The Pro Rodeo Spartanburg took place on August 2 and 3 at the Piedmont Fairgrounds. Featured events included bull riding, team roping, tie-down roping and barrel racing. Apart from the rodeo events, there was a mechanical bull, snow cones, fair food and cowboy merchandise. The Will Atkins Band performed both nights and drew quite the crowd.
Charlotte Ostwalt (9) thoroughly enjoyed attending the rodeo with her family.
“The rodeo was super fun for me and my family. We had fun watching bronco riding and tie-down roping. We also got to customize hats at one of the many vendors and got to ride the mechanical bull,” Ostwalt said.
Each year the rodeo tries to find new and thrilling acts to heat things up. This year’s pick was high schooler Lucas Maynard who is known for his lasso roping act. Maynard has won national titles and has over 60 thousand followers on TikTok. His act starts with several lasso tricks that speed up with the beat of a song. He then stops and the crowd cheers, thinking he is done; however, Maynard sets the rope on fire and does the same high-speed tricks as before, but with flames just inches from his face.
Lillie Henson (12) has attended the rodeo two years in a row and loves the new acts the rodeo has to offer.
“I loved the bull riding and the different vendors like the snow cone truck,” Henson said. “My absolute favorite was watching the lasso on fire act and the live band playing songs by my favorite artist, Zach Bryan.”
What would a rodeo be without a rodeo clown? During the show, the rodeo clown entertains the crowd with skits and continues them throughout different events. But this clown is different; instead of being on the outskirts of the arena, this clown is in the center of everything, with only a barrel as protection. The rodeo clown also protects riders when the bulls or horses get out of hand. Eugene Fowler is a national award-winning bronco rider, bull rider and rodeo clown from Boiling Springs. He is not only the producer of the rodeo, but the clown too. After spending nine days in the hospital last year after falling 35-40 feet out of a tree, Fowler is back in action.
Fowler has been involved in rodeos since he graduated high school in 2003.
“There’s a lot of heart, blood, sweat and tears that have gone into where I am now. I’ve put it on now for the past three years on the first weekend of August and plan to continue as long as God allows me to,” Fowler said.
