CHEYENNE FRONTIER DAYS BIGGER AND BETTER EVERY YEAR
Cheyenne Frontier Days, at 122 years and counting, reimagines its future
Like plenty of things in the Rocky Mountain West, Cheyenne Frontier Days just keeps getting bigger.
The “Daddy of ’Em All” rodeo, which returns to Wyoming’s capital Friday through July 29, expects about 215,000 ticketed attendees and nearly a halfmillion people overall at this year’s celebration of western culture.
But even as it’s grown, Cheyenne Frontier Days’ range of motion has been severely limited.
“One thing that’s held our organization handcuffed forever is that we sit on 83 acres,” said Tom Hirsig, CEO of Cheyenne Frontier Days. “And every time the question comes up people say, ‘Aren’t you going to move some where else?’ We could never get to where we were making an investment into infrastructure because of it.”
The world’s largest outdoor rodeo, which also includes concerts from countrymusic heavies Eric Church, Toby Keith, Cole Swindell and Dierks Bentley, is closely associated with its 19,000seat arena at Frontier Park.
Outside of it there are parades, pancake breakfasts, an Indian Village, fashion, food and more. But since he joined as CEO in 2014 — and for decades prior, never having missed a Frontier Days in his 57 years on the planet — Hirsig came to understand that for many people, Frontier Days was synonymous with its location.
It would lose something, they feared, if it ever moved from its perch 2 miles northeast of the state capitol.
“Legend is, the bucking bronco on the Wyoming state license plate (Steamboat, an early20th century Frontier Days veteran) is buried here,” Hirsig said. “This is where Lane Frost (a pro bull rider) died and where the Thunderbirds crash was. People have seen so many greats of music and rodeo here. You get a feel
ing here like you don’t get anywhere else.”
Hirsig knows that firsthand, having competed in professional rodeos at Frontier Days, including his 2001 win for single-steer roping. But considering how Frontier Days’ staff has worked in the same building for a halfcentury with no expansion, something needed to be done.
Shortly after this year’s 122nd event wraps up, crews will break ground on a multimillion-dollar building that will act as the new “corporate conference center” for the organization. In April, Frontier Days also shared its Trail Guide to the Future, a strategic plan that offered ideas for staying relevant for the next 30 to 40 years.
“What are the traditions of Frontier Days? And what do people really want to see?” Hirsig said. “That’s what we wanted to explore. So we hired a guy by the name of Joe Tankersley, who worked for Disney for 20 years as an Imagineer, and he led us through that.”
Frontier Days certainly markets itself as a magical, Old West attraction for the hundreds of thousands who visit each year. For more than 80 percent of rodeo attendees, it’s either the first or the only rodeo they’ll ever see, according to a Frontier Days survey.
As former president Charlie West told The Denver Post in 2007: “People get to live somewhat of a fantasy at Cheyenne Frontier Days . ... It’s like going to Disneyland for the first time. You walk through that gate and you just forget about everything else.”
The Trail Guide report concluded that visible support for cowboys and the military, two pillars of Frontier Days’ historical identity, should remain strong into the future.
“One thing I learned growing up watching up old western movies with my grandfather was that western culture is very into preservation,” said singer Michael Ray, a central Florida native who will open for Florida George Line at Frontier Days on Friday. “So when I play an event like Frontier Days, I’m stepping into that heritage. It’s like the Grand Old Opry or something — you can feel that energy in the atmosphere. And you know the kids in the audience are going to be bringing their kids back in 30 years.”
Certainly, the city of Cheyenne hopes for that, too. Frontier Days visitors spent nearly $28 million in Laramie County during last year’s event, including $5.3 million at restaurants and bars, $3.7 million on lodging, $7.6 million on entertainment and recreation, and $10.8 million on shopping, gas and other retail purchases, according to a Frontier Days report.
Frontier Days also creates more than 300 full and part-time jobs, and gathers nearly 3,000 volunteers from the surrounding area.
“That’s pretty good for a town of 60,000,” Hirsig said of Cheyenne. “We have people that move away from here for one reason or another, and then when they get their two weeks vacation, they come back and volunteer. Once you a take a drink, you’re hooked forever.”