It’s the last week of Rodeo! If you live in Houston, have you gone yet? I’ve already been several times this year and am headed back tomorrow with some of my mom friends and their littles. We will finally be seeing all of the animal exhibits and I’m sure Annie will just love it! Today I’m teaming up with Reliant Energy to share 6 Things to Do at Rodeo Houston! While there are (what seems like) a billion things to do, these are six can’t miss ones in my opinion! More on that below ….
A COMPLETE RODEO HOUSTON GUIDE
1. Go to the Rodeo Houston Carnival
Carnival admission comes with the price of your concert ticket, but you can also grab tickets for just the carnival for a lower price. I love the idea of heading down to rodeo to do the carnival by itself. (That is, if you can go multiple days/nights and fit in everything!) With all of the rides, games, and tasty treats there is so much to see and do. There is even a kids’ section with kid-friendly rides and games that opens earlier than the rest of the attractions.
My favorites this year: the Ferris Wheel & Fun House!
2. Eat ALL the food at Rodeo Houston!
Well, duh! That is almost the best part! From cotton candy, funnel cake to turkey legs, steak on a stick & fried Oreos, the food at Rodeo Houston is like no other. There is also a big section of tents outside of NRG which house specialty food, drinks & treats. This is where you’ll find juicy BBQ and Tex-Mex dishes from local eateries like Pappasitos. I like to make it a little mission of mine to try as many different “rodeo delicacies” as I can each time I visit.
Gotta love me some rodeo cotton candy!!
3. See the Livestock Show at Rodeo Houston
With almost 30,000 livestock entries competing in the Livestock Show & Rodeo, taking a gander around the stalls of NRG before the carnival or concerts is one of my favorite rodeo traditions. Better yet, time your visit so you can actually see some of the animal judging in action! The Livestock Show offers scholarship opportunities to the competing youth and is committed to supporting education and better agricultural practices through the exhibitions too.
4. Get Ready to Rodeo!
While headlining concerts are great and all, nothing compares to the actual Rodeo! We always love seeing the mutton bustin, barrel racing and steer wrangling competitions. The bull riding keeps me on the edge of my seat every single time too! Contestants are also competing for pretty steep cash prizes and the winner’s excitement at winning is always so fun to see.
5. Recharge & Stop + Admire the Local Art with Reliant
You’ll find a free recharging station for your cell phone batteries at each door on concourse 1 in NRG Arena, thanks to Reliant. And after a long day of rodeo-ing, this is such a wonderful addition to the experience. I don’t know about you, but I get extreme anxiety when my phone battery dips below 20% (which happens a lot!) and being in a crowded place where you could potentially lose who you’re with, it’s so important to keep that battery charged.
In addition to charging our phones at Rodeo, Reliant also debuted the “Boots for Houston” Art Competition this year. Eight local charities decorated these4-foot tall colorful boots to be on display in Section 101 in NRG all rodeo long. The public is voting on which boot is their favorite this year which in turn will award over $22,000 in donations to the charities! My favorite is definitely the one with the bluebonnet field painted upon it.
6. Tap Your Boots to the Tunes!
Each fun-filled day at the livestock show & rodeo comes to a close with a larger than life concert. This year headliners included Luke Bryan, who we saw, Rascall Flatts, Garth Brooks, Brad Paisley and more. The stars come out to sing on an actual star-shaped stage too! It spins around so the entire crowd gets to see that night’s singer. If I could go every single night, I totally would!
SHOP THIS RODEO HOUSTON LOOK:
check out the makers of my ostrich boots, Tecovas!
This really is my favorite time of year to live in Houston. We always try to get family & friends to visit in March so that we can take them along to Rodeo too. It’s been such a treat taking Annie this year and I can’t wait to see how much she enjoys it in the years to come! Hope my little tips on how to get the most out of Rodeo helped you in your planning too! And maybe it just makes you want to plan a visit to Houston to throw on your cowboy boots and say Yeehaw too? 😉
Big thank you to Reliant Energy for sponsoring this post & the opportunity to see Luke Bryan last week! We had a ball! And thanks to you guys for supporting the brands that make Lone Star Looking Glass possible. Have a great Tuesday, y’all!
PS: Loving this Rodeo Houston guide? Click here now for more cute rodeo fashion!!
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xo, alice
