The Water Valley Stampede is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. And organizers have spared no expense, minting anniversary-edition beer cozies to mark the occasion. Paying customers get a pair to go with their weekend of rodeo, beer gardens, dancing, camping and much more at the June 1-2 event starting 1 p.m. both days.
“We went a little extra on some of the (belt) buckles for the award winners,” Stampede president Chris Montgomery said. “And 60th-anniversary beer cozies. You get two when you come to the door. It’s pretty small town, but it’s fun.”
And fun is what it’s all about at the Water Valley Stampede, taking place at the rodeo ground seven kilometres west of town on AB 579. There’s free camping all weekend, and TC and Company will be providing the music for the Saturday-night dance.
The Foothills Cowboys Association-sanctioned rodeo will feature all the main events like bull riding, steer wrestling and saddle-bronc riding along with kids’ events like mutton bustin‘ and novice horse riding. The show will also feature a rodeo clown and local vaulting talent: “It’s like gymnastics on horseback,” Montgomery said of the vaulting show.
Admission is $10 a day (kids under 16 $5, under 6, free). Dance tickets are $5. Started in 1953 by Water Valley locals Jack Eby, Jim Burton and Joe Oldfield, the rodeo has been going strong ever since.
