r By Cecile PeayrrThe Fiesta Days Rodeo is celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2017. This rodeo just keeps getting better.
The Diamond Fork Riding Club was instrumental in starting the Fiesta Days Rodeo, and in the mid-1980s it partnered with Spanish Fork City. This partnership went on to produce one of the best rodeos in the world.
The 2017 Fiesta Days Rodeo will begin on Thursday, July 20, and continue on Friday, Saturday and Monday, July 21, 22 and 24. Those interested should get tickets early as the rodeo has drawn a sellout crowd for 44 consecutive rodeos. Rodeo tickets are available at SFcitytix.com.
This year, the rodeo is joining the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association as a “Gold Tour” rodeo. There were only seven Gold Tour Rodeos last year in all of the PRCA. The tour rodeos are designated Gold or Silver Tour rodeos based on the committee-added purse money per event. This gives the contestants an added incentive to compete in the Fiesta Days Rodeo and the show continues to draw the best.
In 2016, the Fiesta Days Rodeo received several prestigious awards including “The Best Large Rodeo in the Wilderness Circuit” and “The Best Large Rodeo Award” given by the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association. At the National Finals Rodeo Awards Banquet, the Fiesta Days Rodeo was awarded the “Polaris Ranger Remuda Awards – PRCA Stock Contractor & PRCA Rodeo Committee.” This award goes to the stock contractor with the best breeding program, who goes the extra mile for the contestants, and who works with the next generation. The PRCA Rodeo Committee Rodeo Award goes to the rodeo committee that goes above and beyond getting the best stock for its rodeo.
In August, the Spanish Fork Fiesta Days Rodeo was inducted into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs, Colo. Fiesta Days is the only rodeo in Utah to have received this honor and joins just 23 other rodeos in the Hall of Fame.
