Excitement builds ahead of 57th annual Black Gold Rodeo

LEDUC -- Excitement continues to build ahead of the 57th annual Black Gold Rodeo. 

The annual May celebration is back for another year with a jam-packed event schedule at the Leduc Rec Centre. This year's festivities will feature the annual parade, rodeo performances, midway rides, a trade fair, and more. Trevor Wallace -- President of the Black Gold Pro Rodeo and Exhibition Association -- says the 'Kick Off to Summer' event will get things started on Friday, May 22.

"This will be the second year that we're doing the Kick Off to Summer and we're really excited about it," said Wallace. "We partner with several local groups, such as 1st Leduc Scouting and the Boys and Girls Club; they all come and put on events. We're also putting on a stage show with Jordyn Pollard joining us to put on a concert." 

The free concert will take place from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. on 49 Street South of 50th Avenue, and burgers will be available for purchase at the community BBQ. The following week, the rodeo events will get underway in earnest starting on Thursday, May 28, and wrapping up on Sunday, May 31. Wallace says it’s shaping up to be another memorable weekend.

"The cabaret on Saturday night is really popular -- we have 'North of Forty' preforming and we're excited to have them as local artists," said Wallace. "Another crowd favourite has always been the midway, which will be running from Thursday to Sunday as well, and of course the parade."

The annual parade will get underway at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 30. It will start on Black Gold Drive, south of the Junior High School, travel west before turning north at 50 Street, travelling along 50 Street to 52 Avenue, then east to 47 Street. Rodeo events at the Leduc Rec Centre will include Saddle Bronc, Bull Riding, Barrel Racing, and Steer Wrestling, while the Extreme Cowboy Competition will take place the following weekend on June 7.

Also on May 30, the Black Gold Rodeo Trade Fair will run between 11:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. in the LRC fieldhouses, while the Classic Car Show will take place outside from 12:00 to 4:00 p.m. For the full list of the weekend's schedule, you can head to https://www.blackgoldrodeo.com/schedule.

"It's really important to our association to do a couple things," said Wallace. "Making sure that we have a high-quality professional rodeo event that we can be proud of, that the community can be proud of, and that's highly entertaining for the people that come. But we also try to balance that with a number of free activities to engage the community." 

Proceeds from the 50/50 raffle will go towards their scholarship program to help local students pursuing careers in agriculture-related professions, while also helping out local organizations such as Leduc Santas' Helpers. This year's Black Gold Rodeo is expected to generate up to $3,000,000 in local economic activity in the City of Leduc.