HEMPSTEAD, Texas – Rodeo is an important piece of the landscape in this neck of the woods.

It’s also a major part of the Waller County Fair and Rodeo, set for Sept. 25-Oct. 4 at the Waller County Fairgrounds in Hempstead. Over the course of the 10-day exposition, the newly covered rodeo arena will be in high demand while serving as a fortress for intense competition.

“We want other fairs to look at us and be like, ‘What are they doing that makes them so successful?’ ” said Bobby Coursey, president of the Waller County Fair Association. “I personally think it’s the passion and dedication that our rodeo chairmen have that’s driven us as an organization to want to be the best.”

The festivities actually begin before the fair, with the Next Generation barrel race Friday, Sept. 19, and the Next Generation breakaway and tie-down roping events Saturday, Sept. 20. The opening weekend of the fair will feature the Cowboy Professional Rodeo Association Finals from Thursday, Sept. 25-Saturday, Sept. 27, but it’s just the start.

“When we first built the new barn, we had producers come up and tell us, ‘This is awesome, but it would be better if you just had stalls,’ ” said Paul Shollar, who co-chairs the rodeo committee with Clint Sciba. “So, we built a stall barn, and we added a nice wash rack. We rent that facility out a lot. Now that we have the stall barn and the new arena, the cutters are really interested in our facility.”

That was the idea behind rebuilding the longstanding arena. It was reconfigured with VIP sections at the north and south ends and covered.

“Our elite boxes are important to everything we do with the rodeo facility,” he said. “The people that are part of that experience are a big part of the success of the arena and of the events we produce there.”

The rodeo arena is busy year-round, and it’s put to the test every day of the fair.

  • Sydney Arthur Memorial Breakaway Roping, Sunday, Sept. 29
  • Waller County Team Roping, Monday, Sept. 30
  • Invitational tie-down roping and WPRA-approved open breakaway roping, Tuesday, Sept. 30
  • Steer wrestling jackpot, Wednesday, Oct. 1.
  • PRCA rodeo, Thursday, Oct. 2-Saturday, Oct. 4.

“We’ve revamped our rodeo committee a little,” Shollar said of the volunteer-based group. “A lot of our guys are also helping with RodeoHouston, so they have a good understanding of what it takes to put on an event like that and know what we need here.”

It helps, and the complex has been receiving ringing endorsements. The women who compete in the WPRA recognized the fair association as having the most improved ground in the state of Texas for 2024.

“It’s something we never thought we’d get,” Shollar said. “I think that came about just by listening to the ladies and taking into consideration multiple drag and dirt guys and multiple producers, especially those that produce barrel races. We listened to concerns, then we worked the ground until we finally got the right consistency in that arena.

“We spent a lot of time with the right materials to get it to that point.”

That may be what brings other producers to town, but the nice purse mixed with the calendar change helps bring the top ProRodeo cowboys and cowgirls to southeast Texas. The 2025 regular season will end Sept. 30, so the Hempstead rodeo will be the first of the 2026 season. For those who have earned a qualification to the National Finals Rodeo, it’s a chance to keep their skills sharp. For those that didn’t, they will try to get off the starting blocks early with hopes of making it to next year’s NFR.

“It’s a great way to get a head start,” Shollar said. “There are a lot of our sister fair and rodeos going on about the same time, whether it’s Washington County, Austin County or Fort Bend County. At that time, cowboys and cowgirls can come down here and get in multiple rodeos. You can spend a couple weeks in the Houston area and really get a good head start on 2026.”