The 98th Annual Williams Lake Stampede is about to come busting out of the chute this Thursday (June 25).
Stampede Association President Court Smith said once again the big screen in the Let Er Buck will be set up so rodeo fans won’t miss and minute of the action.
Smith said in addition to all the rodeo excitement there will also be plenty of live entertainment.
“Thursday (June 25) we have Dawson Grey and Tumbling Dice playing in the Let Er Buck, Friday we have Tumbling Dice and Whiskey Blind Country, and Saturday we’ll have Broken Hill, Last Call, Tumbling Dice, and Dirt Road Kings. We also have some daytime entertainment, local entertainment coming to the Let Er Buck stage. And of course we have our Bronc Buster Trade Fair happening and we hope to have over 40 vendors offering everything from food to specialty items.”
When it comes to the rodeo performances, Smith noted that the entries are over and above what they were last year.
“We will have World Champions, Canadian Champions, the best of the best at all 4 of our performances,” Smith said, “There is what we call the slack, that’s an event that happens before the rodeo on Friday (June 26) those are contestants that we couldn’t fit into the rodeo.”
We asked Smith when he expects the livestock to begin arriving at the Williams Lake Stampede Grounds.
“The first load will arrive tomorrow (June 23) and there’s about 150 head of livestock that will be down there. By Wednesday they should all be there and have their feet well on the ground and well accustomed to where they’re at. These are like athletes, they do this for a living so they’ll come off the truck, settle in very quickly, all the pens are safe and sound, water and feed is available, they’ll have everything they need.”
Smith noted that leading up to this year’s Stampede they’ve had an incredible number of volunteers that help get things ready.
“During the event and throughout the weekend we have probably 250 plus, I don’t know the exact number. And honestly we couldn’t do this without volunteers. I say this every year but without volunteers and without the incredible sponsorship that we get from local businesses we couldn’t do it.”
Smith added that Williams Lake is an incredible community when it comes to supporting all sorts of causes and the Williams Lake Stampede is grateful for the support we get.
Rodeo performances are 6 pm Thursday and Friday, Saturday and Sunday afternoons at 2.
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