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By HARRY CLARKE
CULT music hero Shannon Noll, Cold Chisel’s Ian Moss and country music icon Luke Geiger will headline the entertainment bill at a new addition to the Mount Isa Mines Rodeo package this year, as the capital of North West Queensland celebrates its 100th anniversary.
The first Road to Rodeo event was hosted by Longreach in 2022 but this year moves to Mount Isa, giving the city an extra reason to celebrate its centenary.
It was in 1923 that John Campbell Miles signed the mining lease which gave rise to the establishment to Mount Isa as an Outback mini metropolis. Glencore’s Mount Isa Mines operation today remains the second largest copper producer in Australia.
As organisers prepare for the main Mount Isa Mines Rodeo in August, the new Road to Rodeo being held on Sunday May 7 will provide a loud and action-packed appetiser for locals and travellers in the Outback.
“This Road to Rodeo event is being staged especially in Mount Isa in 2023 by Isa Rodeo Limited in partnership with the Mount Isa City Council to celebrate the city’s centennial,” said Isa Rodeo CEO Natalie Flecker.
“For 64 of these years the Mount Isa Mines Rodeo has been an integral part of the city’s growth and identity and we can’t wait to celebrate this special event with the Mount Isa community.”
Rodeo events will include bull tide, saddle bronc ride, bareback bronc ride, team roping, barrel race, steer wrestling, rope and tie, breakaway roping and poddy calf ride as well as the crowd favourite, the op shop barrel race.
WATCH: Country Caller coverage of the 2022 Mount Isa Mines Rodeo
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Mount Isa mayor Danielle Slade said: “This rodeo is for the Mount Isa community and to continue our 100-year celebrations.”
“Mount Isa City Council is proud to support this year’s Road to Rodeo event, which will complement the Back to the Isa Reunion Dinner (May 6 at Buchanan Park) and will guarantee a fantastic weekend of festivities and rodeo action for everyone involved,” she said.
“The inaugural Road to Rodeo held in Longreach last year was very popular and it is a brilliant addition to the events being held as part of Mount Isa’s centenary year this year.”
Road to Road will be hotly contested by competitors on the hallowed red dirt of Buchanan Park, as winners of the May event will be given automatic entry into the Mount Isa Rodeo Mines finals in August.
In a sign of what an important opportunity this can be for cowboys and cowgirls, the winner of the open bull ride at Road to Rodeo in Longreach last year, Barcaldine’s Jackson Gray, went on to win the event at the Mount Isa Mines Rodeo in August and take home Australian rodeo’s biggest cash prize.
Tickets for Road to Rodeo in May and the Mount Isa Mines Rodeo in August are available through the Isa Rodeo Ltd official website.
