Brazos Valley Fair & Rodeo Timeline of Events
2010
- Steering Committee formed to begin early planning of Brazos Valley Fair & Rodeo
- March, first employee of Fair hired
2011
- Brazos Valley Fair Executive Board formed
2012
- First Brazos Valley Fair held, September 6-9
- Headliners included Cody Johnson opened for Fred Andrews & Honeybrowne, Brandon Rhyder, & Rick Trevino
2013
- First two scholarships awarded through 4-H Foundation Program, June2013 - second Fair held, September 5-8
- Headliners included Cory Morrow, Clayton Gardner, Restless Heart & Emilio
- 5 awards for excellence in marketing won at TAF&E Convention
2014
- Two additional scholarships awarded through 4-H Foundation Program, June2014 - Third Fair held, October 16-19
- Headliners included Kevin Fowler, Earl Thomas Conley, Las Fenix & Elida Reyna Y Avante
- 17 awards for excellence in marketing won at TAF&E and IAFE Convention
2015
- Two scholarships awarded through 4-H Foundation Program, June2015 - Two additional members are added to the original 7 member Board
- Brazos Valley Fair & Expo officially changed name to Brazos Valley Fair & Rodeo, August
- Fourth Fair held, October 16-18
- Headliners included The Charlie Daniels Band, The Emotions, Velcro Pygmies & Los Terrible Del Norte
- Junior Swine Show added
- 5 Livestock Scholarships awarded to Champions of Steer, Heifer, Goat, Lamb and Swine Shows
- Fair hosts National Brahman Show and inaugural Best of Texas Ranch Rodeo
- 14 awards for excellence in marketing won at TAF&E and IAFE Convention
2016
- Fifth Fair held, October 21-23
- Steve Wariner headlined the Fair with additional performances by Jason Boland & the Stragglers, Grupo Mojado and For A Season
- 17 awards for excellence in marketing won at TAF&E and IAFE Convention
- Tammi Warford joined the staff of the Fair as Sponsorship Coordinator
2017
- Sixth Fair held October 20-22
- Headliners included pop star Sabrina Carpenter, Kevin Fowler and La Energia Nortena
- 14 awards for excellence in marketing won at TAF&E and IAFE Convention
- New division scholarships added to the Junior Livestock Shows
-Total scholarships awarded to date exceed $45,000
2018
- Seventh Fair held October 19-21
-Headliners The Emotions, Diamond Rio, Los Corceles de Linares, & Los Rieleros del Norte
-15 awards for excellence in marketing won at TAF&E and IAFE Convention
-Total scholarships awarded to date exceed $62,000
- New layout used with 3 covered pavilions and two indoor arenas
2019
- Eighth Fair held October 12-13 and October 18-20
- Headliners Roger Creager, BlackHawk, & Los Invasores de Nuevo Leon
-First Kick-Off weekend included Weld-Off Contest, Steak Cookoff Contest, Tractor Pull and Ranch Rodeo and Agrobotics Competition moved to this weekend
-11 awards for excellence in marketing won at TAF&E and IAFE Convention
-Total scholarships awarded to date exceed $80,000
-Board expansion occurred with additional board members added - Kelly Burt, Audra Lansdown, Paul Atkinson and James Condry
2020
- The year of COVID-19.
-Ninth Fair was held as the BVFR Junior Livestock Show October 24-25
-755 total entries in all species Steers, Heifers, Meat Goats, Lambs, and Swine showed over the two-day event
-Total scholarships awarded to date exceed $100,750
2021
- Tenth Fair held October 16-17 and October 22-24
- Headliners included Mike Ryan, Shenandoah and Los Tercos and Los Tigrillos
- $4,500 in General Scholarships, $1,000 in Texas Star Scholarship and $9,500 in Livestock Scholarships were awarded.
- Avery Fisher joined the staff as Assistant Manager in charge of competitive events and volunteers.
- New Livestock Judging contest and Public Speaking contest were added to the schedule along with a High School Welding Series competition
2022
- Attendance reached 21,000
- Eleventh Fair held October 14-16 and October 21-22
- Headliners included Aaron Watson, Mark Chesnutt and Los Ligaditos opening for Los Viejones de Linares
- $21,250 in Scholarships were awarded brining the total scholarships awarded to date to over $122,500.
- New BBQ Cook-off contest and Car Show were added to the schedule.
- BVFR was awarded #4 Best CPRA Rodeo of the year.
- Creative Arts entries were up over 50% from 2021
- Over 1783 competitors in all events
2023
- Kick-off Weekend included two-day tractor pull
- Twelfth Fair held October 13-15 and October 20-22
- Headliners included Kolby Cooper, T Graham Brown opening for Doug Stone and Pesado
- $23,750 in scholarships were awarded brining the total scholarships awarded to date to over $146,250
- BBQ Cook-off entries were up 100% from 2022
- First CPRA rodeo to be featured on the Cowboy Channel app and television station
- Inaugural Woodworking and Lego competitions
We invite you to join us each October as we “Showcase Agriculture, Youth, and Education to Enhance Our Texas Culture!”
The Fair continues to grow and expand each and every year. Understanding that it will take time to develop a tradition and heritage in the Brazos Valley. The Fair is only in the early years but already the community is embracing it as a must attend family event.
Additional Notes from previous years.....
The 2015 Fair brought exciting additions with the hosting of the National Brahman Show that hosted over 500 head of Brahman Cattle from across the United States, 60 international guests were also in attendance during the show. The 2015 Fair also played host to the Inaugural Best of Texas Ranch Rodeo, with 20 teams competing for top honors and over $10,000 in prize money. With the Fair occurring on the same weekend as the A&M vs Alabama home football game it brought new challenges that meant creative marketing and promotions to get the word out to the additional visitors in town for the weekend. The final tally had over 16,000 people in attendance.
2014 brought continued growth to the Fair with over 18,000 in attendance. This was the first year for the Fair to be held in October and on a TAMU away game weekend and helped see a boost in attendance. The overall guest impression was greatly improved with the cooler temperatures that October brings and secured the idea of hosting the Fair in October. The added time after the start of the school year also allowed for increased marketing to our younger demographic. The carnival brought in by Carnival Americana made great improvements in both seating and rides. Additional plans for growth and development continue to come together and new attractions and exhibits are one the planning board.
The event had an excellent start with their first two fairs in 2012 & 2013. The four-day fair and rodeo has already hosted over 32,000 attendees in their first two years; including over 2100 entries in livestock and competitive events. During the 2013 event, the Brazos Valley Fair awarded over $40,000 in premiums to their exhibitors and contestants up from the 2012 amount of $33,000. The Fair has also given back over $10,000 to non-profit organizations within the community. With the success of their second year, the Brazos Valley Fair was once again able to award two scholarships to deserving youth of the Brazos Valley.
The Brazos Valley Fair & Exposition is dedicated to “Showcasing Agriculture, Education, & Youth to Enhance our Texas Culture”. The Brazos Valley Fair & Exposition is making a true impact on agriculture and education by providing Fairgoers with attractions that are not only entertaining, but also provide a variety of educational experiences for the public in agriculture and the rural way of life. The Scholarship program is an integral part of the educational impact of the Fair. The Fair is committed to providing funds for scholarships and other educational programs to educate the youth of Texas for future generations.
Funding for the Fair was approved by both the Brazos County Commissioners Court and the Brazos County HOT Committee to assist the Fair in the initial startup and the future growth of the event. The HOT Fund is a hotel occupancy tax fund that was approved by the state legislature to fund improvements and marketing for the Brazos County Expo Complex in its quest to create a significant economic impact for Bryan, College Station and Brazos County. The Brazos Valley Fair & Exposition will be held annually in October at the Brazos County Expo Complex in Bryan, Texas.
The Brazos Valley Fair & Exposition is a non-profit, 501c3 corporation that was organized in 2010 by a group of like-minded individuals, including Jim Mazurkiewicz, Barron Hobbs, Jim McCord, and Duane Peters, for educational, scientific and charitable purposes to encourage, promote and maintain agricultural science, research, and education. A Fair Steering Committee, consisting of seven individuals, was first appointed by the Brazos County Commissioners Court on July 20, 2010. A Fair General Manager, the first employee, was hired on March 1, 2011. After several meetings and much discussion, the Court subsequently appointed a Fair Executive Board, consisting of four original members of the Steering Committee and three new members, Nora Thompson, Don Renchie, and James Deatherage, on April 12, 2011 to replace the Steering Committee. The Brazos Valley Fair & Exposition is a mid-major or regional fair whose reach or scope encompasses the entire state of Texas and surrounding states.