Oakley’s first rodeo debuted in 1930 as part of the annual Fourth of July celebration.
The event has since grown to become one of the largest professional rodeos in the country and regularly draws tens of thousands of attendees to eastern Summit County.
Rodeo Committee Chairman and former Oakley Mayor Wade Woolstenhulme said the first rodeos were on a five-acre property called Stevens Grove.
“They just put up kind of a snow fence and parked cars around it,” Woolstenhulme said. “They would buck animals, buck horses, buck steers.”
Woolstenhulme said the first night of the 2025 event went smoothly Wednesday.
“We sold out, the fans had a great time,” he said. “We got to see some great world class action.”
For those unable to grab a ticket ahead of time, unfortunately the rodeo is sold out. However, tickets remain available for the second annual Oakley Xtreme Bulls Tour on July 7.
Rodeo committee member Sam Aplanalp said organizing the event is a year-round effort.
“We have over 300 animals that come from Texas,” Aplanalp said. “These are the best animals in the business… We have to feed all those animals while they’re here, so we have semi loads of hay that have to be delivered.”
He said they rely heavily on local volunteers.
“Oakley is a town where whether you’re born and raised there, or you move there, it’s just understood that we come together as a community and volunteer to put this major production on,” Aplanalp said. “It helps the community, get to work with your neighbors and it’s just the best week of the year.”
Aplanalp said they want to continue to grow the event and are seeking to expand the rodeo arena.
The grand marshall at this year’s rodeo is longtime local Gerald Young, who at 94-years-old, has watched the event grow dramatically during his lifetime.
Young was inducted into the Utah Cowboy Hall of Fame in 2011 and still works every day on his cattle ranch.
