Round up some fun for the entire family
There are still four action-packed days left to enjoy of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Here’s your guide to some can’t-miss attractions and events.
1. The Hideout: This makeshift saloon has a new home on the west side of NRG Arena. Inside are some of the region’s best countrymusic acts. This week, it’s Cameran Nelson, Mike and the Moonpies, Josh Ward and Sam Riggs. The Hideout is open to ages 21 and older 6 p.m.-midnight daily during the rodeo’s run. Performances start at 10:15 p.m. on weekdays and 8:30 p.m. on the weekend.
2. Kids Country: Located east of the Astrodome, this family-friendly zone is open 9 a.m.-9 p.m. daily. It features some of the rodeo’s favorite events, including:
• Mutton Bustin’: In one of the rodeo’s most thrilling sports, children ages 5 and 6 are challenged to ride a sheep for eight seconds with only the animal’s fur to grip. Competitions are held on the hour 10 a.m.-7 p.m. daily. Participation costs $15 per ride and is on a firstcome, first-served basis.
• Pig Races: This is another series that draws standing-room-only crowds. Little piglets race around a straw-strewn 150-foot track. The winning pig’s reward: an Oreo cookie. Races are held eight times a day on the half hour 10:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m., with the exception of 2:30 p.m.
• Fun on the Farm: This educational adventure offers kids the chance to gather eggs, harvest crops and milk a cow.
3. Champion Wine Garden: Here’s your chance to taste the vintages deemed best in the prestigious Rodeo Uncorked! International Wine Competition. The wine garden is host to live music, wine seminars and impromptu tastings. Located at the Carruth Plaza, the garden is open 4-11 p.m. Thursday, 4 p.m.midnight Friday, 11 a.m.midnight Saturday and noon-10 p.m. Sunday.
4. NRG Center: The site of livestock shows, auctions, exhibits and a marketplace, NRG Center is busy around the clock. Look for the day’s schedule online. Among the highlights:
• Champions Row: This is where the Grand and Reserve Grand champions (lambs, goats, pigs, cows, steers, etc.) of each junior market show can be seen up close. Champions row is near the main arena.
• AGventure: If you’ve got little wranglers, you don’t want to miss this educational area. Among the highlights are a petting zoo, a birthing center where calves, lambs and piglets are born nearly every day and a milking parlor where dairy farmers demonstrate modern milking techniques.
• Livestock shows: Be sure to find time to watch one of the livestock shows. Judges will be looking for the best in livestock ranging from rabbits and goats to steers and pigs.
• Sheep-dog trials: Watching seasoned, well-trained dogs work a flock of sheep can be entertaining, and you never know when a dog will be disqualified for nipping. Trials get underway at 9 a.m. Saturday.
• Star Trail of Fame: Located outside the HLSR offices on the second floor, eight gold plaques commemorate the brightest music stars to have played on the rodeo’s stages. Among them: George Strait, Elvis Presley and Reba McEntire.
5. NRG Arena: The arena is the rodeo’s official horse barn, where you’ll see everything from calf roping to mounted shooting demonstrations. Other events include the awarding of the “Ear of the Year” for the donkey or mule with the widest ear span, a paint-horse show and a ranch rodeo with events such as wild cow milking and calf branding (contestants use chalk for branding).
6. The Carnival: Enjoy the fun of the midway throughout the rodeo’s run. You can’t miss La Grande Wheel, the largest portable Ferris wheel in the Western Hemisphere. For a bird’s-eye view of the festivities, catch the Sky Ride, a 1,700-foot gondola moving 58 feet overhead. The midway is open noon-midnight weekdays and 10 a.m.midnight on weekends.
For complete schedules and maps, go to rodeohouston.com.