The Darrington Timberbowl Rodeo, also called the Timberbowl Rodeo or Darrington Rodeo, is an annual rodeo in Darrington, Washington, United States. It is held over two days on the last weekend of June at the Darrington Rodeo Grounds, a 22-acre (8.9 ha) site west of the town owned by the nonprofit Darrington Horse Owners Association, and has been described as the only stand-alone rodeo in Snohomish County.[1][2] The rodeo began in 1962[a] and takes its name from the Timberbowl, a community festival held in Darrington from 1946 to 1967.[1][3]
| Darrington Timberbowl Rodeo | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Rodeo |
| Frequency | Annual |
| Locations | Darrington Rodeo Grounds, Darrington, Washington |
| Country | United States |
| Years active | 1962–present |
| Organised by | Darrington Horse Owners Association |
| Website | darringtonrodeogrounds |
The rodeo drew wider attention in 2014, when it became a centerpiece of efforts to revive tourism in the Stillaguamish Valley after the Oso landslide severed the main highway to Darrington.[4][2]
History
editTimberbowl festival
editThe rodeo takes its name from the Timberbowl, a festival first held in 1946, the year after Darrington was incorporated as a town. Residents organized it to raise money for a fire engine and other equipment.[3] Held each year in late June through 1967, the festival featured logging contests such as axe throwing, nail driving, and log bucking, along with a parade, music, dancing, and the crowning of festival royalty.[3]
The rodeo
editThe modern rodeo was organized in 1962 by local horse owners, with the first event held at the Darrington airport. A separate logging show staged on a ski slope near the high school had faded, and the two events were combined under the Timberbowl name.[1] In 1972, the Darrington Horse Owners Association raised $10,000 and bought the 22-acre site on the west side of town where the rodeo arena now stands.[b][1] Members built the grounds largely with volunteer labor over the following years; the names of more than a dozen of the rodeo's founders are recorded on a plaque at the grounds.[1]
Grounds
edit
The Darrington Rodeo Grounds sit along State Route 530 about 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Darrington, at the base of Whitehorse Mountain.[2][1] The arena and its bleachers, which seat about 3,000, were built by hand, with the iron stands welded by volunteers; a 1,500-square-foot (140 m2) building housing a kitchen, office, and meeting room was completed in 1980.[1] The grounds are owned by the Darrington Horse Owners Association, a nonprofit corporation that runs the rodeo and other events with about a dozen active members and several dozen volunteers each year.[1] The Darrington Trapshooters, a shooting club, also use the grounds, holding a trapshoot on the first Sunday of each month.[5]
The site adjoins the 40-acre (16 ha) Darrington Bluegrass Music Park, a separate venue the Bluegrass and Country Music Makers Association bought in 1986 after outgrowing the rodeo grounds, where the Darrington Bluegrass Festival had been held since 1977.[6]
Event
editEvents have included bull riding, saddle bronc riding, barrel racing, breakaway roping, and wild cow milking, along with children's activities.[4][2] Historically the Timberbowl was a professional rodeo, drawing about 200 competitors from across the western United States and Canada and sanctioned by the Professional Western Rodeo Association.[1][2] In later years it was reorganized as a two-day ranch rodeo, with events sanctioned by the Western States Ranch Rodeo Association.[5][7] In 1989, the Washington Rodeo Association named the Darrington event its Rodeo of the Year.[1]
For decades the association decided each year whether to stage the rodeo again. In 2003, longtime member and former association president Irv Tellesbo told The Seattle Times that the event might be in its final years, citing rising costs and an aging membership of about ten active volunteers; he estimated it cost around $15,000 to open the grounds each season.[1] The rodeo nonetheless continued, drawing crowds of up to 3,000 in good weather in the early 2000s and between about 1,200 and 1,500 people per day in the 2010s.[1][4]
2014 Oso landslide
editThe rodeo was not held in 2013 because the association lacked the money to repair unsafe bleachers and bring the grounds up to code.[4] After the Oso landslide of March 22, 2014, which buried a section of State Route 530 and cut the main road between Darrington and Arlington, the rodeo grounds were used to shelter horses whose owners had died or lost their homes; the last of the animals left in early May.[2][4]
Governor Jay Inslee approved a $25,000 state grant, supplemented by $5,000 from Coastal Community Bank, to repair the grounds' fences, bleachers, and wiring, and crews from the Snohomish County Workforce Development Council carried out the work.[2][4] The June 2014 rodeo was promoted as the first major test of a $150,000 state-funded campaign to draw tourists back to the Stillaguamish Valley after the disaster.[4]
See also
editNotes
edit- ↑ Some sources, including The Everett Herald, date the rodeo's start to 1964.
- ↑ The Seattle Times reports the purchase as 1972; The Everett Herald gives 1971, and a Darrington Horse Owners Association account gives 1974.
References
edit- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Whitely, Peyton (June 25, 2003). "Darrington Rodeo on its last legs?". The Seattle Times. Retrieved June 21, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Catchpole, Dan (May 21, 2014). "Outside money keeps Darrington rodeo alive". The Everett Herald. Retrieved June 21, 2026.
- 1 2 3 "The Darrington Timber Bowl". Sno-Isle Libraries. Retrieved June 21, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Broom, Jack (June 19, 2014). "Rodeo upgrades could help Darrington's mudslide recovery". The Seattle Times. Retrieved June 21, 2026.
- 1 2 "Home". Darrington Horse Owners Association. Retrieved June 21, 2026.
- ↑ "Darrington Bluegrass festival organizers hopeful for best". The Everett Herald. July 18, 2014. Retrieved June 21, 2026.
- ↑ "Darrington Timberbowl Rodeo Rough Stock Series". Rodeos USA. Retrieved June 21, 2026.