Houston Rodeo History

This three month event has been held every year since 1931 at Reliant Park in Houston, Texas. It is one of the largest events held in Texas. Well over one million people attended in 2007 and it is the world’s largest livestock exhibition to date. Over the past 15 years they have had nearly 1 million people attending the show yearly. The show includes bull riding, judging livestock, carnival, trail rides, wine and barbecue competitions, concerts, sales and auctions (including a wine competition), and shopping.

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Some of the worlds largest country and pop stars have performed at the event including Toby Keith, Martina McBride, George Strait, Reba McEntire, Barry Manilow, Willie Nelson, Hannah Montana, Rascal Flatts and Sheryl Crow. Each day there is a new concert to attend.

Trail rides include many different types, such as:
• Salt Grass Trail Ride - 85-mile ride from Cat Spring, Texas
• Sam Houston Trail Ride - 66-mile ride from Montgomery, Texas
• Old Spanish Trail Ride - 216-mile ride from Logansport, Louisiana
• Prairie View Trail Ride - 102-mile ride from Sunnyside, Texas
• Valley Lodge Trail Ride - 72-mile ride from Brookshire, Texas
• The Spanish Trail Ride - 112-mile ride from Coldspring, Texas
• Texas Independence Trail Ride - 92-mile ride from Brazoria, Texas
• Los Vaqueros Rio Grande Trail Ride - 386-mile ride from Hidalgo, Texas
• Southwestern Trail Ride - 100-mile ride from Brazoria, Texas
• Northeastern Trail Ride - 108-mile ride from Beaumont, Texas
• Texas Cattlemen’s Trail Ride - 85-mile ride from Anderson, Texas
• The Mission Trail Ride - 210-mile ride from San Antonio, Texas
• Southwest Trail Ride - 120-mile ride from Rosenberg, Texas

Also included is the World Championship Bar-B-Que contest. The highest attendance figure was in 2007 with 193,913 people attending what has been simply dubbed “The Cook Off”.The wine The record for most people attending the Rodeo was in 2004 with nearly 1,890,174 people attending.