PUYALLUP, Wash. — Driving a herd of cattle through the middle of downtown Puyallup has been a Washington State Fair tradition since 2020. Stacy Van Horne, public relations manager for the fair always gets the same question:
"'They're just gonna let cattle run down the street?' Um yes, they are,” Van Horne grinned. The tradition is a nod to the ranchers that started the fair more than a century ago, and the parade and cattle drive always kicks off rodeo weekend at the fair.
“This is very unique, this doesn't happen in most parts of the country,” she said. "It starts right here with the Rodeo Breakfast.”
At the Rodeo Breakfast at the Pioneer Park Pavilion, cowboys, cowgirls and Daffodil Princesses serve biscuits, gravy, hotcakes and eggs to community members for $5 a plate. If you go to the Puyallup Rodeo at the Fair later, you may see the same person who gave you pancakes wrangling bulls.
After breakfast, it’s time for the parade, which is kicked off by that cattle drive.
“The trailer shows up, it rolls the door open, and cowboys lead the cattle. They're not on leashes, they're not on ropes, they are free range,” said Van Horne.
Be there on time, because it all happens quickly. And sometimes there’s a bit of excitement.
"One year some of the cattle got into one of the stores down there, farther,” said Joyce Taylor, a Puyallup resident bringing her sister to watch the drive for the first time.
Another attendee, Tracy Larson, explained the caution tape lining the streets. “It’s there to keep the people off the street when the cattle come down.”
The cattle – and the cowboys – speed through downtown Puyallup, while parade goers cheer from the sidewalks. Then the rest of the parade follows – marching bands from all over the region, clowns, folks on tractors, and this year the Grand Marshalls are the South Hill Little League All-Stars, who just back from the Little League World Series. They are hometown heroes, and shouts of “Good job, boys!” greet the little league team down the entire parade route.
“It's so cool, it's such a neat way to bring the community together,” said Van Horne. “The Washington State Fair is the largest fair in the smallest town in the world, and that's not something anybody else can say.”
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