Franklin Rodeo Cancels 2021 Event

bull riding at the 2017 franklin rodeo by tom thomson
A bull rider rides for the eight second buzzer at the 2017 Franklin Rodeo. Photo by Tom Thomson.

The Franklin Rodeo announced the 2021 event is canceled, postponing until 2022. Despite initially planning to continue the event this May, the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic has led the Franklin Noon Rotary Club and Rodeo Committee to make the difficult decision to postpone the event until next year.

“Postponing the 70-year-old Rodeo was not made lightly,” said Rodeo Executive Director, Bill Fitzgerald.  “With continued use of the Williamson County Ag Expo Park as a Covid test site and now a vaccination site, for potentially the remainder of 2021, we really didn’t have a choice. We considered several other options but could not come up with a viable alternative location or time to hold the Rodeo this year.”  

The PRCA sanctioned Franklin Rodeo is held annually the third weekend in May at the Ag Expo Park and is the largest rodeo in the state of Tennessee. The rodeo draws about 15,000 fans each year as well as top ranked rodeo cowboys and cowgirls from across the country.  

“Since its inception, this long-standing community tradition has raised over $4 million for local charities,” said Mark Tumblin, Franklin Noon Rotary Club President.  “We hope to be able to do something to “keep the tradition alive” this year,” he added. 

The 71st Franklin Rodeo is scheduled for May 19-20-21, 2022. Check the Rodeo website at www.franklinrodeo.com for more information as it becomes available.