side and tantalizing wineries on the other.
The Warwick Show & Rodeo Society can’t wait to invite visitors to our region to enjoy some good old country hospitality, enjoy the spectacle that is the Rodeo and Campdraft and kick up the dust into the night with live entertainment.
Championship events include the saddle bronc, open bull ride, open bareback, APRA NFR rope and tie, steer wrestling, team roping, ladies barrel race, and ladies breakawat roping.
Second division events include saddle bronc, bull ride, and bareback.
Junior events include steer ride, barrel race, and breakaway roping.
In house events include the Brian Aspinall Memorial Mens Stock Saddle Buckjump, ladies poley buckjump, ladies steer ride, mule ride, and local barrel race.
For an entry form please email events@warwickrodeo.com.au
