BOWDEN — Next year’s edition of Bowden Daze will be much the same as this year’s version, although there may be some “tweaking” when it comes to entertainment, Bowden & District Agricultural Society president Keith Bailey says.
The 2022 version of Bowden Days occurred July 15-17. In addition to the Town of Bowden-organized parade and a ball tournament, it featured a second annual pro rodeo July 15-16 and a junior rodeo on July 17.
Everything was much the same as it was last year. Even the number of entries in the pro rodeo (about 250) was on par with last year.
“The spectators were great, the fans were great, the committee worked hard,” Bailey said. “All in all it was a pretty good weekend.”
One new wrinkle though was that this year, a cabaret was held on Friday night in addition to the regular Saturday night one. It was a success, so Bailey anticipates that two cabarets will be held next year as well.
“That was a little more cost, but well worth it,” he said during an interview.
Bailey said the organizing committee took a few weeks off before it begins planning next year’s Bowden Daze.
This year was the second in a row that the event has had a pro rodeo.
They will definitely host another one next year, Bailey said.
“That’s something we’ve worked towards for years, is having a pro rodeo and we’ll keep it going.”
Bailey said staging a pro rodeo costs about the same as an amateur one. However, the quality of the performances is much higher than in an amateur one.
"It’s like pro hockey compared to amateur hockey,” he said.
Unlike other rodeo organizations, Bailey said the imposition of COVID-19 protocols in previous years didn’t cut revenues much for Bowden Daze organizers.
“Everything seemed to come back strong. So yeah, we were pretty on par with how we’ve been in the past,” he said.
