Western-Themed Fairs & Festivals in Texas

Ten-gallon hats and cowboy boots are still considered everyday wear in big cities like Houston, Dallas and San Antonio, and on rural cattle ranches that locals tend to measure by square miles instead of acres in Texas. A state second only to Alaska in size also celebrates its western roots as themes for western wear shops, museums, Old West shows, and family-friendly festivals and rodeos scheduled throughout the year.

All Things Cowboy

• Cowboys still work both small and sprawling cattle and horse ranches throughout Texas, although some modern cowboys use horses and helicopters to do their jobs. The Western Heritage Classic each May in the North Texas city of Abilene celebrates the state’s cowboy roots with a western parade, cowboy poetry readings and spurs exhibits. In northwestern Texas, Lubbock hosts the National Cowboy Symposium and Celebration each September with music, demonstrations and a chuck wagon cook-off. Cowboy Christmas at Enchanted Springs Ranch in Boerne, northwest of San Antonio, each December has a Cowboy Santa and Wild West shows. Each June, the south-central Texas town of Lockhart hosts the Chisholm Trail Roundup to celebrate the history of cattle drives in the 1800s. Frontier Times Museum in the south-central town of Bandera hosts National Day of the American Cowboy each July with roping shows and western-themed exhibits.

Rodeo Time

• Rodeos tend to be festivals in Texas, with music concerts, carnivals and livestock shows added to riding and roping contests at the West Texas Fair & Rodeo in Abilene each September, the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo each February and the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo in the state’s biggest city each March. The state’s capital, Austin, hosts the Star of Texas Fair and Rodeo each March. Visit the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo, plus parade, each January. If you miss the January event, you can see the Stockyards Rodeo every Friday and Saturday night at the Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District.
• Western Swing Festivals

• Texas is considered the birthplace of western swing music, an upbeat combination of country, cowboy and big band sounds made nationally popular by Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys in the 1930s and 1940s. In Snyder, west of Dallas, music and dancing are on the menu each June for the Western Swing Festival. Texas swing bands play on stages overlooking giant dance floors from 11 a.m. until midnight for three days each June at the Legends of Western Swing Music Festival northwest of Dallas in Wichita Falls.

More Western-Themed Fairs

• The New Boston Pioneer Days Festival in the northeastern Texas town of New Boston each August has a parade, live music and a small rodeo. Christmas at Old Fort Concho in the West Texas city of San Angelo each December hosts living history reenactments at a frontier fort dating back to the 1800s. In Lewisville, the Western Days Festival each September has gunfight reenactments, tamale-eating contests and western artifact displays. The Wild West Festival in Springtown, just west of Dallas, each September hosts gunfight reenactments, a parade and barbecue cook-off. The Western Days Festival near Austin in Elgin each June includes a Miss Western Days pageant. Or visit Winnsboro Wild West Days in East Texas each November to see reenactments and western music concerts.