Visit Cheyenne, Laramie County Events announce new winter rodeo and renaissance fair

Dec. 21—This February, Laramie County Events and Visit Cheyenne have partnered to present two new events at the Event Center at Archer — The Frozen Fury on the Plains, a winter rodeo, and Winter Knights of Cheyenne, a new renaissance fair and medieval jousting event.

Frozen Fury, scheduled for 6 p.m. Feb. 10, will be the first indoor rodeo ever hosted in Event Center at Archer. It's marketed as "A Bucking Bronc Futurity Match," meaning the match places an emphasis on enlisting younger competitors and younger horses. The event features just saddle bronc riding, with 40 cowboys set to compete for two grand prizes of $10,000 each.

"February is usually a pretty slow time of year for things going on, and a lot of people get sick of being cooped up indoors over the winter and want to get outside," said Dan Ange, director of Laramie County Events, the organization that coordinates activities at the Event Center at Archer. "It's certainly a unique event type, and we're excited to give the community a different flavor of event to do around here."

Winter rodeos aren't uncommon, especially in warmer year-round climates, but they're not as common to the Front Range region, organizers said. The rodeo nearest in proximity is the Sheridan WYO Winter Rodeo, held on the same day as Frozen Fury. However, that event is hardly comparable, as it primarily features a skijoring competition down a commuter street in town.

Spots in Frozen Fury filled up fast, according to Jim Walter, vice president of Visit Cheyenne.

"The response has been phenomenal," he said. "The only other rodeo going on at that time is the San Antonio rodeo, and that's the one that's drawing the Brody Cresses, the Stetson Wrights and the Ryder Wrights of the world."

There's a need for more amateur rodeos of this size throughout the calendar year, but it's particularly advantageous to have one available in the winter months. That being said, Walter hopes to grow the Frozen Fury rodeo as it establishes itself in the regional calendar.

"You've got the extreme bronc riding and you've got the extreme bull riding," Walter continued. "And there's a reason those events do well — people like to see that roughstock, it's that constant fast pace. This is a great opportunity to prove that this concept, it's going to work. My goal is eventually that we're bringing some sort of extreme bronc and extreme bull event to the Event Center at Archer."

An indoor rodeo event is unprecedented in southeast Wyoming, but Laramie County Events and Visit Cheyenne are familiar with one another due to their years of collaboration on presenting the Hell on Wheels Rodeo series in the summer.

However, Visit Cheyenne is the entity that pitched the idea after careful consideration of the entertainment opportunities it creates. Coordinating with Laramie County Events was what made the plan a reality.

"We'd been working with the county commissioners on how we could get an indoor rodeo arena to do some indoor equestrian events, rodeo events, for a couple of years now," Walter said. "We'd been talking about it, and (Laramie County Events) happened to have the availability of funds to go ahead and buy that first piece of the arena this fall."

Ange said that they're expecting a delivery of all portable rodeo material by Feb. 1, which gives the team enough time to "break it all in and get it all set up" inside the center.

Beyond rodeo, the indoor space creates a unique opportunity for residents to witness a live medieval jousting tournament.

The jousting comes as a part of a new renaissance fair that will be held Feb. 17-18 at the Event Center at Archer. In addition to the jousting, scheduled to be held twice a day, there will be various other entertainment, like birds of prey demonstrations, knights and jesters, aerialists and a Nobel's Feast for guests. Like most renaissance fairs, there will be a vendor section with medieval attractions.

Primary entertainment will be provided by the acclaimed Colorado-based reenactment group Knights of Valor, who travel the country year-round to perform at various fair events.

"We're super excited about this, because it's not something anybody else has done in Cheyenne," Walter said. "We're always looking for ways to bring events to the community that will be a different appeal to somebody that's not maybe interested in the rodeo spaces or appeal to somebody that may not be interested in the craft beer scene.

"Those (same) people may absolutely be into this, but there's an opportunity to reach an audience that's really underserved when it comes to Renaissance Fair type activities."

Tickets to Winter Knights of Cheyenne are available for $25 at cheyenne.org/winterknights, while tickets to Frozen Fury on the Plains are available for $20 at frozenfuryrodeo.com.

Will Carpenter is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's Arts and Entertainment/Features Reporter. He can be reached by email at wcarpenter@wyomingnews.com or by phone at 307-633-3135. Follow him on Twitter @will_carp_.