A Quick History Lesson on Tucson’s Greatest Fiesta – La Fiesta de los Vaqueros: the Tucson Rodeo

The Tucson Rodeo has been an unforgettable tradition in the city since nearly one hundred years ago. Bringing more than 200,000 visitors each year, the “Celebration of the Cowboys” is also a big economic boost for virtually every business in town, and it offers families of all sizes and ages a fun spectacle to watch. From a long parade displaying countless contributors to the state’s history and culture, to the astonishing performances inside the rodeo grounds, it is not an event to miss. 

The Tucson Rodeo first began with its famous parade in February of 1925 at the height of the Prohibition era. In fact, Tucson, being the hard-drinking town it was, had to be “cleaned up” by federal troops days before the parade. Thousands of gallons of moonshine were seized, and tens of stills were destroyed. 

With the town back on track, then-president of the Arizona Polo Association wished to glamorize the Wild West and give visitors a small taste of cowboy range work. Thus, the Tucson Rodeo Parade was born. It included 300 participants and thousands of spectators along the Downtown parade route and finished in Kramer Field, now a neighborhood called Catalina Vista. 

As the rodeo grew in size, so did the crowds coming to the city to watch it. Because of this, in 1932,  the event moved to an abandoned municipal airport field at South 6^th Avenue and Irvington Road, where it is held ever since. The rodeo grounds have space for 11,000 spectators.

Today, the Tucson Rodeo features the longest non-motorized parade in the country. Curiously, however, the first rodeo parade did have automobiles in it because they were still a new invention at the time.