The NFR Experience in Las Vegas, NV is Like No Other
Since 1985 the National Finals Rodeo has been held in Las Vegas. This 10-day event is held in December and is an experience like no other. This year, 2020, the NFR has been relocated to Arlington, TX due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
We won’t be attending the 2020 event, but have made many trips to Las Vegas over the past several years to take part in the NFR festivities. The city that never sleeps is alive with boots and cowboy hats for a couple weeks in December and we’ve jumped on the band wagon.
There are so many lodging choices in Las Vegas. The options are endless. We’ve stayed at the Tropicana, MGM and Circus Circus. It has depended on the other people in our traveling party. Casey and I don’t have a strong preference, so we tend to follow the crowd. We made an attempt to stay at South Point but were vetoed by another couple. After the completion of our trip, they admitted that it would have been a better choice. Oh well, maybe next time.
The city is the same, but always changing. Popular hotels from the early 2000’s are outdated or being reconstructed and revamped. (In other words don’t judge us for the places we’ve stayed over the last 19 years.) There is so much going on, in the city, and with the NFR, that you’re rarely in your own hotel, or your hotel room. No one sleeps in Vegas!
What I like to do in Vegas is SHOP. And with Cowboy Christmas not much is left to be desired. You can browse the booths for days on end seeing the latest fashions, tack options, or trying samples of state-fair-like-snacks.
The actual rodeo can be experienced in many ways. Yes, there is live, in-person viewing, complete with high ticket prices, crazy crowds and nose-bleed seats. Great, close seats would be a splurge, so when we attended the rodeo, we opted for cheap seats and a good the view of the jumbo-tron. Realizing that the best view and accessibility to replays etc. is on a big screen, we prefer to watch from the comfort of a hotel lobby or ballroom. Many hotels offer this, complete with snacks and drinks, at a low or no cost to patrons of the hotel. Over the years, we’ve watched at South Point, Tropicana and MGM. They provide a live feed and you won’t miss a second of rodeo action.
The NFR is a tradition for us, as a couple, and for so many rodeo-loving fans. It is an experience like no other. Every cowboy-hat wearing person should attend the event at least once, whether it is in Las Vegas, Texas or anywhere in this great rodeo-country.
(Neon cowgirl cover image by skeeze from Pixabay)
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