The Bergeron Rodeo Grounds were founded in the early 1940s. [1] They are located in the historical western theme downtown district of Davie, Florida. They serve as Davie's main tourist attraction. This indoor/outdoor facility has been building and establishing itself as one of the up-and-coming multi-cultural locales in South Florida. Originally the center was established as a rodeo arena, but as the need for a more versatile activity increased, the arena expanded to meet the demands for such diverse events as top name concert entertainers and family events that include circus, monster trucks, horse shows, dog shows, car shows, air boat shows, specialty shows and industrial shows.
The roots of the Bergeron Rodeo Grounds date to the early 1920s when local residents began having rodeos. [1] Seventeen local residents constructed a pit and named it Davie Rodeo Arena. Two of the leaders were Claude Tindall, to whom the arena was dedicated in 1977, and Percy Bergeron, who owned a tiny country grocery store in town. Official rodeos were held twice per year until rodeo stars Troy Weekley, his brothers Dan and Wayne Weekley, and Donald Parrish started Five Star Rodeo about 20 years ago. The rodeo, which hosts 14 bull-riding, rodeo and youth events, is considered the oldest in Florida and is part of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association circuit.
In 1978, the town planned to scrap the arena for youth athletic fields, but about 200 residents rode horseback to a town council meeting in protest. The arena was saved, and the Davie Rodeo Association, previously called Davie for Horses, was formed to protect it. A roof was added to the arena in 1984-1985. In 1995, Percy Bergeron's son, developer and businessman Ron Bergeron, donated $150,000 toward the purchase of land for parking followed by $160,000 in 1996 to landscape and pave the entryway. The area surrounding the arena then was named Bergeron Rodeo Grounds.
Bergeron is host to the Sunshine Stampede, which is organized by the Florida Gay Rodeo Association. [2] It also is the focus of a campaign by the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida for its use of animals in traditional rodeo events. [3]
Rodeo is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working vaqueros and later, cowboys, in what today is the western United States, western Canada, and northern Mexico. Today, it is a sporting event that involves horses and other livestock, designed to test the skill and speed of the cowboys and cowgirls. American-style professional rodeos generally comprise the following events: tie-down roping, team roping, steer wrestling, Steer roping, saddle bronc riding, bareback bronc riding, bull riding and barrel racing. The events are divided into two basic categories: the rough stock events and the timed events. Depending on sanctioning organization and region, other events such as breakaway roping, goat tying, and pole bending may also be a part of some rodeos. The "world's first public cowboy contest" was held on July 4, 1883, in Pecos, Texas, between cattle driver Trav Windham and roper Morg Livingston.
Davie is a town in Broward County, Florida, United States, approximately 24 miles (39 km) north of Miami. The town's population was 110,320 at the 2020 census, making it the largest town in Florida by population. Davie is a principal town of the Miami metropolitan area. Horseback riding is common, as much of its historic buildings include ranches and other Western establishments.
The Calgary Stampede is an annual rodeo, exhibition, and festival held every July in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The ten-day event, which bills itself as "The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth", attracts over one million visitors per year and features one of the world's largest rodeos, a parade, midway, stage shows, concerts, agricultural competitions, chuckwagon racing, and First Nations exhibitions. In 2008, the Calgary Stampede was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame.
Bull riding is a rodeo sport that involves a rider getting on a bucking bull and attempting to stay mounted while the animal tries to buck off the rider.
Bronc riding, either bareback bronc or saddle bronc competition, is a rodeo event that involves a rodeo participant riding a bucking horse that attempts to throw or buck off the rider. Originally based on the necessary buck breaking skills of a working cowboy, the event is now a highly stylized competition that utilizes horses that often are specially bred for strength, agility, and bucking ability. It is recognized by the main rodeo organizations such as the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) and the International Professional Rodeo Association (IPRA).
Steer wrestling, also known as bulldogging, is a rodeo event in which a horse-mounted rider chases a steer, drops from the horse to the steer, then wrestles the steer to the ground by grabbing its horns and pulling it off-balance so that it falls to the ground. The event carries a high risk of injury to the cowboy. Some concerns from the animal-rights community express that the competition may include practices that constitute cruelty to animals, but the injury rate to animals is less than 0.05%. A later PRCA survey of 60,971 animal performances at 198 rodeo performances and 73 sections of "slack" indicated 27 animals were injured, again around 0.05%.
Calf roping, also known as tie-down roping, is a rodeo event that features a calf and a rider mounted on a horse. The goal of this timed event is for the rider to catch the calf by throwing a loop of rope from a lariat around its neck, dismount from the horse, run to the calf, and restrain it by tying three legs together, in as short a time as possible. A variant on the sport, with fewer animal welfare controversies, is breakaway roping, where the calf is roped, but not tied.
Barrel racing is a rodeo event in which a horse and rider attempt to run a cloverleaf pattern around preset barrels in the fastest time. In collegiate and professional ranks, it is usually a women's event, though both sexes compete at amateur and youth levels. It requires a combination of the horse's athletic ability and the horsemanship skills of a rider in order to safely and successfully maneuver the horse around three barrels placed in a triangle pattern within a large arena.
The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, also called RodeoHouston or abbreviated HLSR, is the largest livestock exhibition and rodeo in the world. It includes one of the richest regular-season professional rodeo events. It has been held at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, since 2003, with the exception of 2021 due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was previously held in the Astrodome. It is considered to be the city's "signature event", much like New Orleans's Mardi Gras, Dallas's Texas State Fair, San Diego's Comic-Con and New York City's New Year's Eve at Times Square.
Frost Bank Center is a multi-purpose indoor arena on the east side of San Antonio, Texas, United States. It is the home of the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Amerant Bank Arena is the largest indoor arena in Florida and is located next to Sawgrass Mills in Sunrise, Florida. It is the home venue for the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League. It was completed in 1998, at a cost of US$185 million, almost entirely publicly financed, and features 70 suites and 2,623 club seats.
The National Finals Rodeo (NFR) is the premier championship rodeo of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). It showcases the talents of the PRCA's top 15 money winners in the season for each event.
The Big Cypress Indian Reservation is one of the six reservations of the Seminole Tribe of Florida. It is located in southeastern Hendry County and northwestern Broward County, in southern Florida, United States. Its location is on the Atlantic coastal plain. This reservation lies south of Lake Okeechobee and just north of Alligator Alley. It is governed by the Seminole Tribe of Florida's Tribal Council, and is the largest of the five Seminole reservations in the state. Facilities on the reservation include the tribal museum and a major entertainment and rodeo complex.
The American Royal is a livestock show, horse show, rodeo, and barbecue competition held each year in September – November at various sites in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. The Future Farmers of America was founded during the annual Royal. The Kansas City Royals professional baseball team derived its name from the Royal.
Cloverdale Rodeo and Country Fair is an annual rodeo and fair located in the town of Cloverdale in Surrey, British Columbia. It is held annually at the Cloverdale Fairgrounds during the Victoria Day holiday weekend, from the Friday to Monday.
The International Gay Rodeo Association (IGRA), founded in 1985, is the sanctioning body for gay rodeos held throughout the United States and Canada. They are the largest group coordinating rodeo events specifically welcoming lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) as well as heterosexual participants and spectators. IGRA is composed of many regional gay rodeo associations, and sanctions a season of rodeo events which culminates in an annual World Gay Rodeo Finals. IGRA events are intended to allow all competitors, regardless of sexual and gender identity, to compete in rodeo sports without discrimination. The organization helps spread appreciation for Western culture and the sport of rodeo, while serving as a fundraising vehicle benefiting many charitable organizations.
The Cloverdale Fairgrounds are located in the town of Cloverdale in Surrey, British Columbia. Since 1938, it has been the host site of one of Canada's largests rodeos, the Cloverdale Rodeo.
Salinas is a major stop on the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) circuit. The Salinas rodeo began in 1911 as a Wild West Show on the site of the old race track ground, now the Salinas Sports Complex. The rodeo was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2008.
The South Florida Council is a 501(c)(3) organization chartered by the Boy Scouts of America to serve Broward, Miami-Dade, and Monroe Counties in South Florida. As of 2022, the South Florida Council had a membership of more than 20,000 youth and adults in traditional and in-school and after-school programs. The South Florida Council is Platinum rated charity by Guidestar and a Four out of Four-star rated charity by Charity Navigator.
The Sandhills Global Event Center, known as the Lancaster Event Center until December 2023, is a public non-profit fairgrounds-style event complex located in Lincoln, Nebraska owned and operated by the Lancaster County Agricultural Society. It was originally built to provide a permanent home for the Lancaster County Fair and other community events.