Williams Lake Stampede cancelled for the 2nd time in 2 years due to COVID-19

A century-old cowboy sporting event in B.C.'s Cariboo region has been cancelled for the second time in two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a written statement last Thursday, the Williams Lake Stampede Association says it decided to call off the annual rodeo — which began in 1919 and was closed for several years during the Second World War — after realizing that large in-person gatherings won't be possible this summer under B.C.'s public health orders.

The event was scheduled for June and July of this year.

"We have reached the point where we have done what we could in our planning and preparations, and any movement further requires an indication that live large, in-person events would be able to be held in June of this year," the association's board of directors wrote.

Currently, provincewide restrictions to reduce the spread of the highly infectious virus allow outdoor gatherings with a maximum of 10 people in the same group.

The association's vice-president Tim Rolph says cancelling the annual event for the second time was deflating and leaves him worried volunteers who live in the community and work the rodeo could become disengaged.

"One of the big concerns we have is losing that engagement, and how we continue to try and do things to play within the rules and keep the great community support," Rolph said Monday to Shelley Joyce, the host of CBC's Daybreak Kamloops.

Rolph says the rodeo communities in Williams Lake and across Canada have been hard hit by the pandemic, with no cowboy sports events happening for almost a year.

"They [rodeo cattle providers] can't just stick it on the shelf and close the doors," he said. "They have to keep [the animals] healthy and fed and watered and sheltered."

Rolph says due to the cancellation of the stampede last summer, his association's revenue was down 80 per cent or about $800,000, which he says could have been spent generating incomes in the local community.

Rolph says in order to maintain its presence in the Williams Lake community and generate revenue for the association, he and fellow board members will move forward this year with the 75-year-old Stampede Queen competition, opening the association's stampede campground to guests, and holding drive-thru events with companies and non-profit organizations.

Tap the link below to hear Tim Rolph's interview on Daybreak Kamloops: