LOS FRESNOS, Texas (KVEO) — The Los Fresnos rodeo has taken place since 1989 and is a celebrated annual event every year, but that will change in 2021.
“After thirty-one-years it means a lot. It’s not only a tradition but it’s something that families look forward to,” said Mark Milum, chairman of the Los Fresnos Rodeo committee.
Following the announcement of a cancelation of the 2021 rodeo by the Los Fresnos Rodeo Committee, families looking forward to the tradition of the rodeo and will have to wait another year to experience it.
In years past, “the biggest little rodeo in Texas” was quite the draw, bringing in up to three times the town’s population of almost eight thousand to the week-long event. The vast majority of that concentrated on the rodeo grounds themselves.”
“Last year on a Saturday night we figured we had ten to eleven thousand people on the grounds at one time,” said Milum.
And it’s not just the rodeo that sees large crowds, Milum says the whole city gets a boost when the rodeo is going on.
“Our businesses really get full and to the brim,” said Milum. “You have to wait in lines, you have to wait for a seat in all the restaurants, you have to wait in lines to get gas and at the convenience store.”
Making the decision to stop the rodeo for a year was a difficult one. Having lost the previous chairman of the rodeo committee, Mike Todd, to COVID-19 in July, Milum says shutting down the rodeo had to be done.
“We think we made the best decision not only for us but for the community of Los Fresnos,” said Milum.
