St. Paul Rodeo

Great food and entertainment. Lots to see and do. I really appreciate the large tent with food, drinks and music. The tack room is always good, as is the beer garden.

I love the St Paul Rodeo, I have gone for several years in a row. There are plenty of food vendors to feed the masses, but be sure to bring cash. I have a fabulous Dutchboy elephant ear every year. Buy tickets over the phone and ask to have the sun behind you, the direct sun can be really harsh. Try coming in on 99 to avoid I5 traffic.
The show is long, about 3 hours. The announcers are consistently good. I am not a parent but there are always lots of kids there, as young as infants, so it is super family friendly. Each show ends with fireworks.
If you are of age head into The Tack Room after the show, even if the lines look long it goes quick.
Ultimately a rodeo ticket costs the same as a movie, so head town to St Paul and enjoy an American gradation.

I grew up in Portland and I have never been to a rodeo. During a family trip to Portland with my daughter, we decided to go to the rodeo. My daughter loves horses. It was such a pleasant surprise. Maybe it’s because we live in California but I didn’t think it was too expensive, just the contrary. I thought it was charming and a wonderful way to spend the 4^th of July.

Want something fun to do? This is your kinda deal then. Pretty damn close to the Rodeos of my youth in Springville, CA. We went the other night to a PBR event (Professional Bull Riders) and although it was a sanctioned event, it is not the biggest and most critical event on the PBR circuit. In other words, this ain’t the Houston Astrodome, etc. These riders are up and comers, kinda minor leaguers trying to get to «The SHOW».
First, the venue. As most before me said, it is way too pricey. After all, this IS a «Rodeo» which is more a people friendly thing and shouldn’t cost so darn much. But alas, such is America now-​a-​days! The Rodeo arena is too big for its own good. Kinda hard to see whats happening in front of the chutes. They got a postage size «Jumbo-​Tron» at the west end of the arena, which helps you see some of the action. Unfortunately, it is kinda difficult to get around the arena and you cannot get near the Bulls for a few closeup pictures.
There IS a lot of fun here, but I suggest you go to the Hailey, Idaho Rodeo where you can walk right above and behind the chutes and see the Cowpokes slide down onto the Bull’s Backs. CrAzY ScArY! I mean, these guys are NUTZ! OK, maybe just young and dumb. Whatever, they got more cajones than me! Just sitting on a penned in ton of dynamite snorting, spittin’, and chock full of malice ‘n mayhem would have me scrambling for the arms of safety… «~Mommie~» And then they open the chute’s gate and its ON! Thunderin’, twistin’, turnin’, this monster wants you OFF its back like your some kinda flea! How the fellas hang on is beyond me!
So the day passes into evening and hopefully, no-​one gets killed! The «Wild Cow Milking» by College Teams is fun (The Beavs won! WoHooo!!) but the true heart of a Rodeo is just is being a part of it. The Midway with the «Corn on the Cob», the «Curley French Fries», the «Cheatin’ Tuff» games that you’ll never win, a shot of «Jack» at the «Tack Room» Bar under the bleachers, the Pretty Girls dressed up all Western, and most of all, cheering on the «Rodeo Clowns» as they protect the riders in the arena. They are the ultimate «First Responders», throwing themselves fearlessly between an enraged hunk of Bovine terror fit on revenge for that T-​bone you had last night and a downed Cowboy! They are the TRUE Heros of this madness and deserve the accolades they receive. The show is worth it just to applaud THEM!
All and all, we had a ball, but I DO recommend more the Pendleton (OR) «Roundup» (read Ken Kessey’s last book), Ellensburg or Newport, WA., Hailey, ID., and ANY Rodeo in Montana, Idaho, or Wyoming as they happen nearly EVERY weekend in those states. Much more wallet AND «People» friendly. Go ahead, wear yer Boots and Hat. You got a belt with a big buckle? Wear it! Get a John Deere baseball cap if nothing else and look forward to a Lee Greenwood song. Yer an «American» and you belong here! Have fun!

Sara S. you’re a moron. You have no concept of culture outside of your own vacuum. Same knee jerk responses I would expect from someone that thinks that the core of rodeos are «racism, sexism and animal violence».

Crappiest commentators ever. The rodeo itself was pretty good. It was packed full of events, but hard to understand some of what was going on if you were new to the rodeo. Of course, this is a red neck environment so if you can’t handle a culture of racism, sexism, and animal violence, this IS NOT the place for you. That being said, I have not yet been to a rodeo with commentators that were both over the top obnoxious and non-​stop. It ruined the experience not necessarily because I was annoyed by the constant chatter about fat women and inflicting casual violence on your wife, but more so because my attention was distracted from the rodeo. Not only that, the music they played during the fireworks display was awful. Why have music at all? Isn’t half the fun of fireworks the loud pops and bangs?

Being from NM and having been to many, many rodeos… I was surprised at the fact that this one was as good as it was. At $ 15 for rodeo tickets, very reasonable. Only complaint was the wait and long lines to get into the venue. After years of doing this you would think they would have figured out a better way! The parking was $ 5.00, the carnival and food area was overly crowded. Watching the drunk woman sitting in front of us was also entertaining. Too bad they didn’t have a DWI check point.

I thank my friends who live in Silverton for introducing me to the St Paul Rodeo. I am not a rodeo expert. It was certainly not part of my childhood, here is the closest I’ve lived to any rodeo. I have never been to the Pendleton Roundup.
The St Paul Rodeo is a Mexican rodeo. Many of the contestants and the crowd are from Mexico and Central America. There is a carnival midway with carny food and families dressed up for Sunday. A crafts and community organization tent. Fireworks. You can wander the pens with all the animals. There is only a charge for the rodeo show itself, otherwise free to wander. There is a full schedule of events.
Show tickets aren’t cheap, they sell out in advance and most of the seats are reserved. I am not a big supporter of what goes on at rodeos with animals, but I enjoyed the atmosphere and authenticity of the event. It’s good Oregon summer fun!