Two-night PRCA rodeo Aug. 28-29 brings Rosser family, Flying U Rodeo, bull riding, bronc riding, barrel racing and more to El Dorado County Fairgrounds
PLACERVILLE — The dirt will be ready, the chutes will be loaded and a new chapter in El Dorado County’s long Western story will come thundering out of the gates next weekend.
The inaugural El Dorado Stampede will bring two nights of professional rodeo to the El Dorado County Fairgrounds in Placerville on Friday and Saturday, Aug. 28-29, combining championship-level competition with a full evening of food, vendors, family activities and entertainment.
The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association-sanctioned event is being produced by the Rosser family and Flying U Rodeo Inc., in partnership with EZ Events Inc., bringing one of California’s most storied rodeo names to the Sierra foothills for an event organizers hope will become a new annual tradition.
For Placerville, however, the Stampede isn’t being presented as simply another stop on the professional rodeo calendar.
Its arrival is rooted in a part of El Dorado County’s identity that stretches back to the Gold Rush, when horses, cattle, ranching and the skills of the working West were part of everyday life throughout the foothills. Organizers describe the Stampede as the next chapter in that heritage — bringing the traditions of the West into a modern professional rodeo arena.
And when the first chute opens next Friday night, spectators can expect plenty of action.
Bull riding, bronc riding, barrel racing and breakaway roping are among the featured competitions, while mutton busting, the Flying U Cowboys and additional arena entertainment will round out the program. Gates open well before the rodeo each day, turning the fairgrounds into an evening-long destination rather than simply a place to watch the competition.
A California rodeo family with generations of history
Behind the new Stampede is a name that has been synonymous with California rodeo for decades.
Flying U Rodeo’s history is closely tied to Cotton Rosser, whose career took an unexpected turn following a serious ranch accident in 1956.
Rosser had already established himself as a successful cowboy. He joined the professional rodeo ranks in 1947, competed in rodeo while attending Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and continued professionally after college. Among his achievements was the all-around cowboy title at the 1951 Grand National Rodeo in San Francisco.
The 1956 accident at his Marysville-area ranch ended his career as a competitor, but not his involvement in rodeo.
Instead, Rosser purchased the Flying U Rodeo Company that same year and began building what would become a nationally recognized rodeo livestock and production operation. Over the decades, Flying U supplied livestock and production expertise to rodeos throughout the West, with the Rosser family becoming known as much for the presentation and pageantry surrounding rodeo as for the competition itself.
By 2020, Flying U was producing more than 50 rodeos annually and had maintained relationships with several events dating all the way back to Rosser’s purchase of the company in 1956.
Rosser’s approach emphasized that professional rodeo could be both elite competition and a show for the audience, combining livestock, cowboys and cowgirls with arena entertainment, ceremony, patriotism and Western pageantry.
That legacy now arrives in Placerville.
The El Dorado Stampede describes Flying U as one of the respected names in the PRCA and is building the new event around that combination of professional competition and entertainment.
The schedule will be similar both Friday and Saturday, with plenty happening before the first professional competitor enters the arena.
Gates open at 4:30 p.m. each day, allowing spectators to arrive early for shopping, food, beverages, children’s activities and other attractions around the fairgrounds.
At 6:30 p.m., pre-rodeo activities begin, including mutton busting and a children’s coin dig. The professional rodeo begins at 7 p.m. both nights.
Among the featured competitions is bull riding, one of professional rodeo’s most recognizable events, where riders attempt to remain aboard a bucking bull for the required eight seconds while maintaining control with only one hand secured to the bull rope.
Bronc riding brings another of rodeo’s oldest traditions into the arena, challenging competitors to match their balance and technique against powerful bucking horses.
Speed takes center stage in barrel racing, while breakaway roping puts precision and timing on display as competitors race against the clock. In breakaway roping, the rope is tied to the saddle horn with a string and breaks free when the calf is caught, stopping the clock in an event often decided by fractions of a second.
For some of the smallest competitors, however, the biggest cheers of the weekend could come during mutton busting.
The popular youth event puts youngsters aboard sheep and challenges them to hang on as long as possible, providing a pint-sized introduction to rodeo competition and frequently producing some of the loudest reactions from the grandstands.
Friday’s opening performance has also been designated Patriot Day, with spectators encouraged to wear red, white and blue. Organizers describe the evening as an opportunity to honor the country while bringing the community together.
A new generation carries the tradition forward
While much of the El Dorado Stampede is rooted in the history of Western culture, two young women will represent where that tradition is headed next. Aubrey Gist is serving as the inaugural Miss El Dorado Stampede.
Gist, a Placerville native and recent Union Mine High School graduate, has spent seven years competing in rodeo. Her events include barrel racing, breakaway roping, cutting and reined cow horse.
This fall, she plans to attend Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and major in agricultural communications, combining her education with an interest in preserving and promoting the Western lifestyle.
As Miss El Dorado Stampede, Gist will represent the event and professional rodeo while serving as an ambassador throughout the community and promoting the Stampede during its inaugural year.
Joining her is 14-year-old Payton Schmollinger of Valley Springs, the inaugural Junior Miss El Dorado Stampede.
Schmollinger competes through the NorCal Junior Rodeo Association and District 5 High School Rodeo, participating in pole bending, barrel racing and breakaway roping. Away from rodeo, she enjoys floral design and baking and hopes to someday own a floral shop.
Her rodeo aspirations stretch well beyond the upcoming Stampede. Schmollinger hopes to eventually become Miss Rodeo California and, ultimately, Miss Rodeo America.
Together, Gist and Schmollinger will serve as ambassadors for the new event and represent a younger generation carrying Western traditions forward.
Organizers are encouraging spectators to arrive early, with the hours before the rodeo designed to be part of the overall Stampede experience.
Beginning when gates open at 4:30 p.m., visitors will be able to explore shopping and vendor areas, purchase food and drinks and take part in children’s activities before the pre-rodeo program begins.
That broader festival atmosphere is part of an effort to make the inaugural Stampede an event for longtime rodeo followers as well as families and spectators who may have never attended a professional rodeo.
The weekend will continue beyond the final ride Saturday night.
Following Saturday’s rodeo, the celebration shifts to Stampede After Dark, an official 21-and-over after-party at the fairgrounds. The event is planned as a late-night extension of the rodeo weekend with music, dancing and a full bar.
The setting for the inaugural Stampede is fitting.
Long before modern Placerville became a regional center in the Sierra foothills, the community grew from the rush of people who arrived in California following the discovery of gold. Horses and livestock were essential to transportation, commerce, agriculture and everyday life across a rugged region where many of today’s roads and communities were still being formed.
Although El Dorado County has changed dramatically since those early years, ranching, horsemanship and Western culture have remained part of the region’s identity.
The Stampede’s organizers have leaned into that connection, describing Placerville’s frontier grit as something that didn’t disappear when the mines quieted but instead continued through generations of people who rope, ride, ranch and maintain the traditions of the West.
The inaugural event seeks to put that heritage back under the arena lights on a professional scale.
It’s also why the combination of Placerville and Flying U Rodeo carries significance beyond simply filling a weekend entertainment calendar. One represents a community whose history reaches directly into California’s frontier era; the other represents a family that helped shape professional rodeo in the state for generations.
Next weekend, those stories meet in the same arena.
The El Dorado Stampede takes place Friday and Saturday, Aug. 28-29, at the El Dorado County Fairgrounds, 100 Placerville Drive in Placerville.
Gates open at 4:30 p.m. both days. Pre-rodeo activities begin at 6:30 p.m., and professional rodeo action begins at 7 p.m.
Online tickets start at $25. Tickets may also be available at the arena box office if the event has not sold out. Children age 3 and younger do not require a ticket. General seating is first-come, first-served, and organizers recommend arriving early. The rodeo will take place rain or shine and tickets are nonrefundable.
Spectators should also take note of the event’s clear-bag policy. Clear bags may not exceed 8 by 6 inches, while clear fanny packs are also permitted. Hats, sunglasses, sunscreen and blankets or towels for bleacher seating are among the permitted items. Medical and diaper bags are subject to the event’s specific entry policies.
More information, complete spectator guidelines and tickets are available at ElDoradoStampede.com.
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