Each March, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo takes up residence at Reliant Park in Houston, Texas. The event lasts for 20 days. According to the official website, www.rodeohouston.com, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is the largest livestock exhibition in the world and the richest regular season event on the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and Women's Pro Rodeo Association schedules. The HLSR generates more than $345 million in business and revenue for the Houston metropolitan area.
The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo was born in January 1931 as the Houston Fat Stock Show and Livestock Exhibition, an idea hatched during a lunch at the Texas State Hotel to improve agricultural trade in Houston. The first event was in April 1932 at Democratic Convention Hall. The name was changed to the HLSR in 1961.
In 1966, the event moved into the Astrodome, where it remained until 2003, when the new Reliant Stadium was completed. In 2010, the HLSR broke all previous attendance records with 2,144,077 paid tickets sold.
The primary mission of the HLSR is to promote education in the state of Texas. The first educational scholarships were awarded in 1957. Today, four-year scholarships are worth $15,000 and more than $250 million has been awarded to students; 1,884 students attended school on an HLSR scholarship in 2010.
Recipients must attend a four-year Texas university or college and must demonstrate academic potential, leadership ability and financial need.
The HLSR also funds research programs for Texas institutions of higher learning. The RITE (Rodeo Institute for Teacher Excellence) program, which was started in 1997, addresses reading problems of at-risk kids in elementary schools. Nearly 40,000 kids have benefited from the program.
Rodeo was added to the livestock show in 1938. It was sanctioned by the PRCA for the first time in 1954 and by the WPRA about 10 years later. The rodeo includes bareback riding, bull riding, barrel racing, tie-down roping, team roping, saddle bronc riding and steer wrestling.
In 2007, the rodeo--now known as RodeoHouston--introduced the Super Series, a tournament format in which rodeo contestants move through a bracket to reach the championship. The winner earns $50,000, the richest payout of rodeo's regular season. RodeoHouston has been named the PRCA's Indoor Rodeo of the Year nine times.
The Houston Livestock Show consists of three divisions: Junior, Open and Youth. The Junior Division is open to Texas students involved in 4-H and Future Farmers of America. The Youth Division is open to all children under age 18. Classes are held for beef cattle, sheep, swine, dairy cattle, dairy goats, rabbits, llamas and turkeys. A junior auction is also held each year. In addition, juniors can compete in livestock judging, public speaking, an agriculture mechanics project and tractor technician contests.
The HLSR also holds numerous horse shows, a ranch rodeo, team penning and a National Cutting Horse Association event. There is also a downtown parade, an FFA recreational contest, the Lil' Rustlers Rodeo and a world championship barbecue contest. The barbecue contest averages 400 entrants who compete in three categories: beef, chicken and pork and spare ribs.
HLSR events also include Go Tejano Day, Ladies Night Out and Black Heritage Day. Finally, the Top Hands Horse Show features physically-challenged riders of all ages competing in various events.
Following each rodeo performance, the HLSR presents a concert. Major entertainers have included Gene Autrey, Elvis Presley and Miley Cyrus.
Tickets for the HLSR include admission to Reliant Stadium, Reliant Arena, Reliant Center and the carnival. Tickets include rodeo performances and concerts. Kids under age 2 are free. In 2010, tickets prices ranged from $16 for Upper Level seats to $300 for Chute Seats, which are behind the bucking chutes for the rodeo and are the first row for the concert.
