BELLE FOURCHE—The 105th Black Hills Roundup 4th of July Celebration is underway! The action packed salute to Independence Day includes PRCA rodeos, fireworks, music concerts, carnival rides and parade floats. The celebration relies on the community’s help. According to Dallas Conner, Chairman of the Black Hills Roundup Board, “There are over 400 volunteers this year.”
The July 3rd PRCA rodeo kicks off at 7 p.m. at the Roundup arena. The theme is Tough Enough to Wear Pink, so make sure to put on your favorite shade of pink to support cancer awareness. The Black Hills Roundup rodeo attracts some of the country’s top ranked cowboys and cowgirls.
“This year, there are a lot of NFR-qualifying rough stock riders that are coming here for the first time,” said Conner.
Professional rodeo athletes, human and equine, travel all throughout the country to earn money during July 4th season, referred to as “Cowboy Christmas.” Belle Fourche is one of the top stops on the Cowboy Christmas trek across the country. Conner explained that during COVID lockdowns, many rodeos in the country were shut down. This brought professional rodeo contestants to the Black Hills Roundup rodeo for the first time. “Contestant numbers went up during COVID, but they have stayed up,” she said. It is an exceptional, award-winning rodeo and has been named the PRCA Medium Sized Rodeo of the Year many times.
The Black Hills Roundup is welcoming Championship Pro Rodeo, one of the elite rodeo producers in the Great Lakes Circuit, to the area for the first time. “We are excited to have them on board, it’s going to be a great rodeo,” said Conner. Their superb award-winning stock has been featured far and wide from coast to coast as well as 14 animals selected in 2023 to the super bowl of rodeo—the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.
Board member Scott Reder said, “the openings to the rodeos are set to be spectacular with Dana Bowman, National Guard, airplanes, and perhaps helicopters.” Opening every rodeo performance will be Sergeant First Class (Ret.) Dana Bowman. His elite parachuting skills will bring him right into the arena after a leap from high in the sky.
During rodeo intermissions, exciting speciality acts will entertain the crowd. Cowboy Kenny Bartram and Steel Rodeo bring high flying action packed freestyle motocross riders that set up ramps and perform risky maneuvers right in the arena.
Another highly anticipated act is the Misfit Cowboy, Brian Patton. He rides his bridled Brahman bull named Django and performs tricks and shoots Colt 45’s to keep the crowd engaged.
Following the rodeo on the 3rd will be the area’s largest fireworks display. Pyrotechnics are provided by Fritz Carlson. Rodeo-goers can stay right in their seats to watch the show, others can enjoy the show from most any place in the community. For those wanting to celebrate more, a dance will follow right at the Roundup arena.
If you can’t make it to that performance, the final PRCA rodeo, with all the same specialty acts and entertainment, will happen at 3 p.m. on July 4 at the Roundup arena. The theme for this round is Military and First Responders Appreciation.
I live in Belle, grew up in Belle from grade school to High School. My family enjoyed the July 4th celebrations, rodeos, and parade. I moved back to Belle 5 yrs ago tho always kept in touch. Anticipating the July 4th events, I’ve looked “in the paper”, looked for posters in downtown shop windows, really searched for complete event information and it’s been difficult! We have the Chamber, the Visitor Center, the Beacon, and downtown businesses.. with pieces of the action if you know where to look. I imagine the visitor driving into town not aware of all the events and activities, leaving with some small piece of enjoyment but missing any full experience. Next year, even if I do it myself, we need one poster laying out the full events from June 29th thru July 5th, from morning to nite, from the 1st day to the last, for Independence Day in Belle Fourche, South Dakota!! They’d even stay in town and leave amazed!!