From the moment we first scouted out places to live in Cheyenne, Wyoming, we’ve heard a lot about Cheyenne Frontier Days. Not being into cowboy culture, I wasn’t familiar with the world’s largest outdoor rodeo or aware that it’s held annually in Cheyenne.

As it turns out, the ‘Daddy of ’em all!’ is the one week of the year that Cheyenne quadruples in size, hosting people from around the world who flock to the city for the events associated with the rodeo, as well as the rodeo itself.

The running joke among Cheyenne residents is that everyone schedules their vacations for rodeo week to avoid the tourist influx. Since it was our first summer living here, we thought we better stick around and experience this phenomenon at least once. My parents scheduled their vacation around the festivities and joined us half-way through the week so we could check out the parade, pancake breakfast, behind the chutes tour, Old West Museum, rodeo, and much more together.

Was the week a little crazy? Yes. Were there so many people I couldn’t make my way around downtown? No. Even my downtown library book club had our monthly get together without any traffic or tourist interference.

Would I go to the events again? Probably not. I’m not really into the rodeo itself, and many of the other activities were fun to do with my family but likely not something I’ll go out of my way to experience again.

One thing we didn’t have time to do that I might consider in the future is attending some of the small musical performances in the frontier town outside of the ticketed area of the rodeo grounds. As we were leaving, we passed a couple of people singing with their guitar and it was very low-key – more my scene.

Overall I’m glad we experienced Cheyenne Frontier Days for ourselves, and I’d encourage you to check it out too! There are so many different activities to choose from based on your interests, and it was an insightful view into western culture that I wasn’t personally familiar with prior to moving here and trying to embrace new perspectives.

To pique your interest, here are a few of the activities we prioritized during rodeo week.

Cheyenne Frontier Days – Events and Activities

Grand Parade

Cheyenne Frontier Days kicks off with the Grand Parade, which is then held every other day throughout the week. We headed downtown on a weekday morning and it wasn’t too busy – we were able to sit along the Depot Plaza retaining wall in the shade right along the parade route.

The restored/maintained carriages were neat, and I enjoyed seeing the horses in their regalia. There were also some fun floats, the women’s riding crew performed a few stunts, and the vintage bicycles were a hit!

Pancake Breakfast

The pancake breakfast is offered several mornings, on the alternating days of the Grand Parade. The event originally served as an emergency training exercise – it was certainly amazing to see how efficiently they could move people through the line – and this past year they once again served more than 100,000 hotcakes!

I really enjoyed this event – not only because we got to eat free pancakes, but because it was entertaining to watch them flipping the hotcakes off the griddles and to see so many people enjoying a meal together. There were also local bands on the stage at the front of Depot Plaza so you could sit on the benches and enjoy a show while you chowed down on your breakfast.

CFD Old West Museum

The Old West Museum is available year-round and one of several museums downtown that help explain the history of this area and different industries, events, and people who have shaped its history. Located on the rodeo grounds, the Old West Museum was a great way to start our morning before we headed over to the rodeo in the afternoon.

In addition to all kinds of memorabilia – including pennant flags and pins from each of the Frontier Days dating back to the late 1800s – the museum had footage from prior rodeo years, an old carriage collection, an area dedicated to the tribes indigenous to this area, and an art installation. We enjoyed wandering around the exhibits before heading outside to the meeting spot for our morning tour.

Behind the Chutes Tour

Several mornings you can join a ‘behind the chutes’ tour before the rodeo events get underway. My cousins joined us for this walking tour that takes you around the animal areas, across the arena floor, literally behind the chutes, and then back to the Old West Museum.

I thought the concept was great and enjoyed getting our pictures in these normally off-limits areas, but the overall execution left a bit to be desired. Unfortunately the microphones and sound system were really spotty so we weren’t able to hear the people guiding us through the different areas. There were lots of people on the tour so between everyone stopping to take pictures and talking, I felt like I missed a lot of the information from the guides at the front of the group.

On the upside, we joined the ranks in getting our pictures taken and captured some great moments.

Indian Village

While the name may not be politically correct, I was happy to see indigenous culture represented among the week-long events. In fact, several of of Cheyenne residents who told us to avoid Frontier Days modified their remarks during the conversation to say they make an exception to visit the Indian Village at some point.

Outside the ticketed area, anyone can stop in to this portion of the rodeo grounds to purchase handmade good and food, as well as take in the different cultural activities throughout the week. This included dancing, musical performances, storytelling, and more. I really enjoyed the portion of the performances we were able to catch before we headed into the arena and am sure there is a lot more I could learn revisiting this part of the rodeo lineup.

CFD Rodeo

Of course the main event of Cheyenne Frontier Days is the rodeo. There were aspects of these events I enjoyed, like the women’s barrel racing, the timed balloon shoot, and watching the bullfighters in action when the riders were bucked off their horses and bulls.

Unpopular opinion: I didn’t really enjoy the rest of the rodeo events. The announcers went out of their way to explain how the animals are well cared for, etc. but it was hard to bear that in mind when we watched one horse lose its footing and go rolling across the arena on top of its rider, or while watching the little calves get lassoed and tied up on their backs. I left to get food when they were doing the events where they chase after a calf and then tackle it to the ground. And the wild horse race at the end was utter chaos with teams trying to control, saddle and ride a very unwilling horse around the track.

Lots of people love to participate and watch these events, but they aren’t for me. I can’t quite get over how many of the animals don’t seem to be having nearly as much fun as the humans.

There were tons of other activities throughout the week, including big country acts each night, a huge carnival area with fair food and rides, competitions where people lived out of old covered wagons for the week, and more.

It was certainly an interesting experience, and I’m glad to have checked it off my bucket list. But I think one round of Cheyenne Frontier Days was enough for me!