Sports
Grab your rigging bag, your best hat, rosin up the ropes, tighten up the buckles, shine your cowboy boots and saddle the horses—it’s time to rodeo! The Northern Rodeo Association (NRA) and the Northern Women’s Rodeo Association (NWRA) both begin their action-packed, fun-filled 2025 season with the Whoop-Up Trail Days in Conrad, MT, June 6th and 7th. Conrad is the first of 30 rodeos scheduled this summer across the Big Sky State. This season is the 50th NRA Rodeo Finals, to be held in Kalispell, MT, making it a half-century of showcasing the top cowboys and cowgirls from around the state and beyond.
Cowboys and cowgirls of all ages and from all walks of life will travel countless miles, endure bumps and bruises that accompany Montana’s official sport, and eat a lot of dirt in pursuit of the same goal—to qualify for the NuWest Builders NRA Finals from October 30th to November 1st at Kalispell’s Majestic Valley Arena. Last year, competitors from almost 100 Montana communities, along with nine states and Canada, went home with NRA and NWRA checks. NRA paid out $772,020 during the regular season. The top ten competitors in each event who qualified for the Finals chased an additional $139,275. And keeping with a long-standing tradition to promote rodeo’s future, the NRA and NWRA will also award permits to the Montana high school state champions.
The NRA and NWRA banners will be flying on Father’s Day weekend with four options of rodeo action: On Friday and Saturday, June 13th and 14th in Culbertson and in Gardiner. On June 14th in Poplar. In Wilsall the action is on Saturday and Sunday, June 14th and 15th, and later in the month in Big Timber on June 27th and 28th during the Sweet Grass Festival. In August NRA invites you on the 16th and 17th to the Calamity’s Classic in Livingston.
In Gardiner, the Upper Yellowstone Roundup Association (UYRA) invites you to the Jim Duffy Arena, at 100 U.S. Hwy. 89 South near the banks of the Yellowstone, along with Jacob’s Stock contractor for non-stop action. On Friday, the 13th, slack is held at 6 pm and free to spectators, gates open at 5:30 pm. On Saturday the 14th, join the community for the parade at 11 am on Highway 89. Get your fill of impossible rides, crunching crash landings, and high-flying roping in Gardiner on Father’s Day weekend.
In Wilsall, you are invited to the 71st Annual Rodeo at the arena off Hwy. 89 North on Cooper Street with the rough stock of Red Eye Rodeo. Come to watch the excitement of competition for the prize money and points to get to Kalispell in October. The Father’s Day weekend events begin on Saturday the 14th, with slack at 6:30 pm, women’s barrel racing, and breakaway roping. The rodeo is followed by a dinner and dance. On Sunday the 15th, the community starts with a breakfast at the firehall at 8 am, put on by the Wilsall Fire Department. Next up is the Wilsall Parade at noon followed by the rodeo at 2 pm.
In Livingston, Calamity’s Classic Rodeo is on August 16th and 17th at the Park County Fairgrounds at 46 View Vista Drive. The Windy City Outlaws host the non-stop rodeo action of stock contractor Sparky Dreesen & Paul Eiker of Big Circle Rodeo with esteemed announcer, Barney Sheridan keeping the eight-second thrills in real time. Saturday, August 16th the rodeo begins at 7 pm and on Sunday the 17th it begins at 5 pm. Gates open 90 minutes early. Calamity’s is a NRA Platinum Rodeo Award Winner.
So, saddle up and hang on for some local rodeo fun and action! This summer, there are nine weekends where competitors and fans have multiple rodeos to choose from. Visit NorthernRodeo.com for the NRA and NWRA’s complete schedule and more information.