The Oakley Rodeo returned for the 91st time on Wednesday. 

A sold-out crowd of about 8,000 fans were treated to fast-paced action and a fireworks display to close the night. 

The rodeo runs through Saturday night in Oakley and features competitions like bareback riding, steer wrestling and bull riding. There is also an Xtreme Bulls competition, featuring additional bull riding, on Monday. 

Local vendors flank the rodeo arena, offering up merchandise and food for fans. The vendor area was where the action truly began on Wednesday night, with fans grabbing a last minute bite before the rodeo began. The smells of barbecue and freshly fried funnel cakes flooded the rodeo grounds. 

Once again this year, fans were treated to some of the best cowboys and cowboys in the world, Pete Carr Pro Rodeo livestock and the resonating sound of three-time defending Pro Rodeo Cowboys Association Announcer of the Year Anthony Lucia. The cowboys and cowgirls were both smiling and excited to compete, and locked-in, making any final adjustments needed to their gloves, ropes and other equipment

Around 7:30 p.m., Lucia’s voice rang over the speaker system. His trademark high enthusiasm rang for blocks on Wednesday night in Oakley. The national anthem was belted out by Josh Kelley and two military helicopters flew overhead, a pleasant surprise this year for fans as the nation’s 250th anniversary draws near on Saturday. The passing of the helicopters over the arena signaled the beginning of the action, and most of the fans remaining in the vendor area hustled over to their seats. 

“I grew up in Texas, actually,” said Park City’s three-time Paralympic bronze medalist Danelle Umstead. “So it’s kind of exciting to come back to my roots and have a rodeo real close to home.”

Umstead and her husband, Rob, were excited for the action and to grab some barbecue chicken before heading into the arena. It wasn’t their first time at the Oakley Rodeo, but they said they hadn’t been in about 15 years. 

“It seems like it’s grown a lot,” Umstead said. “This is an experience we don’t have in Park City, so I totally think people should come out, enjoy themselves and do something a little different.”

Inside the arena, the action left the fans roaring for about two hours. Oakley Mayor Steve Wilmoth said he believes Pro Rodeo Cowboys Association has the Oakley Rodeo ranked in the Top 30 across all U.S. rodeos.

Lucia instructed fans to roar a little harder and longer for the 16 Utah cowboys and cowgirls that competed Wednesday. There were two cowboys from the Wasatch Back competing: Chase Black from Coalville in steer wrestling and Westin Simpson from Heber City in bull riding. Simpson said he had been coming to the Oakley Rodeo as a fan since he was little.

“I’m pretty lucky,” Simpson said before his bull ride. “This is actually my first year here. I just barely turned 18 and you have to be 18 to come to these pro rodeos. But I’ve been riding since like seventh grade.”

Being Simpson’s first rodeo in Oakley, it’s his first time in Cowboy Christmas as well, where competitors travel from rodeo to rodeo around the Fourth of July, trying to win as much money as they can. Simpson will compete in the Western Stampede rodeo in West Jordan, which runs from Thursday through Saturday, and the Xtreme Bulls competition on Monday back in Oakley. 

“The amount of adrenaline you’ve got this time of year is crazy,” said bull rider Cooper James from Erda. “Some people jump out of planes for it. We just go rodeo around.”

James was in Cody, Wyoming, for the Xtreme Bulls on Tuesday, in Oakley on Wednesday, and back in Cody on Thursday. Then he plans to drive all night to Calgary, Canada, for rodeo events throughout the weekend. James will be back to Oakley for the Xtreme Bulls on Monday. Then he’ll go to Nephi on July 8.

“I keep getting even busier after that,” he said.

Simpson, James and the rest of the competitors wowed the Oakley crowds on opening night. So did Lucia and John Harrison, three-time Pro Rodeo Cowboys Association Clown of the Year. Harrison put on a rousing skit where he pretended to wrestle with a horse in the middle of the arena between competitions, drawing laughs from adults and kids alike. When Harrison entered the arena, kids surrounding it rushed to the fencing to get the best views possible alongside their parents.

Wilmoth believes the cowboys and cowgirls, the livestock and Lucia and Harrison help keep the rodeo rising in the Pro Rodeo Cowboys Association rankings year after year. 

“We can’t imagine anything better,” Wilmoth said. “This is awesome. (Oakley is) such a small town, and to be able to put something like this on is just amazing to me. I’m in awe every year.”

Wilmoth served on the rodeo committee before becoming mayor earlier this year. He said he appreciates the sport’s place in American history. He gets most excited to watch the bareback riding. 

The rodeo was originally started to help pay some bills in Oakley, Wilmoth said. He’s planning on continuing that tradition, and putting some of the money into rodeo grounds upgrades like arena expansion so more people can enjoy the rodeo each summer. 

“Our goal every year is to make the rodeo better than it was last year,” Wilmoth said. “We’ve got some expansion plans and we’ll see how those come out. … The Top 60 rodeos in the country is kind of where a lot of the big names want to go. They chase the money.”

As the action concluded and the fireworks were set off, marking the end of night one of this year’s rodeo, fans were already trying to figure out how to get tickets for next year as they funneled out of the rodeo grounds.

Rocky and Zamim Zamanyfar came from Salt Lake City for the third year in a row, feeling lucky to have gotten tickets before they sold out in February. 

“We love Oakley and come here all the time,” Rocky said. “It’s like the small town feel, but you get really good cowboys from all over the world here, which is awesome, and the entertainment is amazing.” 

The Zamanyfars brought their 4-month-old son to his first rodeo and said he was happy to get out of the house and enjoy what he could. 

“Go to the closest rodeo you can and take the kids,” Zamim said. “It’s super cool. It’s a blast. … We’ll come back anytime we can get tickets.”

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After nearly a century, Oakley still knows how to put on a rodeo.

The Oakley Rodeo rang in its 90th year Wednesday evening with picturesque weather. Fans flocked to the rodeo grounds as the last droplets of rain faded and the sun began to peek through the clouds.

Two-time defending ProRodeo Announcer of the Year Anthony Lucia’s voice rang over the loudspeakers. A prayer was given, the national anthem sung, and then the action began with bareback riding. 

The four-day rodeo is a fixture in Oakley and the rodeo community. It ranks 35th among rodeos in the country and third for the Fourth of July period known as Cowboy Christmas.

“There’s a lot of pride in the Oakley Rodeo,” said Oakley City Councilor Tom Smart. “We’re very proud of just the volunteer force that we have, and it’s pretty easy for us to recruit people to come and help us because it’s a great community.”

Smart has been coming to the rodeo for most of his life, and knows how important it is financially for Oakley to put on a good show. According to the city’s 2025 tentative budget documents, the rodeo has lost as much as $91,000 in 2022 and brought in as much as $838,000 to the bottom line in 2024 when the revenue and spending are all tallied. That’s not counting the sale tax wave that rolls in during rodeo week. The rodeo budget is about as much as the city’s general fund budget.

And with the Sundance Film Festival leaving Park City after next year, rodeo officials believe the rodeo will become the biggest event in Summit County.

“It’s a really exciting time,” Smart said. “We have a lot of great stock and shows tonight.”

Attendees like Lehi’s Bo Ballard said their kids have been talking about coming to Oakley for weeks.

Smart said he was most excited for Jessica Blair Fowlkes, the rodeo’s trick-riding act. Fowlkes stands Roman; that is, atop two horses galloping astride each other, one foot on each.

The most popular contests are typically bull riding and women’s breakaway roping. Smart called the bull riders the “gladiators” of the rodeo, participating in the most dangerous and therefore popular of all eight competitions.

Smart said part of Oakley’s secret is that it’s the only rodeo in Utah that secures animals from Pete Carr Pro Rodeo out of Dallas. The company has produced a fistful of bucking broncos of the year in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, rodeo’s major league. Pete Carr and Oakley struck a deal, with rodeos shutting down due to the heat in Texas summers and Oakley’s high-level competitors and prize purses.

And of course, there are the cowboys themselves.

Jesse Pope, the fifth-ranked bareback rider in the world, said he returned to Oakley as a former champion to have fun and reclaim his spot atop the rodeo. 

“That was a nice kind of bucker,” Pope said, his horse demanding his best performance. “I’ve seen him a bunch, my brother’s been on him, and he bucked quite a bit harder than what I thought he was going to,” he said. “I felt like I rode him good. Matched him for what he was.”

Pope said the key to getting wins can be to tame the more aggressive animals. Competitors find out their animals about a week in advance, and during weeks as busy as this one, they can decide which rodeos to arrive at depending what animal they like best. Pope and others have full scouting reports on each animal. 

“It’s hard because they’re wild animals. You don’t know exactly what they’re going to do,” Pope said. “You know it’s going to be hard, so I try not focus on it till the day I get here.”

He and the other cowboys will crack a beer or two to celebrate good runs, he said. Then it’s back on the road and on to the next rodeo. Sometimes, there are several a day during Cowboy Christmas.

That’s the life. Pope said being a cowboy is a blessing and the best job in the world because he gets to compete and see the nation alongside his friends. His wife is to thank for his success, he said. She handles all his bookings, travel and finances. Not this cowboy’s strength.

Pope got 88 points out of 100. He’s aiming for his second Oakley bareback title by the end of the competition. Each cowboy only participates one day, and their scores are compared to everyone’s across the entirety of the rodeo. 

“I’ve got really good odds,” Pope said. “I’m walking out here with the first-, second- or third-place check.”

Pope and the other cowboys said they appreciate the Oakley Rodeo’s fans. Hearing their cheers spurs the cowboy at critical moments, and they were fired up on Wednesday night.

Bolt Ranch Store, in Kamas, is in its third year as the rodeo’s sponsor. The store sells Western hats, shirts and other gear. Co-owners Jenny Watts said the rodeo and its fans are a perfect match for the brand. 

“This is always our favorite event of the year,” said Watts. “I’ve come to this rodeo my entire life. I’ve only missed two.”

She hopes to be around for the rodeo’s 100th edition. Watt’s great grandfather worked in the early rodeos.

The community’s small, rural footprint gives it some of its charm, she said, and the town does a good job of welcoming local vendors. Watts estimated that Bolt Ranch does a month’s worth of business during the rodeo each year.

“Ballerina Farm’s actually a neighbor of our ranch, so we see them often. We’re good friends with them,” Watts said. “The corn dog truck is a really good friend of ours. … We eat corn dogs once a week from him. We try to limit it to once a week.”

Watts and other vendors said they love that Oakley lets fans in at 6 p.m., ahead of the 7:30 p.m. start time, so people can check out the merchandise before settling into their seats in the arena. The committee tasked with organizing the rodeo looks out for everyone, she said.

Bo Ballard brought his family from Lehi for the rodeo. They enjoyed the high-speed action and some cantaloupe from the Ballerina Farm. Ballard used to come to the rodeo as a kid and was proud to see his kids follow in his footsteps. 

“Our family has a ranch around here, so we come up here all the time,” he said. “It’s always a great time.”

Ballard said he still loves Oakley’s scenery and the steer wrestling. He joked that his wife comes out every year for the cowboys. 

Ballard said he sees the rodeo as an opportunity to wind back the clock and honor his country’s heritage. Other attendees remarked that they felt patriotic leaving Oakley. After all, the rodeo closes each night with a patriotic drone show and fireworks. 

Ballard encouraged people to try for last-minute tickets to the rodeo or to come for Monday’s Xtreme Bulls. The rodeo continues Thursday through Saturday.

“Obviously, plan ahead because it is hard to get tickets, but make a day out of it,” Ballard said. “It’s really, really fun to come out here and experience this side of Utah, just right over the mountains.”

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