AUSTIN, Texas — Although the sound of live music and burning rubber is associated with the biggest events in Austin, it was the horses that brought more people to their stables last year.
According to a report from the Austin Business Journal, out of all of the events that take place in calendar year in Austin, the Austin rodeo has the largest attendance on record. The 15-day event, which is hosted by the nonprofit Rodeo Austin, held more than 455,000 attendees over the two-week period last year.
The rodeo, which has bull riding competitions and a fair to boot, had been on hiatus for the previous two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the report, last year's event brought in 150,000 more people than it did in 2019, the last year it took place in person.
Even with the two-year time gap, Rodeo Austin has been able to create new partnerships to continue benefiting the community. Rodeo Austin and the RS3 Strategic Hospitality group created a concessions partnership to allow for more food and drink options at the rodeo.
RS3 Strategic Hospitality is the subsidiary of the Ryan Sanders Sports & Entertainment group, which owns the Round Rock Express, and helps provide the hospitality services for events that take place at Circuit of the Americas and the H-E-B Center.
The report states that the increase in attendance to the event is an indication of Austin's growth over the last 10 years. Texas has surpassed the 30 million residents mark, making it the second most-populated state in the U.S.
Read the full article through the American Business Journal.
Boomtown is KVUE's series covering the explosive growth in Central Texas. For more Boomtown stories, head to KVUE.com/Boomtown.