The annual Fourth of July rodeo event in Cody will take place this year despite other large rodeos canceling in the state.
The Cody Stampede Rodeo is set to move forward with limited seating from July 1 through 4. Only 600 people are allowed in the stadium each night. The holiday event usually brings close to 5,000 guests. Currently, statewide health orders limit gatherings to 250. The state granted the rodeo an exception to host the rodeo.
Stampede Board President Mike Darby said, due to financial concerns the Stampede will not be hosting the Yellowstone Xtreme Bulls and Bullfighters Only event this year.
But Darby said due to popular demand one new event will be introduced for the first time: professional ladies breakaway roping.
"We are going to limit it to 100 breakaway ropers the first year and we are going to offer $5,000 added money to try it out," said Darby. "And we're really excited that we can offer this to the ladies as an added event for them."
Darby said even if the state changes its orders and allows 1,000 people on the Fourth of July, the audience would still be down by 80 percent.
"We're going to try and get a few more [guests] as regulations hopefully ease towards the Fourth of July weekend and whatnot," he said. "We'll make a submission for an accepted exception to the rule that we do have in place at the moment."
Have a question about this story? Contact the reporter, Kamila Kudelska, at kkudelsk@uwyo.edu.
