Franklin Connection - Serving Franklin County, WA

BASIN CITY - The second Freedom Rodeo returns to the arena Friday and Saturday, June 25 and 26, with two adult performances and a youth competition.

The rodeo was the only one in Eastern Washington to buck Gov. Jay Inslee's coronavirus-related shutdown orders last year.

As a result, more than 5,000 people flooded the streets of Basin City for the town's annual Fourth of July parade and 3,000 spectators arrived for the inaugural Freedom Rodeo.

While the rodeo and parade are on separate weekends this year, organizers are promising bigger and better rounds of rodeo action.

The excitement gets underway at 9 a.m. Friday with slack.

Friday's rodeo performance is set for 6:30 p.m.

After the rodeo, Nuketown will perform live as the arena becomes a concert and dance party.

The action continues Saturday with a vendor market opening at noon and the Kid's Rodeo running from 1:30-5:30 p.m. The youth performance will include dummy roping, junior barrels, mutton bustin', calf scramble and calf riding, among other events.

The second adult rodeo performance gets started with grand entry at 6:30 p.m.

Like last year, fireworks will fill the sky over the arena following the rodeo. Organizers said fireworks should start about 9 p.m.

In addition to the arena action, the rodeo is offering a traditional Quit Raffle.

The quilt will be on display at the vendor market; the winner will be drawn July 3.