For almost a century, the city of Houston has had their annual Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, one of the largest annual events in the world. Every year Texans and people from around the world come together during this 20 day event and come to see livestock, ride rides at the carnival, and watch the concert performances inside of NRG Stadium.

During spring break, many students at the school attended the Rodeo and spread the country culture with their cowboy hats and boots to enjoy the fun and entertainment of Texan tradition. This year’s experience was no exception, especially with a high attendance of over 100,000 people everyday during the break. This event is a big deal to the city of Houston, and every year it gets better every year—to junior Jackson Taylor Shivers this event is bigger than Coachella.

“The Houston Rodeo allows for the city of Houston to connect through festivities and fun times over the span of about a month,” Shivers said. “Coachella lasts for only about a couple days while the Rodeo lasts for longer while attracting more fans each year.”

The livestock show is different to many of the other events held during Rodeo and it attracts thousands of people each day. From different breeds of cattle, broilers, goats, lambs, steers, turkeys, and many other animals it always draws crowd attention for the event—from petting zoos, to mutton busters, and the main Rodeo event. The main Rodeo event is one of top moments of the entire event that involves competition such as bareback riding, bull riding, roping, and many other competitions to entertain the crowd right before another pinnacle of the night.

“My favorite activity of the livestock show has to be the petting zoo without a doubt,” sophomore Elizabeth Gendrop said. “It’s also very amusing see all the small businesses selling Texan culture and getting to learn more about my country.”

Each night once the Rodeo is over, a superstar takes the stage in one of the most pinnacle moments of this entire event. A concert of some of the biggest artists in the country with hip hop, pop, rock, and fourteen country acts each day. Country is huge in the south and of course it included the best of the best; Parker McCollum, Zac Brown Band, Chris Stapleton, Cody Johnson, and many other great stars. For the other genres they included artists such as Machine Gun Kelly, The Chainsmokers, and New Kids on the Block. These artists were the top highlight of the night and shined the stage for fans and even new audiences who maybe never heard songs from these artists before.

“The atmosphere is insane something is always happening and Machine Gun Kelly put on a great show and the stage presence  is too good,” senior Anahita Devine said. “ It was very surreal and the best part was the outro before he left.”

Outside the Rodeo and concert is the main carnival attraction where most of the people crowd together with rides, food, games, and other activities to explore and enjoy. It is truly a tourist attraction when it comes to the Rodeo even when it comes to being very crowded, the attractions attract tourists and it’s no wonder the Rodeo gets a lot of money to host this event each year. 

 “The main thing in the carnival that is very eye-catching is the variety of food, like sandwiches, buckets of cookies, and so many more things,” Gendrop said. “The carnival is made to go with your friends, but either way it’s another reason why the Rodeo is so awesome.”

The Houston Rodeo is here to stay for the city, and it’s safe to say that without this we don’t get to experience true Texan culture. Rodeo will never stop entertain and amaze tourists from around the different parts of the world.