Rodeo Austin

I got registered for mutton bustin today and it went smooth and noticed time slots filled up quick. I talked to Leah and she was very helpful for me and my family. Keep up the good work! See you in March!

I attended the Fashion & Fine Arts event in January, which is where they crown the new Miss Rodeo Austin and their princess. The event was a great experience– I went with a friend who knew someone who was competing.
We were greeted at their welcome table by some of their staff, and they were kind and friendly. Because I am a communications major, I notice little details like designs and how they hold the event. I loved their designs on their posters and everything else they had at the event, which made it classy and professional.
The event was run smoothly with witty emcees, their performer was really good, who happens to be a contestant on American Idol. Their food was good, and it was neat they had a vegetarian option, too.
Also, the girls who used to be the queens, and the new queens, seem very nice and they definitely take good care of their girls with great scholarships and some neat prizes.
Overall, the event was a neat experience and I am excited to convince my friends to go with me to the rodeo!

Every time I go to a rodeo, I get the song Aint Nothin Wrong with the Rodeo in my head. That’s neither here nor there but I think a good Garth Brooks song should always be involved in things western-​like.
I’ve been to some rodeos in my time and this one was… good for kids? It’s totally fine — the requisite 4H situation with a petting zoo and prize pigs. There’s also bull riding and roping for those of you looking for a show. There’s also the carnival aspect — questionable rides that cost $ 4 each that make you barf. Or at least, make me barf. Funnel cakes, turkey legs, corn dogs, pricey beers, wine-​a-​ritas and all the fair food you can handle bro.
They also do concerts here and do them pretty badly actually. We saw Boyz II Men as the fulfillment of all of our karaōke dreams. As you may imagine, a stage that can be pulled out and unfolded in the middle of the arena isn’t going to be a super awesome stage. The real issue was the sound though. It sounded like the speakers were literally on their last legs. Of course, when they were handing out roses during I’ll make love to you, we didn’t totally care.
All in all, an inexpensive-​ish family experience. I wouldn’t go with exceedingly high hopes. This is one thing Houston definitely does better than we do – but it’s a night out that may result in cocktail conversation.

We have been to the Rodeo before, this was our first tour with a a school group… and it was great fun.
Each school group was greeted by their own personal tour guide that helped keep our students on time, and moving from activity to activity.
The parent with the lunches was met in the parking lot with a helpful Rodeo person who made sure I lunches were at our assigned location for lunch.
Activities were terrific for pint-​sized attention spans: petting zoo, «Mustang Makeover» (who had the students entranced, and encouraged (um endured?) a lot of questions, baby chicks, Texas Longhorn, live Texas music (got the wiggles out!), then off to the Pig races…
Somehow we caught a few minutes of a dog frisbee trick show, a big hit with the kids.
Great fun, and just the right amount for little feet.
Thank you, and see you next year!
(Also, we joined the Kids CLub this year, and it was a deal. In exchange for our donation we joined the club, got 2 general admissions, a t shirt and a membership card.)

This is my first experience with the Austin Rodeo, but not my first rodeo. Growing up in San Antonio meant the rodeo fairgrounds were a «must» on every adolescent’s list. The Austin rodeo seems much smaller than the SA one but still worth the price of admission (cheap seats were $ 35, a lot less if you’re only wanting to go to the fairgrounds) if you get to see an icon like Willie Nelson and cheer for the calves you’re hoping won’t get roped (why is this still a thing? In fact, one could question why the rodeo is still a thing, but when in Rome.)
Parking: $ 10 and some serious, albeit necessary, control freaks directing where you should park. I would suggest carpooling.
Food: We missed the bbq competition by a week but managed to find our share of good fried food. The smoked turkey legs were yummy and could feed a small family; the bratwurst with sauerkraut was pretty good (I grew up in Deutschland, so I’m pretty particular) and the funnel cake was huge– three of us barely finished it.
Rides: lots of scary rides to ride but alas, we did not ride the scary rides this time.
Rodeo: This portion lasts 2 hours, the music for about an hour. The calf-​ropin’ makes me cringe and I could do without, but I enjoyed the barrel raising. I also liked the bull and horse riding but I do wonder what the cowfolks do to piss them off so. After watching Matthew McConaughey in Dallas Buyers Club, I couldn’t help but wonder what other shenanigans go on backstage.
Music: Willie and his family put on a good show. I love me some Willie (yes, that’s what she said) but with the exception of a few tunes, he seemed to say the words more than sing them, as if he were reading poetry set to music. His son belted out a SRV tune, which I did not expect. Still, I hope Willie was just not feeling great that night. He has such a unique singing voice. Nonetheless, I’m so glad I went. My first concert ever was a Willie Nelson show with my family 35 years ago. I did not want to go way back then because I thought I was a lot more rock than country and so I pretended to hate it, but am secretly glad my parents made me go.
Currency: bring cash. Most of the vendors require tokens but take it from me and don’t overbuy tokens for food or you’ll end up trying to use them up by buying lots of water on your way out. Beers cost $ 7 (they will take cash or tokens at the «bar»).

Dont buy tickets online at their $ 5 discount. it is a scam. They tickets (for kids) all rides included are $ 30 online and $ 35 at the door. However, your «discount» for buying online is countered by a $ 5.75 fee for buying online. Ridiculous. Be up front about your discounts and do try to scam people out of another $.75 per person.
My kids do love it there, so we are still going, but will by tickets at the gate.

Rodeo Austin goes on for days and has different performers that play after the rodeo events. It takes place at the Austin exposition center and the grounds around it. They have basically free BBQ and drink tents (they ask for a donation) and a pretty large fair with multiple rides. You can wander through the stable areas where they hold all the animals, check out pig races and buy items from the various sellers that set up booths. The main event is the actual rodeo which was fast paced and entertaining. They have bareback bronc riding, team roping, calf tipping, mutton bustin’, bull riding and more. The rodeo was just shy of two hours and afterwards is the music performance. We saw Josh Turner last night and he was great! The music portion lasted about an hour. Anywhere you sit you are easily able to see and not all the seats fill up. So if you wanted to, you could always move around the venue. Parking was $ 10 and we had no issues parking or leaving, since we parked right near the exit. Didn’t even take us five minutes to get out of the lot.