Why people keep coming back to CFD

CHEYENNE – Tony Veno has been to rodeos across the country, including the Calgary Stampede, the St. Paul Rodeo and countless rodeos across Texas. Yet he said it’s the people of the community in Cheyenne and Laramie County that keep drawing him back to Cheyenne Frontier Days year after year.

“This is probably one of the better shows because it's authentic,” he said. “It's done the same way it was done 100 years ago. And you can see a lot of that in the stock, the people that run it and their passion for it.”

Originally from Pennsylvania, and now living in Colorado, he said he appreciates how much he sees the rodeo is supported by and gives back to the community.

“For something local and something so big in such a small area, population wise, I think it gets better. ... Security is great here, never have to worry about anything ... all the local people and all the volunteers are so friendly and just so courteous. That's what makes this rodeo what it is, it’s the local people that make you want to come back because you’re never getting treated bad, you’re never snubbed up. That says a lot for the community.”

Veno has been traveling to CFD for the past five years and said he looks forward to coming back next year.

Bonny and Mike Gaffney attended their third CFD this year, traveling from Albuquerque, New Mexico. They stay in an RV park in town every year and say that they reserve their spot for the next year's rodeo before they leave Cheyenne for the year.

Bonny Gaffney attended her first rodeo when she was 12 and has been going to rodeos for nearly 50 years since then. Mike Gaffney said he’s been attending rodeos for most of his life, as well.

Though 2024 was only their third year at CFD, they both said that it is their favorite one they’ve been to. While they enjoy the rodeo and seeing the animals, they said one thing that makes this one special is the events around town as part of the rodeo.

The first year they came, Bonny said she was surprised by how much she enjoyed the parade.

“I was expecting cheesy floats and everything,” she said. “And it’s all an old western Frontier Days parade right in front of you, and I wasn't prepared.”

The Gaffneys weren’t the only attendees to note that this year seemed a bit slower, and the music lineup wasn’t as great as it has been in the past, but they still look forward to coming back in 2025 and for years to come.

For locals, it is much easier to develop a tradition of coming to CFD every year. That’s what Eric Zamora and Estevan Garcia have done, as they’re both from Cheyenne and have been going to the rodeo their whole life.

Every year, the two will bring paper with them to the rodeo and score the contestants based on how they thought they performed. Once the judges' official scores come in, they like to compare their scores to what the judges thought of the performance. Garcia said they’ve gotten pretty good at doing this after years of practice.

They said the rodeo has changed a bit through the years, but it has maintained the same atmosphere, though Garcia said he misses the chuckwagon racing. Zamora said his favorite part every year is going to see bull riding.

It’s not just the locals and tourists that CFD draws out. Many vendors and musicians at the event make a special effort to return to Cheyenne every summer for the rodeo.

Donna Keller is an artist and the owner of Orion Crossing Fine Art. For the past decade, she has displayed her ceramic artwork in the same corner of the Exhibit Hall at Frontier Park. Being based in California, and with the difficulties of transporting fragile artwork like ceramics, CFD is one of only two events like this she attends every year. The other is the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas.

Like the Gaffneys, Keller said that this year has been a bit slower. Over the past decade, she said she has observed that it's typically not as busy during election years. Though unsure exactly why that is, Keller speculated that it is tied to the unknown in people's minds about the future of the economy before they make purchases.

Additionally, she said this could be attributed to a slightly weaker Frontier Nights lineup this year. Keller has developed relationships with some of her repeat customers at the rodeo, but has yet to see some of them in 2024.

“I haven't seen some of my Colorado customers that come up for all the concerts. ... Last year, I saw one of them three times for three different concerts. I haven't seen them once this year,” she said.

She also said that some flight cancellations may have impacted customers she typically sees who travel from farther distances, like from Texas.

Though this year may be a bit slower for her, that doesn’t deter her from being eager to return next year. She said it is difficult to get a spot at the Exhibit Hall at CFD, but once you have a spot, you don’t want to let it go.

This has also let her establish relationships with some of the other vendors.

“We just have friends here that we see every year," she said. "Plus, a couple of these vendors, I see at Cowboy Christmas (at NFR). So, it's like family.”