The Silver Spurs Rodeo: Florida’s Cracker Cowboy Spectacle in Kissimmee

Mention rodeo and most people picture Texas or Wyoming. But twice a year in Kissimmee, just down the road from the theme parks, central Florida throws one of the biggest rodeos east of the Mississippi River, and it has been going strong since 1944.

The Silver Spurs Rodeo grew out of a local riding club and the region’s deep roots in cattle ranching. Long before tourism, this was cow country, worked by the whip-cracking cattlemen known as Florida crackers, and the rodeo keeps that heritage alive and roaring.

The action is everything fans love about the sport. Cowboys and cowgirls compete in bull riding, bronc riding, barrel racing, team roping, and steer wrestling, chasing prize money and points on the professional circuit. The crowd roars with every eight-second ride.

For decades the event filled an open-air arena that became a local institution, and it remains a point of community pride, run largely by volunteers and tied to scholarships and local causes.

The Silver Spurs Rodeo is a reminder that the real Florida includes wide cattle ranches and a working cowboy culture older than the state itself. Right next to the roller coasters, the spirit of the open range still kicks up plenty of dust.