By Jessica Domel
Multimedia Reporter
Just months ago, Hurricane Harvey ravaged Texas’ largest metropolis, but even Mother Nature can’t keep Texans, and Houstonians, down. This weekend, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo (HLSR) kicks off with a celebration the size of Texas.
“We have a lot of events that kind of claim to be the kickoff, but the barbecue is really the first major event that we have here on site and that begins on Thursday, Feb. 22, and runs through Saturday the 24,” Joel Cowley, HLSR president and CEO, said in an interview with the Texas Farm Bureau Radio Network. “That three day event typically draws about a quarter of a million people. I love it because it celebrates the consumption side of agriculture. Only in Texas can you throw a barbecue and a quarter of a million people show up.”
The downtown parade begins Saturday morning and has taken place every year since 1938.
“It’s great fun to ride a horse through downtown Houston and see all those young people that are sitting on the curb,” Cowley said. “Then we tear out the barbecue on Sunday and the 20-day run of the show will begin on Tuesday, Feb. 27.”
This is the first HLSR since Hurricane Harvey made landfall in August, displacing thousands of people and destroying millions of dollars in property.
“I think that’s really on our minds. Houston had a great celebration when the Astros won the World Series and had their parade, but I think Houston’s due for a 20-day celebration where we can come together and celebrate what it means to be a Houstonian because the worst in storms really brought out the best in Houston,” Cowley said. “I know our volunteers, within their local communities and through us finding places for them to assist, stepped up in a big way.”
To aid in the recovery efforts, HLSR donated $2 million to Hurricane Harvey recovery.
“One million went to educational recovery here in the metro-area and another million went to agricultural recovery throughout the counties that were deemed a disaster area,” Cowley said. “We think it’s time for a celebration, and we’re hoping that Houston will turn out for the celebration.”
As part of the celebration, HLSR will host a First Responders Day Monday, March 5.
“Rascal Flatts will be performing, and their first song will be a tribute to our first responders,” Cowley said. “So if anyone’s coming to that performance, make sure you’re in your seats when that concert starts.”
This year’s event will include a little bit of something for everyone.
“We pride ourselves on our agriculture exhibits. We started as a livestock show in 1932, and we’ve grown into much, much more,” Cowley said. “The livestock show is still our flagship product, and that’s what we take great pride in. But we realize that, for a lot of these attendees, this is the only interaction they’ll have with agriculture throughout the year. We want them to leave with an appreciation and education on the importance of agriculture. If we can draw them here for shopping, food, carnival, rodeo, star entertainment and teach them something about ag while they’re here, we’ve accomplished our mission.”
Each year, the livestock show and rodeo doles out millions in scholarships. This year, HLSR will award about 750 scholarships. Of those, about 650 will go to high school seniors.
“We have different types of scholarships. We have a little over 300 that are awarded in the eight-county Houston metro area to students here. We then have another group that are awarding in our area Go Texan county, so that’s 68 counties that surround the metro area,” Cowley said. “We also have 4-H and FFA scholarships where we provide those scholarships and Texas 4-H Foundation and Texas FFA Foundation identify the recipients of those. There’s 70 of each of those. Then we have exhibitor scholarships—30 to seniors who are showing here at our livestock show. We have school art scholarships that are awarded here locally, and then the remaining 100 are actually awarded to our scholars who are already in college.”
HLSR runs Feb. 27-March 18 at NRG Park in Houston.