People travelled from as far as the west coast of South Australia, northern NSW and Warrnambool, to create one of the event’s largest crowds in its eight-decade history.
To celebrate the 80-year milestone, event winners and one lucky raffle ticket holder received customised fire pits to take home.
The rodeo proceeded with glorious weather, and a huge crowd watching on as the events unfolded.
Kyabram Rodeo secretary Filipa Marshall said it was “awesome” to see the kids’ eyes light up while watching the cowboys riding the horses and bulls.
Ms Marshall praised the event volunteers, committee members, sponsors and everyone involved for the effort that contributed to the event’s success.
“You can’t run an event like that without, you know, some amazing people stepping up when you really need them,” she said.
The rodeo kicked off the weekend’s tri-series events, before continuing on to Merrijig and Chiltern, with fans enjoying the bull riding, barrel racing, saddlebronc, bareback, team roping and junior events.
However, the milestone event raised concerns about accessibility, particularly for attendees with disabilities.
Jennifer Gibson, who lives with multiple sclerosis, was disappointed to discover there was no designated seating area for people with disabilities ― a feature she said was normally available at the event.
“It’s the first time I’ve actually struck something that was not disability-friendly,” she said.
“In this day and age, disability is out there.”
She said she wanted to remind people to be mindful that there were people with disabilities who liked to attend these functions.
Ms Marshall acknowledged the oversight and said she had already added it to the checklist for next year.
“We should have had somewhere, and we didn’t,” she said.
“A mistake was made, we know that now, (and) we’ll make sure that won’t happen again.
“We don’t want people to feel excluded.”
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