The theme of the Bonifay Rodeo PRCA Northwest Florida Championship this year is “Grab The Bull By The Horns,” and the Bonifay Kiwanis Club is the host of this Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association Rodeo.
Pricing for any one night: Children age 3 and under are free. Children ages 4 through 10 are $8.00 in advance or $10.00 at the gate. Adults and children ages 11 and up are $13.00 in advance or $16.00 at the gate.
Thursday Night, October 5, is Kids Night!
Children 10 and under are admitted free with a paying adult. There will be activities and entertainment before the Rodeo begins.
Friday and Saturday, October 6 and 7. They begin at 1:00 PM each day in downtown Bonifay and bring floats, high school bands, beauty queens, go carts, motorcycles, ATVs, wagon trains, and hundreds of horses.
Military Night on Friday Night— Wear red, white and blue
Saturday night’s theme has not yet been announced.
Pancake Breakfast and Fundraiser
Saturday, October 7, 8:00 to 11:00 AM. $6.00 per plate. Pancakes, sausage, orange juice, milk, and coffee.
Among the many popular events at the Rodeo, the sport of bull riding is the most recognized and the most dangerous. However, the spectators are excited to view riders who try to remain on the back of an approximate 2,000-pound bull for eight seconds without getting thrown off.
Riders use just one hand to secure themselves to the bull with a thickly braided rope wrapped around that hand tightly after the rope has been wrapped around the bull. Riders cannot touch themselves or the bull with their free hand. Judges award points based on how the riders and their bulls perform.
Bucking, jumping, and kicking are inborn and bred abilities that bulls naturally exhibit because they instinctively want to get that lump of weight off their backs. The bucking is encouraged by the use of a flank strap that is tightened the same way you cinch the girth on a horse’s riding saddle. The strap releases quickly and is lined with sheepskin or padding to avoid hurting the bull in any way.
The Bonifay Kiwanis Club held the very first rodeo on December 6 through 8, 1946, and the club decided to hold the rodeo annually on the first weekend in October. Eventually cowboys from all over the United States came to participate to earn prize money and points toward the national championship.
Media Team
Covering the Bonifay Rodeo PRCA Northwest Florida Championship will be the Ak-Chin Indian Community, Earnhardt Auto Centers, Papa John’s Road Team, and the Cowboy Lifestyle Network. The Network is the leading community and online source for everything Western and Country.
