By Anna Trevathan, Managing Editor
The Lakeside Rodeo, hosted on August 15 and 16 at Prater Farms, drew massive crowds from surrounding counties to see some wholesome, country fun. The Rodeo, arranged by Prater Farms and the Cotton Eyed Joe, consisted of vendors, food trucks, and some amazing equestrian showmanship. The action packed line-up for this rodeo included bareback, saddle bronc, ranch bronc, steer wrestling, calf roping, calf scramble, breakaway roping, team roping, barrel racing and bull riding.
Hailing from a small rural town (shoutout to Jefferson County), I’m no stranger to a rodeo; I knew to expect plenty of horses, cows, and cowboy boots. Something I had forgotten, however, was the national pride that these events carry with them. In the current political climate, American pride has been on the decline when it comes to social media, so it was refreshing to experience a crowd of people being moved when the National Anthem came on. There was such strong love for the country and pride for the hard work of the American competitors throughout the rodeo.
Although there were incredible moments, the Lakeside Rodeo also experienced challenges when it came to seating and preparation for the audience. At the price of 20 dollars per person for adults and 15 dollars for kids, with children six and under for free, there is an expectation for audience experience, especially in a city like Knoxville with various events happening every weekend at the same price point. It was clear that the amount of people who actually attended the rodeo had exceeded their expectations, and the lack of preparation for such a crowd led to seats filling up in the metal bleachers 20 minutes before the event even began. Incoming attendees were then notified that if they did decide to come in they would be forced to stand during the entire event.
Incredibly, the line of well over 30 people decided to come in anyway, forming massive crowds at the ends of the metal bleachers. Many patrons, myself included, ended up sitting in the dirt right at the gate, getting dirt kicked onto us with every race. Being up against the gate makes for great photos, but requiring that attendees pay that full entry fee to enter while knowing that they will not be able to sit once they are inside of the event is ludicrous. This gate also made for some safety concerns, with large animals running around in a craze heading towards it during certain parts of the rodeo.
Along with the audience being uncomfortable just existing in the space, the vendors were also unprepared for the amount of individuals that the rodeo pulled in. As an example, at 8:45PM (an hour and 15 minutes after the event started), my husband went to grab us water and the vendor he went through had run completely out and only had Diet Dr. Pepper left to buy. Though the expectation vs. reality differed in many ways, make no mistake – the attendees for the rodeo were always captivated by the sport in front of them.
To me, the best part of the event was easily the inclusion of children in the show itself. In modern society, I find that many adults are exclusionary towards children in public spaces, forgetting that they were once children as well and tending to crave spaces without them. At the Lakeside Rodeo, the showrunners embraced children and invited them out to the field to do the calf scramble, where children raced to grab a rope off of a calf. There was even a “baby cowboy,” who was invited out to the field to speak to the crowd, saying, “welcome to the rodeo!”
Overall, The Lakeside Rodeo brought several memorable moments with it. However, for the average Knoxvillian attending, there would be no want to attend another rodeo after experiencing this one, especially for those experiencing this event in the dirt.
