Deschutes County Fair & Rodeo Parade Postponed This Year

The annual Deschutes County Fair & Rodeo parade held in downtown Redmond will not take place this year. Declining participation and attendance in recent years makes holding the parade a very difficult challenge.

This week, the Deschutes County Fair Association met to discuss all options for the fading event. Association members agreed to take a year to regroup and entertain other options that would breathe life back into the parade in 2016. Because the parade has been a Redmond tradition for 95 years, the Fair Association was saddened to make the difficult decision to postpone until next year.

Because the annual Deschutes County Fair & Rodeo has seen a significant increase in attendance over recent years, volunteers that used to assist in planning the parade now help coordinate many aspects of the Fair and Rodeo. 

A committee has been formed to develop a new strategy for the annual parade. One of the ideas being discussed is to hold the parade on the Deschutes County Fair & Expo Center grounds next summer. This change would increase attendance, and would allow for increased participation by 4H and FFA participants. Currently, youth involved in these two programs have conflicting commitments, showing and caring for their animals at the same time of the annual parade.

Holding the parade inside the fairgrounds would allow for better staffing, security and all else necessary to continue the traditional parade. Additionally, Deschutes County Fair & Rodeo event planners will consider 2015 traffic patterns to ensure next year’s parade route would have the least impact on Fair traffic and pedestrian flow.

For more information about the Deschutes County Fair and Rodeo, or the annual Parade, please call (541) 548-2711.