The Kimberley Dynamiters Bull-A-Rama is back for a fifth year and set to kick up some dust Saturday, May 2 at the Kimberley Civic Centre.
A total of 30 cowboys will vie for $4,000 worth of prize money and a championship buckle, with rides beginning at 6 p.m. Saturday night.
“This is bull riding. When you go to a rodeo, you sit and you wait and you wait for the bull riding at the end,” said Kimberley Dynamiters Bull-A-Rama producer and promoter Guy Thompson. “It is the most dangerous sport in dirt. Everybody waits for the bull riding.
“You’re going to see probably 40 bull rides right up close. You’re not sitting out in the bleachers somewhere. You’re right on top of the action.”
In addition to five years of work with the Kimberley Dynamiters Bull-A-Rama, Thompson has been involved with Trail’s Kootenay Chrysler Bull-A-Rama for 13 years.
As he took a break from filling the Civic Centre floor with dirt Wednesday afternoon, Thompson said he was looking forward to seeing a strong crop of cowboys roll into Kimberley Saturday evening.
Coming from as far as Australia and Paraguay, and as near as Jaffray, bull riders will attempt to tame rodeo stock provided by Big Chief/Armstrong Bucking Bulls, Coyote Creek Rodeo and Outlaw Buckers Rodeo Corp.
“There’s five bulls that have been to the Canadian finals. One was the top bull in Canada last year,” Thompson said. “The last couple years, [the bulls] have been a little better than the cowboys, but I think this year is going to be something else.”
The Kimberley Dynamiters Bull-A-Rama is a Bull Riders Canada-sanctioned event and one of 59 shows comprising the third season of Bull Riders Canada (BRC).
The Kimberley BRC event will feature five of the BRC’s top-10 riders on the 2015 circuit led by 2013 BRC National Champion Brian Hervey of Brant, Alta.
Through April 25, Hervey sits first in the 2015 BRC standings, having earned 1,685 points and $8,804 in winnings.
Also rolling into the Kimberley Civic Centre for the event will be fifth-place Devon Mezei (895 points), sixth-place Casey Berg, seventh-place Miles Pennington (765 points) and ninth-place Ken Siemens (695 points).
Locally, the East Kootenay will be represented by Jaffray’s Sandy de Jong.
Payouts at the Kimberley Dynamiters Bull-A-Rama will be made to the top-four riders in the long round, as well as the top-four riders in the short round of competition.
BRC is the largest publicly-owned and operated bull-riding company in Canada. During the 2014 season, it paid out more than $245,000 to competitors.
In addition to bull riding, fans will be entertained by Jason Charters, the Get Down Rodeo Clown, trick rider Shelby Cummings and mutton busting during the intermission.
Announcer Wes Cummings will oversee the evening.
Doors to the Civic Centre open at 5 p.m.
Ahead of the event, Thompson wished to extend his thanks to the City of Kimberley and a long list of sponsors, headed by Cranbrook Dodge.
After the bull riding, the Civic Centre floor will play host to dance and live music courtesy Hot Muck, a local Kimberley bluegrass, old-school country and rock ‘n’ roll band.
Tickets for the bull riding are $20 for adults, $10 for children’s seven to 12. Children six and under gain admittance free of charge.
Proceeds from the event go towards supporting the Kimberley Dynamiters Junior ‘B’ Hockey Club.
The dance is open to adults 19 and older. Tickets for the dance cost $15.
Kimberley Dynamiters Bull-A-Rama and dance tickets are available for purchase at Sprout Grocery in Kimberley, Hillbilly Hardware in Cranbrook and Slim Pickens in Wasa.
