Prepare for a trip back to the Old West, as the Durango Cowboy Gathering will introduce a new event.
The Horseback Social, scheduled for 8 a.m. Oct. 5, will feature Western exhibits such as horseshoeing, blacksmithing and trail safety, and a petting corral with at least 100 horses expected to be moseying about the street, Durango Cowboy Gathering board president Sue McWilliams said.
“It's just a huge variety of different exhibitors that will be downtown on Main,” she said.
Main Avenue from College Drive to 12th Street will be barricaded to keep horseback riders and spectators separated, according to Durango Cowboy Gathering’s website. McWilliams said the Horseback Social will lead right into the annual non-motorized parade at 10:30 a.m.
Durango Cowboy Gathering board member Jack Turner said in an email that the “Poo Patrol” will be on the prowl and a “crowd favorite.”
Ultrasteam Cleaning in Durango is sponsoring the operation, and 10 employees dressed in official Poo Patrol uniforms will clean the streets. Twister Hat Company donated cowboy hats to the patrol.
“Basin Coop and Tractor Supply, typically competitors, have collaborated to provide custom wheelbarrows, shovels, and rakes to outfit the Poo Patrol,” Turner said. “Basin Coop is also lending us a large water trough so that the horses can get a drink on Main Ave.”
The Horseback Social is not the only new event at this year’s gathering.
Turner said events have been added to this year’s lineup to cater to all interests, “not just cowboy stuff.”
He said a Cowboy Mosey on Oct. 4 will be “sheer fun with no guidelines except to dress up like a cowboy for the day.” Authentic, weird and simply fun costumes are welcome.
Traditional agricultural and Western events at the La Plata County Fairgrounds will feature free horseback rides for children organizations such as the Cattlemen’s Association, Farm Bureau, the 4-H Youth Development Program, Basin Rodeo Team, National Mustang Association Colorado, veterinarians, saddle makers and more, Turner said.
“Some are referring to it as Cowboy Snowdown,” he said.
The annual chuckwagon breakfast is changing locations this year because it was hard to spot at its old location at the parking lots across from the Durango and Silverton Narrow-Gauge Railroad, Turner said.
This year, it will be featured at Eighth Avenue between Main Street and the TBK Bank parking lot at 259 West Ninth St. where Durango Farmers Markets are held through the summer.
He said an authentic chuckwagon is slated to be parked in front of Sorrel Sky Gallery from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. the week of the gathering. The chuckwagon will serve as an information center and place to purchase tickets and merchandise.
“This hearkens back to when a similar booth was parked on Main Avenue during Fiesta Days. The city was most cooperative to allow this,” he said.
A program of events and exhibits, and parade and exhibit application forms, can be found online at durangocowboygathering.org/
The Durango Cowboy Gathering is also hosting a slew of events with elementary, middle and high school students in Durango, Bayfield and Ignacio, including fifth grade harmonica classes and poetry readings at schools, McWilliams said.
About 350 students entered into the Durango Cowboy Gathering’s annual art contest this year.
McWilliams said art was featured at the Durango Arts Center and around events over the weekend. Winners of a poetry contest will have the opportunity to recite their poems before main events each evening.
At the Sept. 17 Durango City Council meeting, Mayor Jessika Buell recited a proclamation celebrating the Durango Cowboy Gathering.
The proclamation acknowledges the gathering’s start in 1989 and its purpose in celebrating “the rich heritage, culture and history of the American West, particularly that of cowboys and the rural community.”
It said the event preserves Western storytelling, cowboy poetry and music and is an important platform for artists, poets, musicians and performers. It also bolsters the tourism economy.
McWilliams said the Durango Cowboy Gathering is organized by a board of 12 volunteers who pull together over the year to make it happen.
“As soon as this gathering is over, we will start preparing for 2025. But you know, it's really just all of us pulling together as a team,” she said.
cburney@durangoherald.com
