Kanab Ready to Ride Annual Western Legends Roundup Starts This Week – Press Release 8/23/2004

DATE 08/23/2004 9:40 AM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

This is part of an occasional series by the Sanpete Country Travel and Utah Heritage Highway 89 Alliance on the people and places along U.S. Highway 89.

Kanab Ready to Ride Annual Western Legends Roundup Starts This Week

Once again, Kanab is gearing up for the annual Western Legends Roundup Aug. 24-29. Kanab is known as Little Hollywood because hundreds of western feature films and television episodes were shot in the small town. Because of that history, the city likes to celebrate and honor some of the people who made pictures here and recognize the contributions that they made to the area each year.

This year’s celebration will include five days of authentic western legends culture, including a Western film festival, cowboy poetry, Western arts and crafts vendors, Native American square dancers, exhibitions, demonstrations, mountain men camps, wagon making, Navajo weavers, a quilt show, a wild horse western parade, wagon building, folklore displays, fiddle contests, food and more.

There will also be an impressive roster of cowboy poets, musicians and storytellers who will share their talents and interpretations of the “Old West.” Performers include renowned performers Ian Tyson, R.W. Hampton and Red Steagall.

This year’s event will also include a Wagon Train Trek Aug. 25-27 where participants will spend two days on a wagon train trek. The journey begins Wednesday with a get-together in Alton, Utah that includes dinner and getting-acquainted time. Thursday morning, participants will begin a 42-mile, wagon or walking journey south into Johnson Canyon, sleeping outdoors Wednesday and Thursday nights. The adventure can also include tickets to the Friday and Saturday shows at the round-up. For more information on the trek, contact Carolyn Grygla at 435-644-2285 or e-mail at grygla1@kanab.netphone  .

The festivities get underway Aug. 24th with a Cressent Moon Theatre Show. On Aug. 25th, there will be a Bryce Canyon Cowboy Tour, Ranch Rodeo, and Dutch Oven Dinner.

The opening ceremony dinner and headliner show will be Aug. 26 at Kanab High School. The event includes a Dutch Oven Dinner, cowboy music, cowboy poetry, and presentations. The cost is $20. At 9:30 p.m., there will be an open jam session of musicians and poets at Denny s Wigwam Cookout area.

Aug. 27 & 28 there will vendors, displays, the Cowboy Poetry Rodeo and the Western Film Festival and evening show. The Cowboy Poetry Rodeo will be held at the Old Barn Theater in downtown Kanab Aug. 27 starting at 7 a.m. and feature some of North America’s top cowboy and cowgirl poets who will compete for some $5,000 in prize money.

The Western Legends film festival will also begin Aug. 27 and feature locally-made Western films, tours of film locations in and around Kanab, lectures, discussions, celebrity panel discussions and showings of several Western movies, including Flicka and Wagon Train.

Other highlights include:

  • — Aug. 24, Bar G Wrangler Show, Crescent Moon Theatre, 8 p.m.
  • — Aug. 25, Demonstrations in cattle branding, show shoeing, history of sheep wagon and a tour of Bryce Canyon.
  • — Aug. 26, 10 a.m., Western Folklore Workshops at 9:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. including: cowboy poetry writing and presentation, Western photography, hand quilting, clay pottery making and decorating, Western swing dancing, Old West Apparel Making, Western history of Kane County and Dutch Oven Cooking. For a complete workshop schedule, visit http://www.westernlegendsroundup.com/westernfolklore.html.
  • — Aug. 27, 10 a.m., Western Stage Shows at various locations, and a silent auction.
  • — Aug. 28, cowboy poetry, Western stage shows, a parade, an art show, and numerous working displays including Indian rug weaving, wild mustang displays and mountain men demonstrations. At 5 p.m., there will be a Headliner Wild Mustang Show featuring young poets and performances by the Paria River Band and others. At 8 p.m., Ian Tyson, who has been a Western musician for four decades, will perform and the Cowboy Poetry winners will be announced.
  • — Aug. 29, 9 a.m. church tent revival at the Old Middle School.

A complete schedule of events and additional information is available online at http://www.westernlegendsroundup.com/events.htm. As well, people may phone the Kane County Travel Council at 1-800-733-5263 or email kane@westernlegendsroundup.com 

For more information Contact:

Monte Bona
Sanpete County Travel and Heritage Council
(435) 462-2502

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