Could the cold chill Cowtown’s chief livestock show?
After record-breaking numbers in 2023, the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo saw a decrease in visitors in 2024 — with wintry weather early in the show cited as a factor. This year’s show runs Jan. 17 through Feb. 8.
The 2025 event — which starts Friday at the Will Rogers Memorial Center, 3400 Will Rogers Road South, with a projected high temperature of 67 degrees — will experience an arctic blast this weekend that will prompt a nearly 20-degree drop to 49 degrees on Saturday.
Fort Worth will get even colder by Monday — Martin Luther King Jr. Day — with an expected high temperature of 31 degrees with possible snowfall by the evening.
“There may be some light snow early next week, but the bigger concern will be frigid weather for multiple days following Friday night’s arctic front,” the National Weather Service’s Fort Worth office said on the X social media platform Thursday. “Bundle up and protect pets, pipes, plants and people!”
Wind chills could be in the single digits and teens. There is also a 10% chance of lows as cold as 7 to 14 degrees, according to the Weather Service.
Texas Department of Transportation crews began pretreating highways Thursday as a precaution ahead of the arctic blast.
Stock show participants will be bundled up as the earliest morning events begin at 7:30 or 8 a.m.
“Weather permitting, we hope to set a record” for attendance, said Matt Brockman, spokesperson for the stock show.
In 2024, an estimated 1.14 million people visited between Jan. 12 and Feb. 3 — a 9.9% decrease from the record-breaking 2023 show that saw 1.27 million visitors.
Brockman said weather usually played a factor in attendance for decades since the show started in 1896 as the Southwestern Exposition and Livestock Show. In 2024, the decline in visitors occurred because some of the coldest days of the year were in the show’s first 10 days, usually a period of high attendance. Some snow fell in 2023, but that occurred on days when attendance is traditionally lighter, Brockman said.
“It’s hard to make up for two (cold) weekends with one and a half weekends” in 2024, he said.
Despite the drop in attendance, last year’s show had 34,179 entries for shows and contests, or a 6.3% increase compared to 2023. Junior contest entries increased by 2.85% in 2024 with 12,048 entries. Leadfoot, a European Cross, won the title of junior grand champion steer and sold for $340,000.
On Saturday, as temperatures drop, the Texas Invitational Mariachi Competition will feature eight high school teams with a championship finale for the top three finalists. The popular All Western Parade will be held downtown, starting at 11 a.m. The Eddie Wood Cowtown Classic Longhorn Sale will also begin at 11 a.m. in the West Arena. Contests begin with sheep dog, pigeon and poultry entries. Mo the Buffalo will be presented as well as Chick-fil-A cows.
On Sunday, there will be dairy cattle judging, a working cow horse show, youth longhorn cattle show, an equine public speaking challenge, and awards presentations for agricultural mechanics and Texas M.A.D.E. entries.
An equine IQ test, dairy cattle show and the Cowboys of Color Rodeo are among the events scheduled for Monday, when there is a 30% chance of light snow or snow showers expected later in the day.
The Fort Worth area will begin warming on Tuesday with a high temperature of 38 degrees. High temperatures on Wednesday and Thursday will be in the mid-40s, forecasts show.
“This is a normal situation,” Brockman said. “We deal with weather year in and year out.”
Eric E. Garcia is a senior business reporter at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at eric.garcia@fortworthreport.org.
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