40th National Cowboy Poetry Gathering

SOLD OUT

Brandings are fun, sociable events, but they are also hot, grueling affairs that depend on the willingness of your neighbors and friends. The Wright family has perfected the art of keeping their crews satisfied and coming back every year. Their secret? Feed them well and feed them everything. So, belly up for the Wright take on branding grub. Jordan Wright and his kitchen crew will serve up a dinner that’ll have you asking for a second helping. No strangers to the sweat of branding season, Sam Platts & the Plainsmen provide songs of work and revelry while you supper up. In the true spirit of brandings, this fancy dinner will be served on paper plates. Grab your Koozie and get in line!

Cowboys are no strangers to situations that call for a good yodel. Like most cowboy necessities, yodeling has been elevated into an artform stamped with regionally distinctive touches and performed with range, skill, and showmanship. Montana hollerer Wylie Gustafson will wow you with his mastery of the phrase “little old lady who.” Kristyn Harris carries on in the ilk of “The Queen of the Yodellers” Rosalie Allen. And, Gary & Kurin Haleamau share paniolo yodeling like that that took root when cows took hold of Hawai’i. Get ready for a pitch-defying, coyote-crying, lung-frying yodeling extravaganza.

Become a member and get free tickets to this show!  

Two great American musics ride hard across the open range of rural life. Country and blues draw their power from everyday speech, emotional resonance, lived stories, and hard-driving, hard-laboring beats. Both sing with the contributions of Black artists, as does the cowboy trade itself. Join Buffalo Kin, Dom Flemons, Andy Hedges, and Jessie Veeder as they explore the crossroads of these musical styles, from old-timey favorites to contemporary stylings, delivering a bit of blues, a bit of country, a bit of cowboy philosophy. And, one powerful show.

Sponsored by Maverick Casino & Hotel

Close out the 40th by gathering in the spirit of the Gathering’s essence, by gathering for the good and the true. Here, the creative possibilities are endless. The inspiration of everyday people is epic. The poetic expressions become a medium through which we envision, and enact, new possibilities for the communities that feed us and the communities that are fed. Join musicians Margo Cilker, Sterling Drake, Lara Manzanares, and Ed Peekeekoot, along with all the “old ghosts and young cowpunchers” that haunt these halls, to soak up the artistic life and to conjure the next 40 years.

Sponsored by Alex Benna & Chrissy Menicucci Benna