National Western Stock Show – Denver Colorado Trade Show

Celebrating their 116^th year this month, the National Western Stock Show will start this weekend on January 8th and runs through the 23th. According to their site, they state that the 16-day show serves as an entertainment arena, hosting one of the world’s richest regular season professional rodeos, the “Super Bowl” of Livestock Shows, nationally recognized Horse Shows and Colorado’s largest Western Trade Show.

Before this event became what it is today, it started with a thought in 1905 when agriculturalists realized the need to hold an annual stock show to demonstrate better breeding and feeding techniques to area stockmen. This first event was in 1906 and was originally limited to the western United States.

However, the show was expanded by 1908 to include entrants from around the world. In 1908, the event also included the first horse show, then a rodeo was added in 1931. By 1981 the organization owned numerous buildings, more than twenty acres of stockyards, several acres of parking, and total assets of about five million dollars

According to Wikipedia, their mission is “To preserve the western lifestyle by providing a showcase for the agricultural industry through an emphasis on education, genetic development, innovative technology and offering the world’s largest agricultural marketing opportunities.” They live this mission by having the proceeds from the National Western Stock Show go to the National Western Scholarship Trust. The Trust awards 64 scholarships annually to students studying agriculture and medicine to practice in rural areas at colleges and universities in Colorado and Wyoming. Pretty darn great for our state!

The horse show has to be my favorite part of the show. I love horses. Today the Horse Shows at the annual National Western Stock Show are among the largest in the world with more than 18,000 entries at the 2006 event, including Quarter Horses, Paint Horses, Hunters & Jumpers, FUSE Open Horse Shows, Mules Shows, and the Draft Horse Show & Pull. Pretty exciting.

Some of the events held during the stock show include the Citizen of the West banquet, the Coors Western Art Exhibit & Sale, the Auction of Junior Livestock Champions, Ag Adventure, Pony Trails interactive education area, Mexican Rodeo Extravaganza, the Martin Luther King Junior African-American Heritage Rodeo, Professional Bull Riding performances, An Evening of Dancing Horses dressage and reining demonstrations, Wild West Shows, Super Dogs, Dodge Freestyle Reining competition, $40,000 Grand Pr-ix, Downtown Denver Stock Show Parade and the International Livestock Congress. The Professional Bull Riders (PBR) also holds its Touring Pro Division (minor-league tour) Finals at the stock show every January.

If this event is something you haven’t experienced before, you should definitely check it out this month. Great event for the whole family. Attached is the 2022 Stock Show Schedule of Events. as well as their website where you can purchase li. It is only here for 16 days and then gone again until next year. Make your plans now before it’s too late.

The first time I went I didn’t really know what to expect but I was pleasantly surprised. The arena was very large but you could easily make your way around it to see the action for different areas. I didn’t stay in one seat very long, lol. After watching some horse wrestling, I walked around and grabbed some food. While eating I checked out the vendors and admired the goods they had for sale. I eventually ended up in the petting corral seeing some newborn baby goats. They were so adorable. They had some little feeders nearby if you wanted to buy some food to feed the older animals. The kids around seemed to get a kick out of them feeding out of their hands. So cute.

I had a great time and spent a few hours enjoying the festivities and excitement in the complex. I took many pictures and a few videos while walking around which I have included in this post. FYI, these photos are from my first visit in January of 2019 Hope you enjoy the National Western Stock Show if you go. Don’t forget to come back and let us know what you thought.  🙂  Below are a couple of videos I took while watching. Enjoy

National Western Stock Show Visitor Information

Address:

4655 Humboldt Street Denver, CO 80216

Phone:

303-296-6977

Dates:

January 8-23, 2022

Times:

Hours and events vary by date. Check the schedule above for specific dates and times.

Prices:

Grounds Admission

Adults (12+): $17-25
Kids (3-11): $4-5
2 and under: FREE

Parking:

Here is a link to FREE parking and shuttles to the event.