From March 3 to 22, 2009, people traveling to Houston will be awaited by a grand Wild West adventure. The American metropolis will be celebrating the 77th Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo – the largest rodeo in the world. The event draws in almost two million visitors every year with spectacular rodeo championships and a gigantic accompanying program. The best cowboys in the world compete in various contests. Immediately following the rodeo events, there will be performances by country singers and world-famous rock and pop musicians every evening.
The superlative rodeo event has a long tradition in the Texan metropolis. Since as early as 1932, cowboys and cowgirls have been riding for victory and honor in the three-week long festival. Only the world’s best are invited to show their skills in seven different rodeo contests – such as bull riding, bull wrestling and lasso throwing. Since 2003, the event has been taking place in Reliant Stadium in Houston. The Stadium, measuring 130,000 square meters and comprising 71,500 seats, was the world’s first stadium to have a roof to be opened and closed at will.
The rodeo event starts out with the impressive entrance of the cowboys and their horses through downtown Houston. There will be auctions and live stock shows awarding the best breeding animals throughout the entire spectacle. World-famous stars see to a great atmosphere at Reliant Stadium: This year’s mega stars are Keith Urban, with his show on March 17, 2009, and the word-famous band ZZ Top, founded in Houston in 1969. Performances of other renowned artists of rock, pop and country will be accompanying the entire festival. An overview of all artists and stars, as well as additional information and recent announcements on Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo can be found at www.rodeohouston.com.
Houston offers its guests exciting attractions the whole year round: At NASA SpaceCenter, visitors learn everything about the past and present of crewed spaceflight. Those with an interest in culture can experience the works of Andy Warhol or various other recent exhibitions in one of the largest museum districts of the USA. Fans of shopping will love the first-class stores at Galleria or Highland Village. More than 8,000 independent restaurants in town are guaranteed to have the right meal for every connoisseur. Travelers will find the highest concentration of medical experts in the USA – in addition to the world’s largest rodeo taking place annually. The metropolis is among the ten most populous cities in the country. Travelers will reach the city non-stop from Frankfurt am Main with Continental Airlines, starting November 2009. Air France, British Airways, Delta, KLM, Lufthansa and United Airlines offer further flight connections. www.visithoustontexas.com.
