Huge Rodeo Returns To Hillsborough

Photo by Tampa Bay Rodeo and Family Festival | Gallery

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You can get your fill of “Yee-haw!” at this year’s second edition of the Tampa Bay Rodeo and Family Festival. This festival is returning to the Hillsborough County Fairgrounds in Dover, Florida, from 5:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. on both on Friday, July 19, and Saturday, July 20.

Tickets for this self-proclaimed “hottest show on dirt” start at $25 each for children 4 to 12 years old and $40 each for everyone over 13 years old. Children 3 years old and younger enter for free without the need for a ticket or wristband, and general parking will be free, but premium parking closer to the entrance can be purchased in advance online for $20. Tickets can be purchased here.

After a sold out event in April, this festival, presented by Bartow Ford, Bud Light, and Busch Light Rodeo, is reportedly upping its game for the second run. There will be free amenities and activities including two Family Festival Cool Zones in the Entertainment Beer Barn and a 150-foot by 130-foot mega tent, family yard games, a goat playground with baby goats, a 45-foot-tall super slide, and live music performed by Crossfire Creek Band. 

Other amusements include “wheel-churning rides” on monster truck Later Gator, axe throwing, and mechanical bull rides. In addition, vendors will be serving refreshments from beverages to barbecue. The festival notes that pork rinds, pizza, and tacos will be on the menu.

As for the rodeo itself, the festival promises “new competitors, new livestock and thrilling action” from the “area’s best cowboys and cowgirls”. The rodeo will feature barrel racing, bull riding, calf roping, team roping, bronc busting, and more.
 
The schedule for both festival days is as follows:
5:00 p.m. - Gates Open
5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. - Live Music
8:00 p.m. - Rodeo
11:00 p.m. - Gates Close

Check out this video from last year’s Tampa Bay Rodeo and Family Festival for a better idea of what to expect from the coming festival. 
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Article by Ema Tibbetts