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Rooted in the Legacy: Your Guide to Dodge City Days

paigeeharding

This blog post was written by Abby Harding.


It’s the best time of the year, and no, it’s not Christmas - it’s Dodge City Days!



Dodge City Days began in 1960 when business and community leaders were inspired to create an event that celebrated Dodge City’s rich history and western heritage. Since then, Dodge City Days has evolved into a 10-day celebration and is the second-largest community festival in the state of Kansas! Events consisting of art exhibits, a 5-day rodeo, concerts, golf tournaments, BBQ contests, and more! You can find the fun filled schedule here!



Photo from Dodge City Daily Globe.

This year, Dodge City Days begins July 23, kicking off with the Dodge City Globe Medallion Hunt! Each day the Daily Globe, the city newspaper, releases a new clue. Participants must interpret the clues, find the medallion, and turn it in for a $500.00 cash award. The medallion hunt gets people of all ages involved and everyone loves to grab a paper to look at the clues. The clever winner gets huge bragging rights!


On Friday, July 26th, enjoy your evening at the 21st annual Boot Hill Bull Fry & Bash! Rocky mountain oysters, calf fries, cowboy caviar, Montana tender groins… whatever you want to call them, come out and kick off Dodge City Days with a great meal! 


July 27th will be a Saturday of fun! Whether you’re the type of morning person who likes to start their day with a run or by sitting back and enjoying a nice cup of coffee – Dodge has you covered! Start your day with the Dodge City Days Parade hosted by Ambucs or begin your day with a 5k! The 64th Annual Parade kicks off at 9:30am and the theme this year is ROOTED IN THE LEGACY. Floats are sponsored by local businesses, organizations, clubs, churches, and more. After that, stop in at Boot Hill Distillery for a Bloody Mary Jazz Brunch. Spend the rest of the day enjoying parties, cookouts, races, and Dillion Carmichael, Jackson Dean, and Gabby Barrett in concert at the United Wireless Arena. You can find tickets here



Spend your next Wednesday through Sunday at my personal favorite event during DC Days, the Greatest Show on Dirt! Starting at 7:45 each evening, join the fun at the Dodge City Roundup PRCA Rodeo. This isn’t your average rodeo; this is an NFR Series/Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame Rodeo and is one of the highlights of Dodge City Days. Cowboys and Cowgirls come from all over to claim a coveted Dodge City Roundup belt buckle. For five nights straight, you won’t want to miss a single part of the action, so throw on some boots and enjoy the fun. Whether you love watching barrel racing, steer wrestling, or bronc riding, this is the place to spend your evenings! You might want to come just for the food—enjoy treats like funnel cakes, fried Oreo's, or just an ice-cold beer. If you especially love bull riding, you won’t want to miss that action on Tuesday, July 30th, at the PRCA Xtreme Bull Riding



Every night following the rodeo, get your dancing boots on and come enjoy a concert at Central Station! Follow the tracks to great food, fun, and entertainment. Central Station knows how to keep the beer cold and the dance floor hot! Special shoutout to the Central Station Family – Albert and Inga for winning the Dodge City Days Bronc Buster Award for their continued service to providing quality events for the community! On Wednesday, July 31st, wear overalls to honor an old friend Big John Herman. Admissions Thursday through Sunday will require tickets, and you can find those here!


If you’re a country girl who also loves some glam, enjoy the Miss Rodeo Kansas and Teen Horsemanship competitions. These events are open to everyone. Come watch these ladies compete in different rounds of competition, vying for the title of Miss Rodeo Kansas. After being crowned Miss Rodeo Kansas, she will advance to Miss Rodeo America. So, come out and support who our next state title holder could be! There is no admission charge, and these are events you won’t want to miss!



Saturday August 3rd start your morning off the Longhorn Cattle Drive brought to you by Boot Hill Casino & Resort and the Dodge City Convention and Visitors Bureau. Don’t miss this chance to relive history and feel just like the cowboys did in the Old West. Watch as hundreds of majestic longhorn cattle flood Wyatt Earp Blvd. Come early and get a front row seat!


If you still have time to kill after all the events I’ve suggested, stroll back in time and walk the old boardwalk of Dodge City at the Boot Hill Museum! Come and relive the legacy and grab a sarsaparilla in the Long Branch. There are exhibits about all the legends who walked the same streets, including Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, or my favorite, Gunsmoke’s own Miss Kitty! The collection includes more than 60,000 objects, photographs, and documents mainly highlighting Dodge City’s early days—the 1870s through the 1920s—and belonged to original residents of Dodge City. If you would like to see history, truly come to life, enjoy a high noon gun fight or spend some time down at the Long Branch Saloon at the Variety Show. This Variety Show includes ragtime piano pieces, can-can dancers, and numbers you wouldn’t want to miss! Paige and I were can-can dancers back in the day, and I have yet to have a cooler job than that! Get your tickets for the Variety Show here. Tickets for the museum and the boardwalk are available at the door!



While you’re out and about in town, shop local! These local business are given their time, talent, and treasures to make Dodge City Days a success. Give back to them and thank them for all their hard work!



Whether you’re joining us in Dodge City from out of town, or just coming home to the company of some Southwest Kansas folks, this is a celebration you won’t want to skip out on! There’s nothing better than seeing familiar faces all week long. This Southwest Kansas celebration is a success because of the amazing people who help make it happen! I hope to see you in Dodge City!





This blog post was written by Abby Harding. Abby recently graduated from the University of Kansas with a degree in human biology and is getting ready to start her first year at Washburn Law School.



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