Cheyenne Frontier Days 2024 starts Friday

The 128th annual Cheyenne Frontier Days 2024 kicks off today (July 19), although the first round of rodeo action doesn’t begin until tomorrow.

But the fairgrounds open at 10:30 a.m. in Frontier Park, and the first evening performance of CFD 2024, featuring the Turnpike Troubadours and the Red Clay Strays, is tonight at 7 p.m.

Frontier Days 2024 will be in full swing on Saturday as the world’s largest outdoor rodeo swings into action. The first of four CFD Grand Parades will be held in downtown Cheyenne beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday morning.

This is the route of the parade:

More parades will be held along the same route on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, July 27.

CFD Pancake Breakfasts are held Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 7-9 a.m. at the Cheyenne Depot Plaza. Both the pancake breakfast and parade are free events.

Cheyenne Frontier Days have been held annually since 1897, except in 2020, when the event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cheyenne Frontier Days began as a one-day event in 1897

How did it start? Interestingly enough, it was modeled after a Colorado Festival celebrating…the potato.

That’s according to cfd.com: The website explains how it happened: IIn 1897, Frederick W. Angier, Traveling Passenger Agent for the Union Pacific Railroad, suggested to the editor of the Cheyenne Daily Sun-Leader a festival similar to Greeley, Colorado’s “Potato Day.” As a result of that suggestion, plans were made for the first “Frontier Day” at the Tivoli Saloon on the corner of 16th Street and Carey. Events included pony racing, bronco busting and steer roping.

Of course, in 1897 it wasn’t technically Frontier Days, but Frontier Day, a one-day rodeo event. It has grown and expanded over the years to encompass all the modern festivities, probably far more than anyone could have predicted in 1897.

Here you will find the full Cheyenne Frontier Days 2024 event schedule.