Event guide · Rodeos
From the red dirt of Buchanan Park to the gum trees of Hervey Range, Queensland runs one of the busiest rodeo calendars in the country. This guide covers the big ones, starting in North Queensland where we're based, with their history, usual dates and a link to each official website.
We've played a good number of these ourselves, and those are marked. Dates change from year to year, so always check the official site before you book flights or a campsite.
Part 1 · 14 events
Where we're based, and where most of our rodeo nights happen: from the Gulf and the Cape to the Goldfields and the Whitsunday hinterland.
Real photoNo. 01North West QueenslandAugust
"It has been an absolute dream of mine since I was very young to headline the Mount Isa Mines Rodeo and this year it's coming true!"
Laurence Sorbello, Townsville Times, March 2026
The Isa is the one every rodeo fan talks about. It started in September 1959 as the Mount Isa Centenary Rodeo at Spear Creek, later known as Kalkadoon Park, put on by locals whose only experience of rodeo was going to the Cloncurry Merry Muster. From 1960 the Rotary Club of Mount Isa ran it as the Mount Isa Rotary Rodeo. It stayed at Kalkadoon Park until 2006, then moved in 2007 to the purpose-built Buchanan Park complex.
Today it's three days of bulls, broncs, roping, barrel racing and steer wrestling, with the Indigenous Rodeo Championships and Championship Sunday. The week kicks off with street parties and the Mailman Express (below), and Friday and Saturday nights finish with live music on the main stage. After a period in voluntary administration in 2024, the rodeo bounced back with about 18,000 people through the gates in 2025.
We closed our 2026 rodeo season here with our full concert show on both Friday and Saturday nights, to a crowd of more than 5,000, and debuted our original single "One Hit Wonder" on that stage.
On the Thursday before the rodeo, the Mount Isa Racecourse race day includes the Mailman Express: a 200-metre time trial for station horses down the home straight, with the top ten from the heats going into a final. It's named after Wally Mailman (born 1923), a horseman, rodeo judge and life member of the Australian Professional Rodeo Association, who was swab steward at the Mount Isa Race Club for 26 years. In 2026 it was held on Thursday 6 August.
Real photoNo. 02TownsvilleNovember
This is where the Australian bull-riding title is decided. The PBR Australia season runs from the very end of December to the second weekend of November, with more than 29 events from Cairns to Adelaide and over a million dollars in prize money and bonuses, and it all ends in Townsville, which PBR calls "Australia's biggest weekend in bull riding". Two nights of the country's best riders against the PBR's All Star Bulls, an official arena entertainer, a live country artist on Saturday night, and after-parties next door at The Ville.
In 2026 we're the live band at the official Saturday after-party in The Pavilion from 10pm.
No. 03Townsville regionAugust
Set under the gum trees of Hervey Range, the Elite Rodeo began in 2016 when Quentin Kersh held the first event on his own property, in front of roughly 400 people. A decade later it's a two-day, two-night event that pulls top cowboys and cowgirls and thousands of spectators from around Australia and overseas, and 2026 marked its 10th anniversary.
Real photoNo. 04Northern GoldfieldsJuly
Charters Towers' signature rodeo is run by a committee of local volunteers, and it has become one of the hottest tickets in the north. It regularly sells out, draws thousands of spectators from across Australia, and in 2023 ranked among the top four Australian professional rodeos. In 2026 it ran over two days with live music on both Friday and Saturday nights.
Real photoNo. 05HinchinbrookMay
A one-day, sun-up-to-late rodeo in the heart of sugar country. Gates open at 8am for a full day of arena events, market stalls and a licensed bar, with free camping and a party into the night. The crowd favourite is the Charity Bull Ride, where local identities climb aboard to raise money for local causes. In 2025 Hinchinbrook MP Nick Dametto took on former North Queensland Cowboys player Glenn Hall to raise funds for the Ingham Palliative Care Unit.
Real photoNo. 06Whitsunday hinterlandJune
Bowen River is one of the oldest bush gatherings in the state; Tourism Bowen says it has been running since 1886. It's four days of country life: campdrafting from Friday morning to Sunday afternoon, a full professional rodeo on Saturday and Sunday, and bush sports for the kids on both days. There are two licensed bars, one beside the arena by day and one by the stage at night, where the live music plays.
No. 07Cape York PeninsulaJune
Laura is a proper bush get-together. Since 1977, people have rolled in from all over the Cape for the Laura Races and the Rodeo & Campdraft on the same weekend: campdrafting from Thursday, horse sports on Friday, the races and Calcutta on Saturday, and rodeo through Saturday and Sunday. It started with a handful of locals, donated panels and a lot of hard yakka, and it's still run by a small committee and a big crew of volunteers. Expect a full ABCRA program, bull rides, saddle bronc, mini bulls, barrel racing, and a charity auction for HeartKids.
We've played the Saturday and Sunday nights at Laura three years running, and in 2026 the weekend gate passes sold out.
No. 08Atherton TablelandsJuly
One of Far North Queensland's most iconic events. The first affiliated Mareeba Rodeo was held in July 1949, raising money for the RSL and the ambulance. Mareeba hosted its first Australian Championships in 1955, crowned its first Rodeo Queen in 1959, and later built its own home at Kerribee ("wild horse") Park on the old aerodrome reserve. Rodeo week now includes the Rodeo Ball, a ute muster, a downtown parade and crowning ceremony, the Great Northern Hill Bar overlooking the arena, and live entertainment both nights.
No. 09Western TablelandsMay
A Far North favourite that packs a race meeting and a rodeo into one long weekend. Racing at Mt Garnet goes back to 24 June 1938, when the local turf club ran its first meeting to give the district some entertainment. The rodeo caps the weekend on the Sunday.
No. 10North West QueenslandJuly
Cloncurry's Merry Muster began in 1954 and is one of the grand old rodeos of the North West. It's the rodeo Mount Isa's founders went to for ideas before staging their own first rodeo in 1959. Today it's a four-day festival built around a professional rodeo that offers some of the richest single payouts in the sport, and in 2026 entry was free all weekend.
No. 11McKinlay ShireMay
Dirt n Dust started in 1994, dreamed up at the Julia Creek Town and Country Club as a way to put the town on the map. The original weekend combined an outback triathlon, a bull ride and live music. After a short break it came back in 2022: the triathlon became an adventure run, and the bull ride grew into the Dirt n Dust Rodeo under lights, with open and second-division bull rides on the Saturday.
Laurence has played Dirt n Dust as a support act for Troy Cassar-Daley.
No. 12Gulf CountryJune
The biggest weekend in the Gulf. Since 1976 Normanton has packed four days with rodeo, campdrafting, gymkhana, a street parade, the QCWA show and live entertainment every night, and 2026 marked 50 years.
Also on the calendar
No. 13North West QueenslandJuly
A must-see on the North Queensland calendar: a weekend of bronc and bull riding, barrel racing and live music under the stars that brings the whole district together.
No. 14Flinders ShireMay
Hughenden opens its three-day Festival of Outback Skies with a professional rodeo on Friday night: bull riding, saddle and bareback bronc, roping, steer wrestling, team roping and barrel racing, followed by live music.
Part 2 · 3 events
Further south, a few that every rodeo fan should do at least once.
No. 15Southern DownsOctober
Full name: Ariat Warwick Rodeo & Pryde's EasiFeed Warwick Gold Cup Campdraft
Known far and wide as "Australia's Most Famous". Buckjumping near Warwick goes back to 1857 at Canning Downs, Queensland's first pastoral run. The first official Warwick Rodeo was held in 1906, and Warwick became the home of the Australian Championships from around 1928. Buddy Williams put it in song in the early 1940s with "Heading for the Warwick Rodeo". Crowds now top 30,000, with competitors and horses from every mainland state. For 2026 the program added a Saturday-night Australian International Bronc Match (12 international riders against 12 Australians) and free entry on Sunday.
No. 16Central QueenslandYear-round
A pub with a rodeo arena out the back. The Great Western, established in 1862 in the "beef capital", has a large undercover arena that hosts bull riding and big music shows, and it calls itself "Australia's Most Unique Pub". Capricorn Enterprise has described it as the only pub in the country with a live rodeo out the back, and it's been a training ground for local riders for years. In 2024 it started a five-round bull-riding rivalry with the Club Hotel in Roma.
Also on the calendar
No. 17Central HighlandsSeptember
A one-day APRA-sanctioned rodeo in the Clermont district, on the Central Queensland circuit late in the season.
Part 3 · 2 events
Where the national titles are decided.
Also on the calendar
No. 18Tamworth NSWJanuary
The Australian Bushmen's Campdraft & Rodeo Association's season finale, where the year's top point-scorers ride for national titles in the middle of the biggest country music festival in the country.
No. 19Australia-wideYear-round
Professional Bull Riders' Australian tour visits capital-city arenas and country towns alike, and its State of Origin series pits Queensland's Maroons against NSW's Blues on the back of a bull. The season ends at the Townsville Grand Finals (see above).
FAQ
Usually the second weekend of August. The 2027 Mount Isa Mines Rodeo is 6–8 August at Buchanan Park.
A 200-metre timed sprint for station horses at Mount Isa Racecourse, held on the Thursday of rodeo week. It's named after horseman and rodeo judge Wally Mailman.
The Mount Isa Mines Rodeo is widely described as the biggest; the North West Star calls it the biggest rodeo in the southern hemisphere, with about 18,000 through the gates in 2025. Warwick, "Australia's Most Famous", reports crowds of more than 30,000 across its rodeo and Gold Cup Campdraft week.
The last full weekend of October, as the finale of a week-long rodeo and campdraft program. In 2026 it ran 19–25 October.
In Townsville, at the Townsville Entertainment & Convention Centre, in mid-November. In 2026 they're on 13 and 14 November.
Of the events in this guide, Bowen River at Collinsville has the longest history; Tourism Bowen says it has run since 1886. Cloncurry's Merry Muster dates from 1954 and Mount Isa from 1959.
Yes. The Barnyard Band plays rodeos across North Queensland, including Mount Isa, Laura, Charters Towers, Ingham and Bowen River in 2026. We bring a five-piece band, an 18,000 W PA, time-coded lighting and video, and can work with your existing production team. Use the price tool on our homepage for an instant estimate.
Yes. We supply our full production within reasonable driving distance of Townsville, and we fly in for events anywhere in Australia when the tech rider is met.
We're a Townsville country show band that's played some of the north's biggest rodeo nights. Five-piece band, 18,000 W PA, time-coded lights and video, all out of our own trailer. Pick your date and venue for an instant estimate.
