Here's the down low: the venue is small. So, if you think that no matter where you sit, you'll see the stage; then, you would be correct. If you think that any seat in the house is good; then, you would be wrong, my friend. The upper-tier is on bleachers. And, not just any bleachers, but the most uncomfortable bleachers in the history of forever. They are so awful, that all venues should learn from Star of Texas' mistake. For one, they are rickety. If a husky individual leans back, all parties on the bleacher will feel it. Two, the back isn't solid. Meaning your butt hangs over the edge if you want to sit up straight. Three, this means that every time you cross your legs, you end up kicking the people in front of you. AND, Fourth, with being in the upper tier, you are so close to the air-conditioner that you are one step away from being in a meat-locker. Concert was good, I won't lie. And, sound system wasn't shabby either. But, the seats were THAT uncomfortable that I'll never be back if I have to sit in upper-tier. read more

This is my first experience with the Austin Rodeo, but not my first rodeo. Growing up in San Antonio meant the rodeo fairgrounds were a "must" on every adolescent's list. The Austin rodeo seems much smaller than the SA one but still worth the price of admission (cheap seats were $35, a lot less if you're only wanting to go to the fairgrounds) if you get to see an icon like Willie Nelson and cheer for the calves you're hoping won't get roped (why is this still a thing? In fact, one could question why the rodeo is still a thing, but when in Rome..) Parking: $10 and some serious, albeit necessary, control freaks directing where you should park. I would suggest carpooling. Food: We missed the bbq competition by a week but managed to find our share of good fried food. The smoked turkey legs were yummy and could feed a small family; the bratwurst with sauerkraut was pretty good (I grew up in Deutschland, so I'm pretty particular) and the funnel cake was huge-- three of us barely finished it. Rides: lots of scary rides to ride but alas, we did not ride the scary rides this time. Rodeo: This portion lasts 2 hours, the music for about an hour. The calf-ropin' makes me cringe and I could do without, but I enjoyed the barrel raising. I also liked the bull and horse riding but I do wonder what the cowfolks do to piss them off so. After watching Matthew McConaughey in Dallas Buyers Club, I couldn't help but wonder what other shenanigans go on backstage. Music: Willie and his family put on a good show. I love me some Willie (yes, that's what she said) but with the exception of a few tunes, he seemed to say the words more than sing them, as if he were reading poetry set to music. His son belted out a SRV tune, which I did not expect. Still, I hope Willie was just not feeling great that night. He has such a unique singing voice. Nonetheless, I'm so glad I went. My first concert ever was a Willie Nelson show with my family 35 years ago. I did not want to go way back then because I thought I was a lot more rock than country and so I pretended to hate it, but am secretly glad my parents made me go. Currency: bring cash. Most of the vendors require tokens but take it from me and don't overbuy tokens for food or you'll end up trying to use them up by buying lots of water on your way out. Beers cost $7 (they will take cash or tokens at the "bar"). read more

I went to the fair and rodeo for the first time this year. I went for a concert and the rodeo more so than the carnival. It is expensive but that is typical of a fair and no surprise. I had the fried taters and two soft drinks and both were good and overpriced. I had a good time watching the rodeo and the concert. read more

Came for the Rodeo last night and I had a blast. This was my first time at the Austin rodeo and we picked a night with the BBQ cookoff which was great! We walked around various tents getting free beer, brisket, chicken, sausage and sides and had a few really good samples of brisket. All the bbq people were really friendly and appreciative of the tips and were pushing free beer on you which is great. After stuffing ourselves we went into the rodeo and enjoyed that as well. They have 8 different events each with about 10 competitors, and and the pacing was great as they moved from one competitor to the next and from event to event with almost no delay at all so there was no time to get bored. The Rodeo culminated with bullriding and a great final ride by the last competitor. The view from pretty much anywhere in the expo center is good for the rodeo, so I wouldn't even bother paying for the really pricey seats up front as even the corner seats weren't bad. Plus there is a fair amount of empty bleacher seating scattered about so you can mosey up closer if needed. Immediately following the rodeo, a couple of tractors, of course, dragged in the stage and in about 15 minutes set up for the post rodeo country music concert which was played by Josh Turner the night we went. The concert was roughly an hour or a bit over and was a lot of fun. Josh Turner played a lot of great songs, and the sound system was surprisingly good. The stage very slowly rotated so everybody got a view of the front of the band each song or so too which was cool. Following the Rodeo we walked through the livestock area taking a look at the enormous longhorns, cows, hogs, rabbits, chicks, sheep, etc... which was pretty interesting. We didn't really go into the carnival area, but there are tons of rides, as well as lots of carnival fare ranging from calf fries, fried chicken on a stick, funnel cakes, lemonade, plenty of bbq, etc... Wear some shoes you don't mind stepping in some landmines in, when you come and be prepared for a lot of fun. You might even win an AR-15 assault rifle for your $3 raffle ticket! read more

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Expect to pay $10 for parking although I observed some folks park offsite and walk to the grounds presumably for free. I had free tickets to Founders Club from work so I went. It's free to get in to the fair area but you need tokens for the rides. Not my sort of thing so I passed. Up at the "Exclusive Club" they check your ticket three times before they give you a wristband...I thought this was ridiculous as I am all about efficiency. Beer is $5 but for my high maintenance self, my gray goose and red bull was $10 plus $2 tip...ouch. I went ahead and purchased a seat for the Josh Turner concert, tack on another $25 and these "free" tickets are starting to get pretty expensive. I will say everyone I dealt with was extremely friendly! Although I was dressed like your typical city dweller I was treated kindly, with respect and attended to properly so you can leave your cowboy hat and boots at home although they would be very welcomed. I was just thinking how old this "exclusive" venue is when I saw a poster of a previous rodeo and it was dated 1951, can you say "remodel"? Probably have not since 1951. Down at the main stage yes the seats were hard but not horrible, as expected for stadium type seating. The rodeo music could use some updating as well I mean -Flash Dance, She's a Maniac, -Billy Idol, White Wedding and the theme song to Rocky...Really? Fire your DJ Please! Admittedly you might find two out of three of those songs in my library...OK, maybe three out of three. Now, joking aside, I believe Rodeo and country music are interesting and important parts of the American culture and tradition and especially in Texas, it's nice to see the enthusiasm and participation. Definitely take your kids there at least once. read more

Traffic and parking the last two years have been atrocious!!!! The fair and midway were fun as usual, but they manager for traffic should have their metrics revised. Funneling all the traffic in from Decker Lake Rd is more than the rode can handle. They should learn from their predecessor. Even F1 at COTA is way more efficient than this disaster. The traffic into and out of made this an event the family can skip in the future. read more

A great experience for first timer. I bought the tickets online the night before and picked-up my ticket onsite. I was excited for my first time rodeo experience, as you get to watch different events with horses and bulls. After a while it all started to look the same to me that I ended up taking a break during the show to grab the Fredricksburg sausage (highly recommended). The most memorable moments were the little kids who were riding the sheep as far as it they can stay on it. I felt really bad when they fell down. They were all good sports and I'm sure they practiced and practiced as none of them cried. All in all it was a great experience watching the cowboys do their thing with the horses. A rodeo is one of those things you can cross off your bucket list and something everyone should experience at least once in their life. I stayed for the local country band in the end and was amused watching the young Texans grooving to the music. Here in LA, that we be so UNcool to do. read more

Wow they really found any possible way to stick it to you . Over $100 on wristbands for the rides and then a separate admission fee only to find out that only plastic is excepted each credit is five dollars that's crazy oh and they charge for rides that you bought a $40 wristband for i'd rather waste my money on strippers read more

Always come here for my anniversary! This was our first date back in 2012 it's always great to go back! Much love for the rodeo and the rides. Please continue coming never stop!! Best place to make memories read more

Dont buy tickets online at their $5 discount. it is a scam. They tickets (for kids) all rides included are $30 online and $35 at the door. However, your "discount" for buying online is countered by a $5.75 fee for buying online. Ridiculous. Be up front about your discounts and do try to scam people out of another $.75 per person. My kids do love it there, so we are still going, but will by tickets at the gate. read more

Came out for $2 Tuesday! All carnival rides & games are $2 each as well as admission to fairgrounds! ONLY it's not all day. The carnival does not open until 4pm. If we had known it was not ALL day we would not have taken off work early to come out as early as we did. read more

Rodeo Austin - Carnival rides & games are all just $2 all day. - Rodeo Near Me - Austin, Texas

A great smaller rodeo. They do a great job getting talent. Parking is $10. A ticket to the rodeo allows you access to the fair and two smaller outdoor stages. There are no bad seats. They upgraded the bench seats this year and installed backs. Rodeo is before the show. The stage in the middle does turn. Similar to the Houston rodeo but smaller stage. Worth coming early and walking around. Typical big event prices on food, etc. Enjoy the effort of all the volunteers. We will be coming back year after year. read more

We have been to the Rodeo before, this was our first tour with a a school group... and it was great fun. Each school group was greeted by their own personal tour guide that helped keep our students on time, and moving from activity to activity. The parent with the lunches was met in the parking lot with a helpful Rodeo person who made sure I lunches were at our assigned location for lunch. Activities were terrific for pint-sized attention spans: petting zoo, "Mustang Makeover" (who had the students entranced, and encouraged (um endured?) a lot of questions, baby chicks, Texas Longhorn, live Texas music (got the wiggles out!), then off to the Pig races.... Somehow we caught a few minutes of a dog frisbee trick show, a big hit with the kids. Great fun, and just the right amount for little feet. Thank you, and see you next year! (Also, we joined the Kids CLub this year, and it was a deal. In exchange for our donation we joined the club, got 2 general admissions, a t shirt and a membership card.) read more

Really outdid themselves for the Gala, me and the gals had a wonderful time. Food was to die for, loved the ambiance and decor, entertainers were wonderful as well , and don't forget about the open bar! (Sheryl may have enjoyed it a little too much) definitely asking the husband to get us tickets again for next year. read more

Went to the Rodeo for only 1 reason, The BBQ Cook-off. Got there early on Friday and did NOT pay for parking. Not much going on b4 the servers started so Waled around and saw the Fair kind of stuff: Pigs, goats, cows, horses & dogs. Sat for an hour or more watching these sheep dogs try to get the sheep around some pylons and a pen and into the holding pen. Fun time seeing the owners shout or whistle their dogs to do their thing. I then ventured to the Cook-off. Still early, so all of the venues not serving. This is a Charity event. Not one of those "professional" things where guys take things TOO seriously. Good variety of Ribs and Brisket. Some good sides too. Go back if in town for this event next year, but would go later in the day. Then, I might have to pay for parking. Cook-off donations go to worthwhile causes. Johnny Chitown read more

I attended the Fashion & Fine Arts event in January, which is where they crown the new Miss Rodeo Austin and their princess. The event was a great experience- I went with a friend who knew someone who was competing. We were greeted at their welcome table by some of their staff, and they were kind and friendly. Because I am a communications major, I notice little details like designs and how they hold the event. I loved their designs on their posters and everything else they had at the event, which made it classy and professional. The event was run smoothly with witty emcees, their performer was really good, who happens to be a contestant on American Idol. Their food was good, and it was neat they had a vegetarian option, too. Also, the girls who used to be the queens, and the new queens, seem very nice and they definitely take good care of their girls with great scholarships and some neat prizes. Overall, the event was a neat experience and I am excited to convince my friends to go with me to the rodeo! read more

Way too expensive for the value. $8 for cheap beer, $15 parking 1 mile out... I'll be skipping this until they figure this out.

Rodeo Austin goes on for days and has different performers that play after the rodeo events. It takes place at the Austin exposition center and the grounds around it. They have basically free BBQ and drink tents (they ask for a donation) and a pretty large fair with multiple rides. You can wander through the stable areas where they hold all the animals, check out pig races and buy items from the various sellers that set up booths. The main event is the actual rodeo which was fast paced and entertaining. They have bareback bronc riding, team roping, calf tipping, mutton bustin', bull riding and more. The rodeo was just shy of two hours and afterwards is the music performance. We saw Josh Turner last night and he was great! The music portion lasted about an hour. Anywhere you sit you are easily able to see and not all the seats fill up. So if you wanted to, you could always move around the venue. Parking was $10 and we had no issues parking or leaving, since we parked right near the exit. Didn't even take us five minutes to get out of the lot. read more

Rodeo Austin - National anthem at rodeo - Rodeo Near Me - Austin, Texas

I got registered for mutton bustin today and it went smooth and noticed time slots filled up quick. I talked to Leah and she was very helpful for me and my family. Keep up the good work! See you in March! read more

I may never go back after my horrible experience with parking. Just shows that management doesn't know how to properly handle an event like this. read more

This is a great Austin event. They do a lot for charities and offer scholarships to the youth around here. It's a good time, with great vendors as well as lots of different activities. I enjoy going, and taking my staff with me as a reward. It would be nice if they had more food options, but the carnival atmosphere and food that is there it's just kind of what to expect at a rodeo, so I'm not gonna give them less than five stars for delivering what would be expected of a rodeo. Having some really solid barbecue options would be great! Check out the cookout of course, is good food there. Wish they had more of that at the general radio! See you in town, Austin rodeo! read more

What a rip-off. $10.00 for parking, another $ 11.00 entrance fee( 7 for me, 4 for my son.) Since when do carnivals charge entrance fees? Only went to play games( son does not like the rides) . 3 tokens avg per game( $1.00 per token). $3.00 for a small snow cone, $4.00 for a tart candy apple. We were going to get a cotton candy but at 6 tokens(6.00 a gab- said he** no. I should have said that about that whole evening and gone to the Dell Diamond carnival instead( did not know it was in town). Lesson learned, never again. Spent a totoal of $53.00-Heres what we were abble to do: parking, entrance fee, 7 games, 1 small tart candy apple and one samll snow cone. Save your money. read more

The Rides Aren't Friendly For Bigger People, Payed Almost 85 Bucks For Two Wristbands And Couldn't Ride Much Of Anything Because Rides Are Too Small. The Staff Is Rude And Insulted Us. I Askdd To Get Off A Ride Before It Started And The Man Ignored Me. Only Thing I Had Fun With Were The Games read more

If you have never been to a rodeo, this one is terrific. The participants are part of a circuit and there is enough prize money to make this really competitive. Every event was great, but our favorite was the bull riding. From downtown Austin, it takes about an hour to get there with traffic. Leave time to first see the livestock in the area right next to the arena. You really get a feel for the entire event this way. You can get up close to all the different livestock, meet their owners and watch how they are taken care of. There is a rodeo in San Antonio, too. I believe that one is even larger, but this one was just fine for us. The highlight of our trip to Texas for sure! read more

Rodeo was a lot of fun. Acoustics for the Eli Young band left a lot to be desired: this was due to the venue. So e per this is you are staying for the show. It was literally 45 minutes to leave the parking lots. There were no parking marshals or police. You would think the organizers had never done this before. AND they moved the lot entrance, forcing all vehicles to exit a single gate. Given all this, just what did my $10 parking fee cover? This was a wall BLACK EYE, Austin Rodeo!!! Please get it together! read more

Take money! You need cash for parking and cash to get into the grounds, unless you have tickets to the rodeo. Leave early, because this year (2016) they are only allowing the general public to enter at gates 3 and 4. Unless you leave early, expect a long wait to get to the parking area. In previous years they had gate 1 open - which was great! Overall, you should enjoy yourself at the rodeo. Buy your tickets to the carnival online. Again take money!!! I would have rated it higher, but the one lane to get into Gates 3 or 4 made me take away 2 stars. read more

I took my date here since we both had the day off. They charged me $10 for parking (cash only) even though there was no one there. We get to the gate and the man scans us in. The whole carnival/fair-grounds were closed. We had gone mainly for the carnival and they said "everything was open." After wandering around looking for anything to be open, we gave up and went back to the ticket booth. I asked for a refund and the man said all sales are final. He sent me to the manager who said she couldn't possibly give me a refund since I bought the tickets online. She gave me the number for the woman in charge of the online ticket purchases. I have called Julie three times, leaving a voicemail yesterday as well. No response. I am out money and seems as if no one really cares how the customer feels about the situation. Don't go!! Houston rodeo is better anyway. ;) read more

First visit to Austin and indeed Texas. Lady on information desk..Hilary was extraordinarily helpful, gave us a pass to an exclusive Founders Club, where they serve better food than the concession stands. A great experience and made extra special by Hilary and our waitress Pam who insisted on giving us a free dessert with our meal. Everyone was super helpful and friendly. read more

I went for the first time today and I will NEVER go back. Despite the fact no rodeo was going on everyone had to pay an entrance fee and on top of that you had to pay separately for rides. There were a lot of rides so we felt the $15 wrist band was an ok deal. A foot through the gate we realized we left our phones in the car. Literally a foot through the gate. I asked the attendant if we could quickly go back to our car. We were told no. I asked for an escort because we needed the phone in order to be able to allow older kids to go off on their own. They refused and pointed to a sign on the inside if the park that said no re entry. Please note this sign was not visible from the outside. We asked to see a supervisor they refused said there wasn't one. I said there must be a number to call for emergencies. They said no such number existed. Not wanting to lose the $60 we spent to enter there was no ability to buy food unless you used tokens. Heaven forbid you're out of cash or you don't want $20 worth of tokens you can't cash out and you're screwed. We picked an ideal day in that the weather was perfect and the park was nearly empty. We instructed our kids to exit rides and return to the exterior line should they want another ride. We were informed by an attendant that despite their unlimited ride wrist band and despite the fact there was not another single human being in line that the kids could not get back on a ride they just left unless they rode a different ride in between. We pointed out there was no one else there and we had unlimited ride bands. We mentioned the children properly exited the ride and got back in line and we were still denied re admittance to the ride. We rummaged together enough singles to put in the token machine to buy two bottles waters. They cost $6. They were hot set outside the food cart in a non refrigerated bin. I pointed out they were hot to which I got an eye roll. You spend $6 on water it should be at least cool. The attendant said if I didn't have an attitude perhaps she would offer to do something about it. I mentioned the non stop issues we were having there and she gave me a cup of ice. It's overpriced and the majority of staff were ignorant and lazy. We've been living in Texas for three years and overall receive decent to excellent service most anywhere we go. I was literally astounded by the rudeness and ridiculousness. Don't go here. read more

My first experience at Rodeo Austin really exceeded my expectations. The staff was very friendly and helpful throughout the whole evening. We first arrived at 6, the parking lines were long but the parking attendants were very quick with helping us get parked so we could walk up to the grounds for the rodeo. When we first walked in we were greeted by one of the most helpful and sweetest volunteers. We asked where we could find cold beer and she took time to not only tell us where it was located but walked us straight to the vendor. It didn't stop there, she then asked to see our tickets and showed us where our seats were. During the rodeo we were the lucky section to receive free ice cream cones (a great surprise). With that being said the rodeo was an absolute fantastic time as well as the concert, we got to see the great Willie Nelson for the first time as well. Great job Rodeo Austin!! I will definately be coming back. read more

Rodeo Austin is a wonderful event to attend! I went with a group of girls and we enjoyed every minute of our day spent at Rodeo Austin. We got there early in the day so that we would have time to do everything on the fairgrounds. We started out by watching some of the livestock show, it was so awesome to see the kids show their animals that they have been working with all year long for a chance to claim the title Grand Champion. After the stock show we went on over to Chow Town to grab a bite to eat, let me just say we spent more time deciding on what to eat then we should have, there are just so many options to choose from! We watched Mutton Bustin' Mania, which was such a fun show to watch, it is always one of my favorites to see how happy the kids are to have a moment of fame during their ride. We went into the arena a little early because we figured it would be packed due to Willie Nelson performing that night. Even though we arrived about 30 minutes before the show we continued to be entertained. The big screens had music and videos being played during the entire pre show, which was nice because we could rest our feet, grab a few drinks, and still enjoy ourselves. The actual rodeo was great and kept us on the edge of our seats during each contestants ride. When the rodeo was over we stayed and watch Willie perform, I have always wanted to see him live in concert and i'm glad that I saw him at Rodeo Austin! Me and the girls enjoyed our whole day on the fairgrounds, It was a perfect start to the 2016 Rodeo Austin season and we will definitely be coming back!! read more