The National Western Stock Show came out the gate this year running.
The 16-day Western celebration started out with record-breaking weekend attendance. The 2018 stock show brought out 103,546 during its first two days, according to event organizers.
The attendance record was a 6.6 percent increase from the previous high — 97,099 guests in 2016. Both the Saturday and Sunday single-day attendance records were the largest in Stock Show history.
National Western Stock Show president and CEO, Paul Andrews, said he could not have asked for nicer weather to kick off the 112th annual show.
“We are thrilled with the number of people that came out to celebrate Colorado’s Western heritage and enjoy the many activities, events and sites of Stock Show,” Andrews said in a statement.
The 2018 Stock Show will continue through Jan. 21. Tuesday is free grounds admission day with a host of activities and shows including, the “super bowl” of livestock shows, the National Western Nursery of baby animals, kids activities and Colorado’s largest western trade show.
Grounds admission and event tickets are on sale now at nationalwestern.com, all King Soopers locations and the National Western box office.
Last year, 684,580 attended the show, which was down slightly, or by 2,165 guests, from 2016. The show has a more than $100 million economic impact on Denver, according to the Western Stock Show's 2017 annual report.
Business & data reporter Adrian D. Garcia can be reached via email at [email protected] or twitter.com/adriandgarcia.
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