The International Professional Rodeo Association based in Alberta held its 2022 Canada finals in St. Tite, a small town of 3,000 in Quebec. I’ve been to the annual Festival Western de Saint Tite in 2021 when it first reopened after the pandemic. The biggest difference between the western festival and the national finals was the atmosphere.
Gone are the chariots, mock weddings, behind-the-scenes tours, and revellers, it is a well-organized bandstand, cordoned drinking area with uniformed security, and regulated events only – no bull-leaping. Bull leaping, a non-violent form of bullfighting that began in the Bronze Age, isn’t available anywhere else in Canada. Although not strictly a typical rodeo event, the sport deserves to be preserved as part of Quebec’s French heritage.
Rodeos aren’t a team sport. Aside from team roping and exchange racing, it’s every person for themselves. Despite the competition, wranglers pitch in to help each other when they sense danger. Despite failures, the audience applauds effort. Despite the rain, the show went on. Strangers danced with each other to Cotton Eyed Joe, friends bumped into each other in the grandstands, and even non-sports fans like myself enjoyed the event.
