It is time to dust off your best boots as the APRA National Rodeo Finals are coming to Gracemere with CQLX the venue for a jam-packed weekend.
From Thursday, 7 November to Saturday, 9 November, 135 of the country’s premier rodeo sportspeople will be competing for a shot at the top spot in their sport.
APRA competitor Adam Knowles said this is the third time the National Finals will be hosted in Gracemere and are anticipating a large crowd.
Knowles has been competing in rodeo sports since he was 13 years old.
“It’s a good thing for the community, there’s a lot of cowboys and country people that live in Central Queensland, so they all get a chance to come out to one of our biggest shows,” Mr Knowles said.
“On our Victorian run we’ve been getting around 6000 people for crowd numbers, so it’s really kicked off again this year which has been great and hopefully we get those numbers again here.”
Rockhampton Regional Council Deputy Mayor Drew Wickerson said it had contributed $10,000 to APRA as part of Round 1 of the Community Assistance Program 2024/2025 scheme.
“Council is delighted to be able to sponsor this through our CAP (and) events like this are amazing for our economic development,” Cr Wickerson said.
“Events like this also build community too, it’s all about lifestyle and if we can attract more people here to enjoy everything that the Rockhampton region has to offer that’s an amazing thing.”
NFR event coordinator Diana Atkins said the stakes at the APRA finals are high.
The top 15 competitors in each rodeo sport are invited to compete.
“Our competitors compete all year round at our affiliated rodeos around Australia and so their points add up throughout the year,” Ms Atkins said.
“Each champion will receive a champion saddle personalised for this year’s event and their chosen event, they will also receive a buckle and all of our winners this year will receive an automatic invitation to Lexington Kentucky in the US to compete thanks to our partners at Teton Ridge.
“Should they progress successfully there’s a possible $1 million purse there for them to complete for.
“Even when (our competitors) aren’t winning, they’re placing quite well, making our Australian competitors a force to be reckoned with over there.”
All of the action will start on Thursday from 5pm.
Entry to the event will be a gold coin donation, while there is free entry for Emergency Service personnel and their immediate family.
As part of a new initiative for this year’s finals, there will also be a shuttle bus running on Friday and Saturday nights from Rockhampton to the main ring at CQLX.
Following the presentation of the buckles and saddles on Saturday night, Coighty and the Kickstands will be providing some live entertainment until late.
