Stone County Event Center’s Ranch Rodeo Weekend rides back for its eighth year in Galena

It’s the eighth annual Ranch Rodeo and Bull Ride Weekend at the Stone County Event Center Arena (200 Ammabelle Lane, Galena), and for three days, the hills and hollers in Galena will be filled with rodeo action.

(Photo submitted)

Three days of tradition, thrill and tunesThe weekend kicks off Friday, August 29, 2025, with a youth bull ride.

On Saturday, August 30, the Ranch Rodeo takes center stage. Cowboys and cowgirls compete in events that look less like sport and more like a day’s work on the ranch: roping, sorting and riding with skill passed down through generations. When the dust settles, the David Barton Band keeps the energy high with a post-rodeo concert that’s already included in the $10 ticket price (kids five and under are free).

By Sunday, August 31, the arena hums with a different kind of anticipation; the kind that comes when 1,500-pound bulls are loaded into chutes. The bull ride is a test of sheer nerve: eight seconds that can make or break a cowboy’s night. Jason Pritchett’s live show closes the weekend, a high-energy send-off that’s free with the $20 ticket (kids five and under free).

Family fun at the Stone County Event CenterEvery evening, kids can join in free events - the much-loved chicken chase and calf scramble - a tradition that gets the youngest in the crowd right into the heart of the action.

“Those kids run harder than some of our cowboys ride,” Dee Dee, owner of the arena, laughs. “We want families to feel like this event belongs to them, not just the cowboys in the arena.”

A community gathering worth the driveSet in the hills of Stone County, the Ranch Rodeo and Bull Ride Weekend isn’t just a competition; it’s a gathering point for the region. Locals know it’s the unofficial wrap-up to summer, and visitors find themselves welcomed like they’ve lived here forever.

Whether it’s the smell of the grill wafting from the cook shack, the thrill of a perfect roping run, or the strum of a guitar under the stars, this is more than a rodeo. It’s a weekend where the Ozarks show their wild, warm and wonderfully real side.