HOLD on tight, it’s that time of year again – time for the famous Warwick Rodeo and Campdraft.
On the last full weekend of October every year, the nation’s top rodeo riders and the best broncos and bucking bulls gather for the Warwick Rodeo – known far and wide as “Australia’s Most Famous”.
The seven-day program of events keeps the competitors and crowds coming back each year.
And with this year’s event doubling as the Australian Professional Rodeo Association (APRA) National Finals, expect more action, more thrills and lots of fun as the top rodeo and campdraft riders descend on the town over the next week.
The Warwick rodeo is so famous that it was immortalized in song by Australian country music legend Buddy Williams in the early 1940s.
This event has a long tradition with the very first official Warwick rodeo held in 1906, although buckjump competitions were recorded near Warwick as far back as 1857.
Warwick become the home of the regular Australian championships from around 1928 and in 1931 the opening campdrafting competition became the Warwick Gold Cup – named because of the presence of the Governor of Queensland Sir John Goodwin who present the first gold cup to the winner.
The Warwick Gold Cup, paid for each year by the business houses of Warwick, remains today as the Holy Grail of campdrafting in Australia.
Today, Warwick Rodeo and Gold Cup Campdraft attracts more than 30,000 people with competitors and horses travelling from every mainland state to compete.
The event, held at the showground, now spans seven days from Monday 19 October through to Sunday 25, with plenty of things to see and plenty of action and prize money and entertainment.
On Thursday 22 October Kent Tonscheck performs after 6pm, on Friday 23 October Mik Oberle starts after 6pm and on Saturday night James Anderson performs.
The rodeo action start on Friday night under lights and there will be two hours of action-packed riding and roping along with live music, full bar facilities and barbecue on the grounds.
Action starts early in the rodeo arena on Saturday morning while downtown Warwick comes alive with the Rose and Rodeo Festival street parade, markets and fun.
Attention returns to the rodeo arena after lunch and the street parade where there will be campdraft finals and rodeo action through until 9.30pm when James Anderson will play and there will be dancing under the stars.
The action starts early on Sunday with the second round of the Warwick Gold Cup and then it’s rodeo action all morning before an afternoon of finals.
The first final – the Warwick Gold Cup – starts at noon and then the top 12 riders in all six open rodeo events decide who takes home the major portion of prize money in the best rodeo action to be seen anywhere in Australia.
