The 99th annual Tucson Rodeo Parade will have a new route this year.
The parade’s new route will begin at South 12th Avenue and West Drexel Road, according to a joint news release from the city and the Tucson Rodeo Parade Committee. It had been starting on East Ajo Way, but the route required participants to cross railroad tracks just west of South Park Avenue.
Members of Ballet Folklorico Tapatio dance down South Park Avenue during the 98th Tucson Rodeo Parade. This year’s Tucson Rodeo Parade, to be held on Thursday, Feb. 22, at 9 a.m., will take a new route intended to keep the parade off railroad tracks but still near the rodeo grounds.
The parade will now head east on Drexel to South Nogales Highway. From there it will head north until it reaches East Irvington Road, just before reaching the rodeo grounds.
The parade is set to begin at 9 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 22.
“The route change was necessitated by Union Pacific Railroad’s decision to no longer hold trains, for the three hours necessary, on the section of track that the parade has historically crossed on its previous route,” the release said.
This is just the second change to the parade’s route in its history. In 1991, the parade route moved from downtown to its current location, having riders and marching bands travel south on Park Avenue to Irvington then stopping near the rodeo grounds on South Sixth Avenue. That route crossed the railroad tracks twice.
Photos: Tucson Rodeo Parade through the years
1934 La Fiesta de los Vaqueros Tucson Rodeo Parade along Congress Street.
1936 Tucson Rodeo Parade coverage in the Arizona Daily Star
Little Cowpunchers riding in the 1939 Tucson Rodeo Parade. Victor Aros is in the front, left. Pete Aros is standing in the middle, the only one without a cowboy hat.
1940 Tucson Rodeo Parade at 6th Avenue and Alameda Street
The ever-popular Budweiser Clydesdales were in town in the 1940s for the Tucson Rodeo Parade. They made a stop at Jake's Liquor Store, located at the southeast corner of Meyer and Broadway. Jake's (for Jacobs) was owned by the Jacobs family. Edward C. Jacobs is second from left, and his dad, E.A. Jacobs, is third from left.
Tucson Rodeo Parade heading north on Stone Avenue from Pennington Street in 1949. The historic Pioneer Hotel is at upper right.
Photo of the Davis Monthan Air Force Base Wives at the 1950 Tucson Rodeo Parade. Pictured in the front of the parade is Geraldine Casey.
Budd Ramsey, at right, with the bulldogs, won a prize for the most unusual entry in the 1950 Tucson Rodeo Parade. This photo was taken at Scott Avenue and 12th Street.
William Boyd as cowboy Hopalong Cassidy rode in the Tucson Rodeo Parade in 1951.
Crowds at Stone and Alameda in downtown Tucson for the 1951 La Fiesta de los Vaqueros Tucson Rodeo Parade
1953 Rodeo Queen Dianne Moore of the La Fiesta de los Vaqueros Tucson Rodeo and Parade
The 1953 St. Mary's float for La Fiesta de los Vaqueros Tucson Rodeo Parade featured nuns and nuns dressed as Native Americans.
Copy of Historic Tucson Daily Citizen. The headline reads: "Record crowd sees Tucson Rodeo Parade" on Feb. 23, 1956.
The Alice Vail Jr. High School band, which was judged best in the category, heads along West Pennington Street between Stone and Church avenues in 1959 during the Tucson Rodeo Parade.
The Pomeroy Elementary School band marches along Congress Street in front of the Fox Theater during the 1961 Tucson Rodeo Parade.
Parade watchers with their 35mm rangefinder cameras and 8mm film movie cameras at the 1961 Tucson Rodeo Parade in downtown Tucson.
Parade watchers hold in the chill morning air during the 1961 Tucson Rodeo Parade in downtown Tucson.
An adult keeps a boy at a safe distance during the 1961 Tucson Rodeo Parade on Stone Avenue in downtown Tucson.
The 1962 Tucson Rodeo Parade.
The aftermath of the 1962 Tucson Rodeo Parade in downtown Tucson.
Mariachis march in the 1962 Tucson Rodeo Parade in downtown Tucson.
Feb. 26, 1968: Tucson Rodeo Parade equipment custodian Harry Blacklidge, 85 years old and Tucson-born, takes over the reins of the artificial horses hitched to the famous Maximilian coach as its storage site at the Parade Museum.
A young spectator blows a plastic horn as the San Xavier Women's Club entry approaches during the 1971 La Fiesta de los Vaqueros Tucson Rodeo Parade
Feb. 24, 1971: Mr. and Mrs. Otto R. Eicher (in noose) were welcomed to Tucson's Fiesta de los Vaqueros in traditional western style, as the city's Vigilantes and Barbara Bell, a rodeo princess, told them to reach for the sky on Interstate 10 and stick around for five days, courtesy of the City of Tucson and Tucson Jaycees. The Eichers, from Sandusky, Ohio, were selected at random.
Coed Quadrille precedes the University of Arizona Marching Band during the Tucson Rodeo Parade downtown in 1971.
Some things never change: These enthralled young rodeo fans were lined up along the Rodeo Parade route in 1972.
The rodeo parade snakes its way south on Church Avenue, turning east on Cushing Street in 1972. The then-new central fire station is at right. Empty lots in the upper left have been filled with the La Placita office complex and the Superior Court complex.
The Pride of Arizona, University of Arizona Marching Band, during the 1973 La Fiesta de los Vaqueros Tucson Rodeo Parade
A crowd estimated at 200,000 turned out for the 1976 La Fiesta de los Vaqueros Tucson Rodeo Parade.
Members of the U.S. 5th Calvary Troop A ceremonial regiment warms themselves by the fire before the 1976 La Fiesta de los Vaqueros Tucson Rodeo Parade
A Las Vegas Casino stage coach entry passes by the "new" La Placita Village office complex on Church Avenue during the 1977 La Fiesta de los Vaqueros Tucson Rodeo Parade.
Former Gov. Jack Williams, shown in the 1978 Tucson Rodeo Parade, is among the many dignitaries who have ridden in the "Maximilian coach." The century-old vehicle has been the subject of tall tales and controversy since it was acquired by the Tucson Rodeo Parade Committee in 1932.
It was a rainy and windy day in 1983 as the parade made its way along Pennington Street. Because of the tight quarters downtown, the route was moved to South Park Avenue in 1991.
A wagon driver of the Young Explorers School entry struggles to control spooked horses during the 1986 La Fiesta de los Vaqueros Tucson Rodeo Parade. A second wagon veered into the crowd, injuring at least one person.
The La Fiesta de los Vaqueros Tucson Rodeo Parade turns the corner from 5th Avenue to 12th Street, north of Armory Park. Note the old National Guard armory building on the left side of the park. It was demolished to make way for the senior center. Also, 5th Avenue used to pass directly in front of Safford School. It now dead ends there.
The new route intends to keep the parade off railroad tracks, but it will still end near the rodeo grounds.
The parade is free. But there are tickets being sold for the grandstand, which will located on Drexel Road near South Liberty Avenue, the release said.
Grandstand tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for children 12 years old and younger.
“Included in the parade will be local and national dignitaries, Native American tribal leadership and performers, historic wagons, colorful floats, marching bands, mariachis, royalty from four rodeos, and working cowboys,” the release said. “In all, the parade features over 120 entries consisting of over 500 horses, approximately 2,300 people, 85 wagons and buggies, and eight marching bands.”
Go to tucsonrodeoparade.com, or call 520-294-1280, for more information about the route change or to buy tickets.
