The Bigfork rodeo is a temporary setup in a field just north of Bigfork. I thought the rodeo was well put together from parking to vendors to the bleacher seating to the arena to the number of competitors.
Because we are not VIPs we were general admission so that meant no reserved seating. The grounds opened at 5:30 and we were there by 5:45 pm in order to get good seats. We sat at the top of one bleacher so we had a little back support. The rodeo started at 7 pm and ran until a little after 9 pm.
Rain clouds were scattered around and missed us until exactly 7 pm when the rodeo started. It pretty rained until about 20 minutes before the rodeo ended. Light rain. No rain briefly. The light rain. Then heavy rain. Then light rain. Then no rain. Then rain. The sun came out. But then it started raining again. Sun went away. Then rainbows came out. But it kept raining. Once it finally quit raining a slight breeze made us cold. A number of people gave up and left early. Donna had a water resistant coat. She had a couple plastic garbage bags. I put one above my head and kept it dry. The rest of me got pretty wet.
When each event was done the highest scorer was interviewed and shown on the big screen. This was bad. Usually the interview was one or two questions. Often something like, "So you're from Texas... how do you like the Big Sky country?", or "Congratulations on winning. How do like the Bigfork rodeo?" Often the sound/microphone was poorly handled and often we couldn't make out the contestant's answer. Each 'interview' ended with, "And back to you in the booth!" as if she had just conducted an important interview. Donna and I ended up laughing at the interviews and not with them.
The rodeo clown was a younger guy. He was not as active with jokes like other rodeo clowns, but often the other rodeo clowns have safe corny dumb jokes that one groans at. This guy was quieter but he did a lot of dancing to the music while the next contestant was getting ready.
In the beginning the clown came out and rode around the arena on a tame bull. Later he tried to have a different bull pull a chariot but that didn't go well as the bull often would turn around and stare at the clown as the rig prevented him from reaching the clown and chariot. Other rodeo people would have to run around to get the bull to turn and try to chase them to get the chariot moving again. Finally they gave up. But then the wranglers had a difficult time to get the bull back in the pen. Mostly because the bull would lay down on the ground instead of running.
The best part of the clown's act - in my opionion - was the tug of war contest. The clown tied a rope on two large guys. He had two women from the audience come and stand and hold two hula hoops on opposite sides of the guys. The clown gave each guy a large ball and the first guy to toss two large balls into the same hoop won. The guys looked to be similar in size. But when each guy ran the other way one guy was jerked back off his feet and to the ground. As he struggled to stand up he was drug over to where the other guy tossed the ball through the hoop. The contest wasn't close but it was fun to watch.
The rodeo had all the typical rodeo events. What it didn't have was Indian relay races. The temporary area wasn't large enough for the Indian races.
It was a fun time and an entertaining rodeo even if we got very wet.
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| Finally losing the rain. |
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| Barrel racing |
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| Bull riding |
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| Bull riding |
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