It's been 12 years since Prince George last hosted an amateur rodeo.
In fact, there hasn't been an outdoor rodeo in this city since the turn of the century.
That long drought of being exposed to the elements will come to an end next week at the B.C. Northern Exhibition, which is bringing back the broncs, bulls and barrel racers for two days of rodeo action in the outdoor arena at Exhibition Park, next Saturday and Sunday.
The B.C. Rodeo Association-sanctioned Great Northern Rockin' Rodeo includes two performances - Saturday, Aug. 15 at 1 p.m. and Sunday, Aug. 16 at noon - with a slack round in between Sunday at 8 a.m., before the gates to the BCNE open.
"It's a full-blown rodeo with all the rough stock and everything," said Nora Wallach, BCNE rodeo co-ordinator.
"There's bronc riding, bareback riding, bull riding, steer wrestling, breakaway roping (adult and junior), tie-down roping, team roping and three divisions of barrel racing (ladies, youth and peewee), steer riding (adults and youth).
"People are excited to have rodeo back and it's a really good feeling to hear what they're saying. I haven't been to a rodeo for a long time and this is going to be cool."
Wallach spearheaded the plan to bring rodeo back to Prince George along with BRCA president Trish Kohorst and they've been working together with the Prince George Rodeo Association to make it happen.
All of the sponsorship for the rodeo has come from Quesnel and Vanderhoof and Wallach is hoping to lay the groundwork to get Prince George businesses on board and solidify it as an annual event.
Rough stock animals will be supplied by DnB Rodeo Stock of Salmon Arm.
"There are five stock contractors to choose from and from the sounds of it, the cowboys like them," said Wallach.
"They're running good stock and the bulls will be rank."
Not that she will be watching.
"Everybody likes bull riding but me," she said.
"I just turn my back and wait until it's all over."
The Great Northern Rodeo falls late in the BCRA season, with the series finals set for Quesnel,
Sept. 11-13.
Rodeo admission is included with the BCNE gate cost, which is $10 (adult), $5 (youth 12-17 and seniors 60 and older), and is free for kids 11 and under.
Wallach is also organizing an indoor barrel racing event during the BCNE next Thursday and Friday at the Agriplex, which has a $5,000 added purse. Thursday's show starts at 5 p.m. and it resumes Friday at noon.
The city lost its outdoor rodeo in 2000 when a downturn in the economy dried up local sponsorships and it became too much of a risk for the volunteer Prince George Rodeo Association to continue putting on the Great Northern Rodeo. It was a $30,000 venture with no guarantees enough people would show up to support an amateur rodeo sitting on the open bleachers at the rodeo grounds.
The outdoor stands were removed by the city years ago when they fell into disrepair. Portable stands will be used for next weekend's rodeo, which adds to the cost.
"It's an expensive proposition to do a rodeo, but what's a fair without a rodeo?" said BCNE president Alex Huber.
Despite drawing close to 600 competitors in 2000, lack of a full-time organizer led to the the 2001 rodeo being canceled. It was moved indoors into the building formerly known as the Prince George Multiplex in June 2002 and was sparsely attended.
The following year, the rodeo became part of the Prince George Exhibition and it was well-received, with 5,300 spectators over three days, but that was the only time the Great Northern Rodeo was on the PGX schedule.
"We were game to go but they (the PGX) weren't, so we didn't push it, we just let it be," said Max Schultz, past-president of the PGRA.
"We decided, after all of that effort, we made no money and the city got nothing out of it and we got shuffled out the door. It was a struggle and we decided we'd just do Western Weekends (indoor rodeos at the Agriplex with no rough-stock events)."
When pro rodeo came to Prince George with the West of the Rockies series finals in October 2006, the PGRA threw its organizational support behind the three-day event at CN Centre. For three years Prince George rodeo fans got to see some of the best performers of the Canadian Pro Rodeo Association circuit in its last event leading up to the Canadian Finals Rodeo.
West of the Rockies was profitable the first year, with a total attendance of 7,252 over three days, but by 2008 attendance dropped to 4,700 and the local group promoting it pulled the plug.
Since then, other than a few barrel racing and team roping events and the Prince George Bullriding Challenge in May 2011, the rodeo scene in Prince George has been quiet.
