Like no other city in the United States perhaps, Fort Worth captures the spirit and authenticity of the American West. With a rich variety of western attractions, events and traditions, restored structures from the Old West, and outstanding cowboy cuisine, its reputation as the city “Where the West Begins” is as strong as ever.


The Western sport of rodeo and Fort Worth enjoy a long association. In fact, the world’s first indoor rodeo was held there in 1918 at the Cowtown Coliseum located in the Historic Stockyards. Today, professional rodeos take place nearly every weekend of the year at the Cowtown Coliseum.


But Fort Worth’s most famous rodeo is the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo. Each January and February, the city celebrates this annual event, along with more than 800,000 visitors to the Stock Show grounds at the Will Rogers Memorial Center in Fort Worth’s Cultural District. Founded in 1896, it is the oldest stock show in America. It even boasts the world’s longest non-mechanical parade, with hundreds of horses and riders heralding the start of the event.