The Pike County Cattlemen’s Professional Cowboy Association Rodeo is celebrating its 20th year and, at the same time, the Cattlemen are breaking with tradition.

For 19 years, the Cattlemen’s PCA Rodeo has been held on Memorial Day weekend. However, this year, the Cattlemen will host the rodeo in August.

“Attendance has been down a little in the last couple of years and we thought that having the rodeo on a holiday weekend was a factor,” said B.B. Palmer, publicity chair for the Pike County Cattlemen’s Association. “Memorial Day weekend is a long weekend and a lot of people take that opportunity to go to the beach, to the lake or for family gatherings. So, the Cattlemen’s board decided to try another weekend and see how that will work.”

The Pike County Cattlemen’s PCA Rodeo will be at 7:30 nightly Aug. 17 and 18 at Cattleman Park.

“We expect the same number of contestants and the same high quality contestants that we’ve always had,” Palmer said. “We’ll have contestants from all over the Southeast.

The Cattlemen put in $500 added money for each event and that attracts some of the top cowboys and cowgirls around the Southeast. We’ll have some of the best contestants and we’ll have a great rodeo.”

The PCA Rodeo will feature eight events – bareback riding, saddle bronc, steer wrestling, calf roping, team roping, breakaway roping, barrel racing and bull riding. There will also be a calf scramble for the kids.

“Any great rodeo will have a great announcer and a great clown and we’ve got the best, in Jim Poole and Rick the ‘Ragin Cajun’ Young,” Palmer said. “This year, we have a new stock contractor, H.B. Rodeo Company from Baldwin County. They will bring some good animals that will help our contestants put on a good rodeo.”

The PCA Rodeo will also have its always-popular concession stand open and several vendors will be on hand with items of interest to rodeo fans.

Tickets for the Pike County Cattlemen’s PCA Rodeo on Aug. 17 and 18 are $12 for ages seven and up. Children ages 6 and under are admitted free.