The High Desert Stampede rodeo drew top professional rodeo riders from around the country and standing-room-only crowds to the Deschutes County Fair & Expo Center’s First Interstate Bank Center in Redmond.

“It was a real success,” said Denis Fast on Sunday, March 26, emphasizing the word “real” with a wide grin.

Fast is the chairman of the young Redmond organization that put on the rodeo for the fifth year.

“It was an action-packed show that was sold out both Friday and Saturday nights … some 6,500 attending each night,” he said.

It was the first, large professional rodeo in the Northwest this season.

Last year, attendance was limited due to the safety precautions of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rodeo organizers were only able to attract a crowd about 20% of the size it could have been, Fast said. And there was no event in 2019, so many were looking forward to attending this year, he said.

“We also tried something new, which was to have a slack day on Wednesday at the start of the rodeo,” Fast said. “It was a family-fun event and gave cowboys a chance to ride what we call rough stock” — a special section of bareback, saddle bronc, bull riding and steer wrestling.

This year the Stampede was featured as a Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) National Finals Rodeo Playoff Series stop. That means the Redmond roundup was one of the top 60 rodeos in the country — out of nearly 700 put on nationwide.

The first rodeo of the year on the Columbia River Circuit, the Stampede offered a chance for cowboys and cowgirls to secure additional points and money toward qualifying for the National Finals in Las Vegas in December.

“Riders came from all over. The Redmond Airport was full of cowboy hats as we ran a shuttle service from there,” Fast said.

Stock was provided by Bridwell Professional of Red Bluff, Calif., which Fast described as “excellent.”