HOUSTON – Over the last 20 days, we’ve have had some the best food, carnival rides, a-list performances, and even appearances from one of the stars of ‘Yellowstone’ at RodeoHouston.
There were so many amazing moments at the rodeo this year, Derrick Shore and Lauren Kelly wanted to round up some of their favorites.
But first, some fun Rodeo round-up fun facts!
* Total attendance for all activities on the grounds (including the World’s Championship Bar-B-Que Contest and Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo) reached 2,479,004.
* In just three days, the World’s Championship Bar-B-Que Contest entertained 214,903 guests
* RodeoHouston committed $2.178 million to its contestants in 2023
* Approximately 725,000 prizes were won at the carnival games
* The top five food items:
1 - Turkey legs
2 - Fried Oreos
3 - Funnel cakes
4 - MichAuguas
5 - Corn dogs
* The most attended concert performances:
1 - Sunday, March 19 – Luke Bryan – 74,779
2 - Friday, March 11 – Turnpike Troubadours – 74,657
3 - Saturday, March 18 – Brad Paisley – 74,577
4 - Friday, March 3 – Bun B’s Southern Takeover --74,573
5 - Friday, March 17 – Cody Johnson – 73,144
OUR FAVORITE HL RODEO ROUND-UP TOP MOMENTS:
#6 - BUN B
- Bun and a slew of Southern Hip Hop artists performed for Black Heritage Day at Bun B’s Southern Takeover
- Trill Burgers made its debut on restaurant row as one of the most popular spots over all 3 weeks
- Ended up selling over 41,000 burgers
- Bun just celebrated his 50th birthday over the weekend at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston
- He will always be a special friend of Houston Life
#5 - CODY JINKS
- Cody is from a small town right outside of Fort Worth
- This was his first time playing the Rodeo main stage
- Normally bands are driven out in a black SUV to the rodeo stage, but Cody and his band walked out on the dirt to the stage
- Cody also brought his mom on stage with him to sing a song with him
#4 - LAUREN DAIGLE
- Another artist to make her RodeoHouston debut
- From Louisiana, Lauren is a Christian inspirational music singer
- Admitted this was definitely the biggest stage she’s ever performed on
- She had never even been to the rodeo before, but was most excited for the pig races
- Lauren even debuted a new song for the rodeo audience “Thank God I Do”
#3 - PARKER MCCOLLUM
- Parker made his return to RodeoHouston this year as the headlining opener
- Houston Life has had many great chats with Parker, and we’ve been able to follow his career and watch him become a superstar
- He’s so busy these days he’s doesn’t really get a lot of chances to come home, but when he does – he always makes time to see his family, best friends, and of course his grandparents.
- Shoutout to Parker’s Grandma Shirley who was there with us on the day of our interview, she said she’s a big fan of Houston Life
- When Parker does come back home with a stop at Bucees, his must-get items are breakfast tacos, an ice, and roasted pecans
#2 - 50 CENT
- Curtis ‘50 Cent’ Jackson is officially a Houstonian now
- Apart from his music, he has really committed to bettering Houston with his many philanthropic programs
- The special interview took place in the Tejas room at RodeoHouston before he was presented with a saddle for his award winning ‘Le Chemin du Roi Brut Rose Champagne by 50 Cent’
- Won the Reserve Grand Champion Award at the Rodeo Uncorked Best Bites Competition
- Near the end of their chat, Derrick mentioned a special quote that his mom taught him when he was young
- That quote was “Treat everyone the same, from the janitor to the senator” which 50 Cent really liked
- Another rodeo debut performance
- Donnie, Danny, Jonathan, Joey and Jordan have performed in Houston several times, but never at the rodeo
- This was a special night for the guys because they truly think of Texas as a second home, and even though they are not country artists, they felt completely accepted because Houston’s southern hospitality
- They played 65 minutes of hits, and even came down on the sides of the stage to get closer to fans
- The Blockhead fans always show up, and they truly are the reason that NKOTB continues to perform after all these years