2024 Mountain Festival PRCA Rodeo

Provided by Greater Tehachapi Chamber of Commerce.

Mountain Festival brings the quiet little town of Tehachapi into a full bloom of family fun time.

From festival activities in the park to the flag waving, cheering crowds lining the parade route, Tehachapi Mountain Festival® is sure to please one and all. One of the many highlights of Mountain Festival is the two-day Professional Rodeo Cowboy's Association rodeo hosted by the Tehachapi Mountain Rodeo Association.

Celebrating 61 years of providing for our community and the surrounding communities of Kern County, TMRA is proud to announce our 2024 Mountain Festival PRCA Rodeo will be held on Friday, Aug. 16 at 7 p.m. (gates open 5 p.m.) and Saturday, Aug. 17 at 6 p.m. (gates open 4 p.m.). New this year is a concert by Justin Lawrence in the arena immediately after the rodeo Saturday Night.

A piece of American history, the modern sport of rodeo can be traced back to the 1700s when cowboys from local ranches gathered together to show their roping and riding skills. The duties on these early ranches included branding, roping, horse breaking, riding and much more. These ranch chores have evolved directly into today's rodeo events of tie-down roping, team roping and bronc riding. In a tribute to this American history our rodeo will begin with a fan favorite of ranch bronc riding with cowboys from our local ranches.

Cowboys from across the country will come to Tehachapi to compete in events like bronc riding, calf tying, team roping and bull riding. Providing our specialty entertainment this year is the one and only Bobby Kerr. His favorite act with his trained mustangs is always a crowd pleaser. Nate Reed will be our man in the barrel. We will also have mutton bustin as a preshow act.

Bringing us our stock again is the Four Star Rodeo Company out of Cottonwood, California. They will be providing world-class rough stock that will be bucking hard and kicking high to assure plenty of rodeo excitement. This rodeo stock is nationally known and awarded as some of the best in the business. Talented bullfighters and pick-up men will be in the arena to keep our cowboys safe.

The gates open two hours early so our rodeo fans can pick a seat on our wonderful arena bleachers where every spot provides our viewers with great rodeo action. Come early to browse our newly enlarged "vendor's row" where our fans can get their rodeo "bling" on. Items from jeans to jewelry and for horse to house will be available, along with food and drink for all ages. Don't forget the popular dollar dig for kids 8 and under, with paid admission, will happen during each performance.

The Tehachapi Mountain Rodeo Association is committed to preserving and promoting the "western way of life" and producing quality family rodeo entertainment at affordable prices. TMRA is a nonprofit organization that strives to promote western values and goals fitting of the true American icon, the Cowboy. They support the community and other nonprofit organizations in our area through the staging of multiple events throughout the year, including trail rides, the "Benz Bad Bulls Tour" and several Junior Rodeos. TMRA is proud of the return to our roots of Junior Rodeo and has had a very successful season, seeing as many as 100 cowboy kids participate at the rodeos. The association believes that the Junior Rodeo program builds a strong foundation of character, discipline and self esteem in our "CowKids." The Tehachapi Rodeo began as a youth rodeo and evolved into an adult amateur rodeo. In 1985, the rodeo joined the ranks of what now includes over 900 rodeos in 48 states and four Canadian Provinces as a pro rodeo sanctioned by the PRCA.

Our association boasts a small group of truly committed volunteers who spent countless hours to create these two spectacular days of rodeo excitement. We are motivated by a deep love for the community, the sport of professional rodeo and our desire to showcase true Western Americana.

Pre-sale tickets can be purchased for a $3 discount prior to the day of the rodeo at our local ticket outlets: Tehachapi Albertsons, Hemme Hay in Tehachapi, as well as the Greater Tehachapi Chamber of Commerce. The Emporium Western Store in Bakersfield and the Boot Barn in both Bakersfield and Lancaster will also have our rodeo tickets for sale. Saturday nights ticket include a concert immediately after in the arena. Parking will be $10 (cash) and is a fundraiser for the local youth groups. Tickets can also be purchased online at http://www.tehachapiprorodeo.com/. There will be no tickets sold at gate and tickets numbers have been reduced this year, so get your tickets early! Our internet service at rodeo grounds is very weak, so please plan on bringing cash for purchases. We do accept Venmo.

For more information regarding the great sport of rodeo visit our website at http://www.tehachapiprorodeo.com or follow us on our Facebook page and Instagram at Tehachapi Mountain Rodeo Association.

Update on 26th annual Benz Bad Bulls and future events

We would like to thank all of our wonderful guests that attended the 26th annual Benz Bad Bulls, but we would also like to address the "elephant in the room" and what the Tehachapi Mountain Rodeo Association plans to do to address the issues.

With the addition of new bleachers that were installed last year, our legal capacity is 3,500 seats as determined by the State of California. We based our Benz Bad Bull tickets on 2,700 knowing that 18 inches is not a comfortable space. We understand that heat played a role in people not wanting to sit close too each other, that strollers and wagons, saving seats, large bags and children without tickets all played a part in our seating issues, but we need to address those issues and fix them.

We have worked hard and considered many alternative ideas but have decided and made a plan to go forward.

Many have suggested marking/striping and numbering seats. We have talked to a commercial painter that said the maintenance and outcome of painting and striping would be not be cost or time efficient and require yearly repainting. More directly, we do not have the man power to enforce this system, even if we hired 30 temps as ushers/security, no one wants to police your 22 inches of seated space. Several of our committee members took KSCO officers into the stands and asked people to remove wagons, move over and not save seats, they were met with ugly responses from our guests and some were some were escorted out.

We made two announcements telling people that we would gladly refund them if they could not find a seat. We refunded anyone that reached out via email, website, social media or our phone.

The cost of producing a 2-day event like our upcoming PRCA Mountain Fest Rodeo is upwards of $150,000, and ticket sales have never paid for our events. It is our outstanding western loving, community driven sponsors and tireless small group of volunteers that covers our expenses. We need this partnership to continue to make any capital upgrades and provide maintenance to the facility.

That being said, you have voiced your concerns and we have worked very hard to come up with a viable alternative prior to the 61st Mountain Festival Rodeo.

We will have two "stroller corrals" at each end of the bleachers and not allow strollers or wagons in the stands.

We will reduce the available tickets to 2,000 per performance, 700 less than that at Benz Bad Bulls, and 1,500 less than legal capacity. But that comes with some changes. Friday night is normally less attended so we have left Friday night tickets at $20 per ticket and we urge you to bring your family and enjoy the show.

Saturday tickets will now be $35 and will include an after-rodeo concert by Justin Lawrence in the arena.

There is no longer a Friday or Saturday night general admission ticket and there are no longer child/senior tickets. Only 1 ticket per night, per person, and you must pick which night before purchasing.

We will not be selling tickets at the gate. There are 500 tickets per night available at our local vendors, and 1,500 tickets per night are available online at http://www.Tehachapiprorodeo.com/. When they are gone, they are gone! This will allow us to have a real time ticket count at all times, our ticket provider has also upgraded their security features so ticket fraud will also be reduced.

We still believe that TMRA Rodeo is a great value in today's entertainment environment and hope to see you all Aug. 16 and 17.