DAYTON, Iowa—Normally, if fans want to watch professional sports, they must travel to Kansas City, Minneapolis, or St. Louis. However, once a year professional sports are front and center in Webster County at the Dayton Labor Day Rodeo. The best cowboys and the best stock in the world travel to Dayton, Iowa for four full days of wild western action.
And, it’s not just a rodeo. The small town of Dayton works together to offer a full weekend of fun activities. A full vendor show/flea market/carnival will be set up “on top of the hill” for the entire weekend. Highlights include Domingo the Celebrity Longhorn, who will be available for photos and also take part in the parade Monday, fun carnival rides and games, and local food and merchandise vendors.
For children, a free Kiddie Corral is offered Saturday and Sunday evening from 5-6 PM. Kids can practice roping, get autographs from rodeo celebrities, enjoy facepainting, and more.
In addition to traditional rodeo activities like steer wrestling, team roping, barrel racing, and bull riding, the Dayton Championship Rodeo offers other fun events. Little kids climb on sheep for a wild ride in Mutton Bustin’, slightly older kids participate in Junior Bull Riding, and full-grown adults take part in the famous Wild Horse Race. What is a Wild Horse Race? Teams of three enter the arena and a bunch of very wild horses are set loose. The goal is to catch a horse, saddle it, and then ride it across a line at the end of the arena. Mayhem inevitably ensues as these horses absolutely do not want to be ridden and these cowboys really want the prize money.
This year’s specialty act is Cowboy Kenny’s Steel Rodeo. Kenny Bartram—known as Cowboy Kenny—is an American professional freestyle motocross rider. He now takes his skills to entertain rodeo crowds across the country.
“You see amazing free style motocross, like you watch at the X games,” Bartram said about his show. “I’ll be hanging off the back of the bike and the front of the bike. It’s a high flying act.”
This year’s rodeo clown is Gizmo McCracken. Gizmo has been nominated for the rodeo Comedy Act of the Year many times and won the award in 2017.
The shows are September 3, 4, and 5th at 7 PM and then Monday, September 6 at 1:30 PM. The annual parade winds through Dayton at 10:00 AM Monday. Tickets are available at daytonrodeo.com and at the gate.
Lynne Heckman
(contributed article and photos, Dayton Rodeo)
