The past parades through downtown as part of livestock, heritage festival

Sheep travel down Cedar City's Main Street as part of the Cedar Livestocck & Heritage festival, Cedar City, Utah, date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Sam El Halta, St. George News

CEDAR CITY — Cedar City’s tranquil downtown will get a little wild and wooly on Saturday at 10 a.m. when the Sheep Parade herds its way down Main Street as part of the 11th annual Cedar Livestock & Heritage Festival, a celebration of Southern Utah’s agricultural traditions and lifestyle.

Considered one of the most unique parades in the country, over 1,000 head of sheep will follow the historic Livestock Trail from Cedar Mountain, down Cedar City’s Main Street and out to their winter home in the Cedar Valley. The Sheep Parade is the highlight event for Cedar Livestock & Heritage Festival.

“The first sheep were herded from Cedar Mountain in 1870, and have continued to travel through Cedar City every year since,” Chad Reid, festival chairman, said. “The sight of a herd of sheep trailing down Main Street through historic Downtown is an exciting glimpse of our livestock heritage and truly a spectacle not to be missed.  You never know if the sheep are going to behave or not.”

In addition to the sheep – and the horses and stock dogs that guide them – the procession also includes wagons, antique tractors and historic and modern sheep camps. The parade route is along Main Street from 200 South to 400 North.

Following the parade, the tractors and sheep camps are on display the remainder of the day at the Cross Hollows Events Center, located at 11 North Cross Hollows Drive.

The 11th annual Cedar Livestock & Heritage Festival celebrates Iron County’s unique livestock and agricultural heritage from Thursday through Sunday, with a variety of authentic events, including cowboy poetry, Dutch Oven cooking contest, draft horse and antique tractor pull, stock dog demo, sheep camp display, quilt show, vintage auto display, ranch rodeo, cowboy church and of course, the Sheep Parade!

New events have been added this year, including a Junior Ranch Rodeo with youth teams competing in the traditional ranch skills of goat milking, team roping and branding. The Junior Ranch Rodeo will take place Friday night at 4 p.m. at the Cross Hollows Events Center.

The second new event is the Sheep Lead Contest, a sort of sheep fashion show, Reid said.

“Contestants not only display their fashion skills but also their sheep-handling talents.

The Sheep Lead Contest will take place Saturday at 4 p.m. at the Cross Hollows Events Center.

For more information on all the Cedar Livestock & Heritage Festival activities, go to the festival’s website or call 435-586-8132.

Event details

  • What: Sheep Parade.
  • When: Saturday, Oct. 29, at 10 a.m.
  • Where: Main Street from 200 South to 400 North, Cedar City.
  • For more information on all the Cedar Livestock & Heritage Festival activities, go to the festival’s website or call 435-586-8132.

 

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2 Comments

  • .... October 26, 2016 at 12:58 am

    Look at all them sheep. must be Bob’s family reunion

  • Freda October 26, 2016 at 9:20 am

    So, Hillary will be in town leading her supporters down Main St.?

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