The show will go on at Canadian Western Agribition, but the cowboys at centre stage will be different.
The Canadian Cowboys Association announced recently that it will be moving its rodeo finals to Swift Current, Sask., in 2016, ending an 11-year run at the Regina livestock show.
This year’s competition is still set for Regina, where it’ll be “business as usual,” said Agribition chief executive officer Marty Seymour.
“We never know what the future looks like. The CCA is a big part of Saskatchewan culture and they might be back involved at Agribition,” he said.
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“I think both groups have done an honourable job of allowing the transition to go smoothly.”
In a media release, the City of Swift Current said it will work with the CCA, the Swift Current Broncos junior hockey team and the Swift Current Agriculture & Exhibition Association to produce the event.
“We’ve already discussed some of it. Nothing has been nailed down, because we haven’t had enough meetings yet, but ideally we want our prize money to grow annually and it didn’t seem to be doing that,” said Kevin Larson, vice-president of the Canadian Cowboys Association.
Larson said the semi-professional organization hopes to attract stronger competitors to its 40 seasonal rodeos that lead up to the finals.
“Ideally, the more money you have, the better the participants you get,” he said. “… If you can get the better competitors to go to those 40 rodeos to qualify for your finals, it’s going to make your association stronger.”
Seymour said Agribition will look for a new rodeo partner for the show in 2016.
“Since the (CCA) gave us notice, we’ve had a lot of people contact us looking to come into that space and try to produce a high quality rodeo,” he said. “To be honest with you, this is all very new information to us and we’re going to spend probably this spring and then summer just planning what the future looks like.”
The CCA finals were previously held in Saskatoon and Lloydminster before finding a home in Regina. This year’s Agribition is set for Nov. 23-28.
Larson said the 2016 contest in Swift Current could be moved up to the end of October.
“It probably works better in Swift Current because our season is over around the middle of October,” he said. “If you’re going into your finals when all of your competitors have been practising and are sharp, they’re going to be better …”
