Rodeo rides into the sunset with food, fun, encore from Brooks
Overall attendance slightly trails record set at the 2017 event
Sam Oxley’s cowboy hat slid down his 7-year-old head a bit, but he looked all the part of a rodeo-goer nonetheless — and he was ready.
“Grandpa and I are going to ride the biggest rides,” Oxley told his grandmother, Sharon Hemmerle, as they rode a Metropolitan Transit Authority train toward NRG Park for the last day of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.
Sam’s first stop, however, was going to be a corn dog.
“Then funnel cake,” he said, jumping up and down to expel some excess excitement.
By midday, hundreds were pouring through the gates for the last of the 20-day rodeo, eager to soak in one more day of fun, food and Western finery.
The last day found a diverse cast of attendees coming through the gates, distributed around NRG Park. Some came for a walk down the midway and a try
for a giant stuffed prize.
Ron Thurston, 43, left emptyhanded and down about $5 — his basketball skills not showing up. So he steered his son, Scott, 10, toward the petting zoo for a bit of air conditioning.
Others headed straight for the food.
Lance Rose waved a fried turkey leg at his wife, Kaylee, 29, signaling he’d found the fried Oreos she was looking for. Five straight years they’ve come to the rodeo, and five straight rodeos she’s tracked down her treat.
“I’ll owe myself some time on the treadmill,” Kaylee Rose said.
Later, country music royalty Garth Brooks was set to return to the stage to close out the season he kicked off Feb. 27 with a rousing show.
Rodeo organizers are hoping attendance at the closeout Brooks spectacle fares better than the opener. A rodeo largely devoid of issues that featured one of the biggest opening days in years and a spring-break spike — weather for the 2018 season stayed pleasant, with hardly any rain threat — faced a hiccup out of the gate when tickets told concert goers to show up an hour before the doors opened.
Coupled with some delays due to a new ticket processing system, some waited an hour or more in a line that snaked into the food court for the Brooks show.
A final tally on rodeo attendance is expected Monday, spokeswoman Brittany Rader said. With one day to go, 2018 crowds were slightly trailing recent years, but a strong Sunday showing could be the difference to an average or breakout year. Through Saturday, including the barbecue kickoff event, an estimated 2.28 million had walked through the gates. The record, set last year, is 2.61 million for the entire show.
Though Sunday’s forecast called for cloudy skies and slight chances of thunderstorms, many planned all-day excursions to NRG Park. A few midday raindrops served more to cool the crowd than corral it inside.
The dark skies didn’t dampen Glenn Greene’s rodeo spirits or his appetite on Sunday. Waiting in line for brisket, Greene, 56, said it was the last day before his children returned to school from spring break and before he returned to work.
“I’m going to make the most of it,” Greene said. “Then go home early and get some sleep — 6 a.m. comes fast.”