Grand National Rodeo
| Grand National Rodeo, Horse, and Stock Show | |
|---|---|
 | |
.jpg) Cow Palace (2018) | |
| Genre | rodeo and county fair |
| Venue | Cow Palace |
| Location(s) | Daly City, California |
| Inaugurated | November 15, 1941 |
| Website | grandnationalrodeo |
The Grand National Rodeo, Horse, and Stock Show is one of the largest rodeo events in the United States. Held annually in the Cow Palace in Daly City, the annual Grand National brings rodeo to an urban audience. The Grand National is also a county agricultural fair, run by the California Department of Food and Agriculture.
Events
[edit]The usual 4-H club / Future Farmers of America events of an agricultural fair are held. Sheep, cattle, goats, rabbits, and pigs are judged. The horse and stock barns are open to the public and there are full English and Western horse shows.
In addition to the above events, there are country and western musical performances, a carnival and the Miss Grand National beauty pageant, whose contestants also typically compete in other competitions at the rodeo. The ProRodeo Hall of Fame inducted the Grand National Rodeo in 2008.[1]
History
[edit]The Cow Palace was built to host the first Grand National Rodeo, then known as three separate events: the Grand National Livestock Exposition, the Grand National Horse Show, and the Grand National Rodeo, held simultaneously from November 15–22, 1941.[2][3] Further events at the Cow Palace were interrupted temporarily by World War II,[4] and the site was used to stage troops; the ten-day rodeo and associated events returned on November 15, 1946.[5][6] The third Grand National Rodeo was held from November 1–9, 1947.[7]
The rodeo went virtual in 2020.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Grand National Rodeo, Horse & Stock Show - Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame". Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 2021-03-08. Retrieved 2017-04-12.
- ^ "$2,000,000 in horses, livestock and huge arena show for Grand National". Organized Labor. November 15, 1941. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
- ^ "Cow Palace show attracts 12,000 each day". Healdsburg Tribune, Enterprise, and Scimitar. U.P. November 17, 1941. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
- ^ "War Cancels Salinas Rodeo". San Bernardino Sun. Associated Press. April 11, 1942.
Shows called off recently were the Bakersfield frontier days, San Bernardino National rodeo, San Francisco's Grand National rodeo, and the Sun Valley, Idaho, rodeo.
- ^ "West's Greatest Show Set To Open Nov. 15 At Huge Cow Palace". Blue Lake Advocate. November 16, 1946. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
- ^ "Grand National Rodeo steers into Cow Palace". San Francisco Examiner. October 17, 2013. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
- ^ "Grand National Bills Top Cowboys". Healdsburg Tribune. September 12, 1947. Retrieved 12 March 2021.