Even with the Cloverdale Rodeo finally returning after a three-year hiatus due to COVID, Langley’s new pro rodeo will be continuing.
Valley West Stampede will be back for its second year this September, confirmed president Sheila Hicks.
Once again it will be held on the Labour Day weekend (Sept. 2 to 4) at the Langley Riders Society grounds on 208th Street in Brookswood.
Hicks described this stampede as the Fraser Valley’s only rodeo event sanctioned by the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association (CPRA), noting it will attract some of North America’s top-ranked cowboys and cowgirls who will be competing across Canada and the U.S. this summer.
When competing in Langley, riders are vying for $20,000 in prize money that will be up for grabs for each of four scheduled events: bareback, ladies barrel racing, saddle bronc, and bull riding.
There will technically be a fifth category, although it’s a little less about competition and more about introduction to the sport. That’s the mutton busting for local kids, which will round out the event.
The stampede attracted about 6,000 rodeo fans in its inaugural year, and a large stable of competitors.
“Now that fans have had a taste of professional rodeo in an intimate setting where everyone has a front row seat, word’s getting out and we are expecting an even bigger response to this year’s rodeo,” said Hicks.
“That’s why we’ve started offering advance ticket sales, so people can lock in their plans for the Labour Day weekend. We’re bringing back the popular beer garden along with more onsite entertainment this year, food trucks, displays, concessions, and 4-H during the day, and dancing and entertainment again Saturday and Sunday evening,” the president noted.
The Valley West Stampede is held in partnership with the Langley Riders Society, an organization that is no strangers to staging rodeo events, having organized Little Britches Rodeos for young riders for more than 50 years.
The rodeo events in the Brookswood arena will start at 2 p.m. each day, with tickets now available online at ValleyWestStampede.ca for $25 for adults, and $10 for children 12 and younger.
The first stampede was held, but not without some opposition, the BC SPCA and Vancouver Humane Society speaking out against the new rodeo. Demonstrators did appear outside last year’s event.
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Thousands attended Langley’s first professional rodeo at Langley Riders Society’s rodeo ground last year. Some enjoyed from the stands while many cheered from the grass area surrounding the rodeo arena. Riders who topped the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association’s standings competed in the Valley West Stampede. It’s back this Labour Day weekend. (Langley Advance Times files)
