Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo Returns to Springs This Weekend | Arts & Entertainment

The Pikes Peak region is rodeo country.

The Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo has been a community staple since 1936, having only been off for three years during World War II and one year during the pandemic. Not only does it entertain 30,000 fans, but net proceeds are donated to help support quality of life initiatives for active duty military families in the area.

“The whole purpose of the rodeo is to continue to promote, advance and celebrate Western culture and the Western way of life,” said rodeo board chairman Chris Whitney. “We’re all about active duty military families, while reminding everyone that this is not Connecticut and that we are the West and we love doing things that are Western.”

And a few years ago, when the rodeo partnered with the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and became the NFR (National Finals Rodeo) Open at Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo, our local event became even brighter in the eyes of cowboys and cowgirls across North America.

Instead of five shows in four days, there are now seven shows in five days. Champions from a dozen professional rodeo circuits around the country, along with champions from Mexico and Canada, all descend on Colorado Springs.

“We’re playing on a bigger stage now,” Whitney said. “It’s become a destination rodeo, one of the biggest rodeos in the country. Competitors are competing for a million dollars in prize money. There’s a nice international flavor. We get top-notch people from all over.”

The rodeo begins Tuesday and runs through July 13 at the Norris Penrose Event Center.

But first, a parade to kick off the festivities. The Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo Parade will wind down Tejon Street from St. Vrain Street to Vermijo Avenue at 10 a.m. on Saturday.

The parade originally originated from what used to be the Blossom Festival. In 1937, the name was changed to its current title and is traditionally used to honor the Girls of the West, young rodeo ambassadors who help promote the Western lifestyle. Makena Norton will once again serve as Girl of the West and host this year’s event, along with Grand Marshal Colonel David Hanson, the commander of Space Station Delta 1 at Peterson Space Force Base.

“While Colorado Springs is not technically a mining town — it’s always been a tourism and development town — the Western heritage has been part of what has drawn people here,” said parade organizer Kayleigh O’Donnell of O’Donnell & O’Donnell.

“Whether it’s the 1859 Gold Rush that gave rise to the nickname Pikes Peak or Bust, or the fact that we have a shrine dedicated to Will Rogers and are technically home to the Marlboro Man.”

New to the parade this year is the Lil’ Cowpokes Stick Horse Race, which begins at 9 a.m. for children ages 3 to 8.

“They can get a first taste of what a rodeo is like,” O’Donnell said.

Observers loved last year’s inaugural hobbyhorse races so much that organizers brought together the county’s mayor, sheriff and coroner to compete in their own race after the kids this year. A media relay hobbyhorse race will also take place.

The rodeo will feature 200 two-legged competitors and an equal number of four-legged competitors competing in bareback riding, escape roping, steer wrestling, team roping, saddle bronc riding, tie-down roping, barrel racing and bull riding.

Bryce Redo, a welder from Texas, is ditching his normal life and heading to Springs for his second year as a bullfighter. He’ll be one of two guys decked out in clown makeup, baggy pants and a protective vest who distract the bulls from their riders during the bull riding event. Their job is strictly cowboy protection.

“When a rider goes down or is about to go down, as soon as he hits the ground, we sneak up and get the bull away from him at all costs,” Redo said. “If we have to stand there and let the bull hook us for a minute to let the cowboy get up, that’s part of the territory.”

His list of injuries is not short: a broken tailbone, a torn Achilles tendon, bruised ribs, jammed fingers, a kick to the face. But he takes his duties seriously.

“If I see a bull I’ve seen before and I know he likes to play rodeo a little bit,” Redo said, “you keep in mind what could happen, like setting up a game plan, but you’re dealing with an animal with a mind of its own. Whatever he did last week, he may not do this week. If you anticipate what he did last week, you can get yourself in trouble.”

Contact the writer: 636-0270