Hondo Rodeo Fest is returning to Phoenix this November for its third year hosting one of the biggest events in Rodeo.
Hondo Rodeo Fest will take place Nov. 13-15 this year at Chase Field. The event features a full-length rodeo as well as three consecutive nights of live music with big names like Tim McGraw and Blake Shelton headlining. They will also hold a free-to-attend Street Fest outside the venue with live music, vendors, and booth spaces.
Kennadee Riggs is Hondo’s “Voice From the Dirt,” or sideline reporter during the rodeo. She is also an Arizonan through and through and was crowned Miss Rodeo America in 2023. She works to represent Hondo and promote rodeo and western culture through her career.
“I grew up in Arizona; I’m a fifth-generation Arizonan on one side of my family,” Riggs said. “I grew up in the rodeo world, and I love it so much.”
Riggs hopes that events like Hondo will introduce a wide variety of new fans to the sport and lifestyle she cares so deeply about.
“Rodeo is the only sport that’s still standing that is derived from a real lifestyle. That lifestyle is still alive today. It comes from the working rancher. I think a lot of people are uneducated on the topic of where their food comes from and how much work goes into it,” Riggs said.
“Rodeo, having come from those roots, is really fun; of course, it’s in the entertainment industry, but it’s also very meaningful to people like me who come from ranching roots to be able to show people who would never have the chance to see a working ranch in real life just a little piece of it through watching a rodeo.”
The event features different traditional rodeo sports like bull riding, but also other events like barrel racing and breakaway roping. Hondo has an expansive list of professional athletes this year, like John Crimber, the 2026 Pro Bull Riding World Champion. They have a $1 million purse on the table for the winning athletes.
“Hondo Rodeo Fest is doing rodeo like no one ever has before. There have been people who tried this concept in the past, and it just hasn’t landed well, but they are doing every single part of it right,” Riggs said. “We’re producing a rodeo the size of a Super Bowl for people to come and watch in the same kind of venue you would watch a Super Bowl.”
For Riggs, Hondo is unique because it provides such a large stage for the sports displayed, helping audiences new and old appreciate western culture. It’s more than that, though, for Riggs.
“There are a lot of principles and morals alive in the rodeo world that the world is just so hungry for, like compassion between people of different backgrounds and beliefs, or integrity, or the worth of a handshake and hard work,” Riggs said. “I love sharing that with people.”
Hondo Rodeo Fest started in Phoenix in 2024 but has since expanded, with the Hondo team hosting events in New Orleans and Tampa, Florida. In Phoenix, they sold out in 2025, and 45% of their attendees came from outside of the Phoenix market.
“Phoenix is especially important to us because that’s where we started, and there’s a reason we chose to start there. The Phoenix community is just so full of good people that love these values and people that appreciate the rodeo that might not have ever grown up around it,” Riggs said.
On Sept. 10, the Hondo team participated in multiple local campaigns in an effort to give back to the Arizona community.
“We got to go to Hunkapi Farms in Scottsdale. It’s an equine therapy program where people with PTSD, first responders or people with special needs can go and receive therapy with these horses,” Riggs said. “We went to Phoenix Children’s Hospital and got to visit their cancer level and go bedside and talk to their sweet little patients.”
“It’s just personally, on an individual level, it blesses us on our side,” Riggs said. “It’s almost a selfish pursuit of being able to get to know these people and have meaningful connections with them. But it also is cool because I think that it’s an opportunity to show that, you know, the rodeo and ranching communities want to serve people still in other capacities.”
Hondo Rodeo Fest wants to provide a unique rodeo experience for every fan who attends, whether it’s their first time or if they have been many times.
“It all goes back to the important morals that rodeo and ranching are founded upon. We really just exist to serve other people, and if you look at the purpose of the working rancher, they exist to feed people,” Riggs said. “I like to say that the Hondo exists to feed people’s souls. We want to connect with people; we want to connect with the community and contribute to it.”
Riggs said that one of the best parts of the rodeo centers around the values they hold so close.
“Everyone belongs. It doesn’t matter if you’re a rodeo fan, if you’ve never been to one before, if you even like country music or not. There’s something for everyone at the Hondo Rodeo Fest.
