The cowboy festivities are a hallmark of Heber Valley’s autumn calendar.
“A lot of people have asked me, ‘What is this Cowboy Poetry thing?’ And I just tell them, ‘If you come once, we’ll have you,’ because it’s a great show, and we’d just love to have everybody come and join us,” organizer Doug Pope says.
Events begin Wednesday night with a dinner and show, the same way Heber Valley Cowboy Poetry began 27 years ago at Midway Town Hall. After Cowboy Brunch Sunday morning, the weekend wraps up with Cowboy Church at Wasatch High School that afternoon, which Pope will host.
Midday Thursday and Friday, cowboy entertainers will take over the Heber Valley Railroad.
Tickets are sold out to the welcome event this year, and they’re going fast for some of the other 30 special events. That’s because they include some well-known names. Grammy-winning Shenandoah, Billy Dean, the Quebe Sisters and Ben Haggard headline the weekend concerts.
The Haggard name still carries a lot of weight at the gathering.
“If you never got to see Merle Haggard before he passed away, this is the next best thing,” Pope says. “These guys are great. Ben played lead guitar in his dad’s band for several years, so they really know their dad’s music and sound a lot like Merle.”
Cowboy and cowgirl poets include yearly host Waddie Mitchell, Doris Daley of Canada, Heber native Jeff Carson and Chris Isaacs.
There are plenty of shows for anyone to attend with general admission Thursday through Saturday. For community night on Thursday, admission is free, and shows begin at 5:15.
At the high school, two stages will have a stream of performers alongside food and goods vendors. The Chuckwagon Stage in the cafeteria will host musicians, both professional and open-mic, and there’ll be poets and musicians at the Cow Camp Stage in the library.
General admission ticket-holders can also attend the Buckaroo Ball at Midway Town Hall Friday night.
For more information and tickets, visit hebervalleycowboypoetry.com.
