General News
10 May, 2024
Volunteers gear up for Coonamble Rodeo
With one of the biggest shows in the Western Plains less than two months away, organisers of the Coonamble Rodeo and Campdraft are looking to push crowd numbers further than ever.
With one of the biggest shows in the Western Plains less than two months away, organisers of the Coonamble Rodeo and Campdraft are looking to push crowd numbers further than ever. “We do it because we love doing it,” Coonamble Rodeo president Paul Wheelhouse said, who heads the volunteer committee who manage the whole event. “Every year we try to improve it and make it a better show.”
He expects up to 4000 spectators and competitors in Coonamble for the event, more than doubling the town’s population over three days. Over 1000 cowboys and cowgirls will enter the rodeo and camp draft, with prize dollars stretching into the tens of thousands. “We pay out in excess of $90,000 in prize money,” Coonamble Rodeo and Campdraft secretary Steve Butler said. “A competitor in the rodeo could win between $5000 and $6000 in an event.”
There’ll be no lack of action over the weekend as riders steel their nerves for roughstock events including steer wrestling, calf roping and, of course, the bronc and bull riding, where contestants have to stay on the beasts for eight seconds with one hand in the air. Show-goers seeking a little less physical contact will have the campdraft events starting from Friday lunchtime.
That’s where riders have to separate a steer or heifer from a yard with six to eight cattle. The rider then has to steer the beast out of the yard into a larger arena, where they drive it around the course roughly in the shape of a threeleaf clover. The finals for the campdraft will run on the event’s final day on Monday. Both campdrafters and rodeo competitors will come from right up and down eastern Australia.
“Most competitors are coming in from the eastern seaboard, you might get an odd one that comes from the west,” Steve said. “Novice events are growing, which is a good thing for the industry. It means that there’s young cowboys coming on.”
For the second year in a row, spectators will be able to walk across the Castlereagh Highway to the showground directly from the camping area opposite, which is expected to host around 1000 spectators in 20 acres. Paul said having the camping ground will allow greater numbers of visitors to Coonamble, where accommodation is often booked out well in advance for the town’s signature event.
“This rodeo’s gotten that big now,” Paul said. “There was nowhere to camp in town.” “The ground has just opened up so much more room. “People just want to be somewhere safe and camp, and it’s such a good area because they’ve only got to walk across.” The ground will be split by a fence into two areas, one for the younger party crowd, the other for your family-type spectators.
The ground will have two security guards operating at the site, as well as mobile lighting towers and toilet facilities. “It’s a lot of work just to get it all ready. Some people think it just happens in three days, but it happens months and months before that just getting things all in place.” The use of the paddock has the support of Coonamble Shire Council, which Steve said has provided the area mapping and traffic management of the highway near the ground.
