Western Legends
Western Legends Round-Up, Wild West Days
By Dixie Brunner
You don’t have to be a real cowboy to enjoy the 12th annual Western Legends Round-Up, even ‘cowboy wannabes’ are welcome at the celebration remembering the good old days of the Wild,Wild West!
The High Noon Parade on Saturday is one of the highlights of Western Legends. Photo by Dennis Brunner.
The 2010 Western Legends Round-Up, to be held August 26-28, is becoming a southern Utah signature event. The three-day celebration offers visitors a heapin’ helping of western hospitality, heritage and unique cultural activities where you can reflect on the way things used to be.
The Round-Up features a cowboy poetry rodeo, where top caliber contestants compete for jackpots. The poets; both young and old, male and female, entertain with prose that will make you laugh or bring you to tears…all on subjects about life in the west.
While you can’t help but have a good time at Western Legends Round-Up, the event has become a wonderful learning experience as well. The entire family can enjoy activities, exhibitions, demonstrations and workshops.
Folklore workshops are offered in western swing dancing, western photography, western painting, cowboy poetry, hand quilting, pottery art, western movie-making, silversmithing and engraving.
Kanab is a natural to host the Round-Up. “Reel” Western Legends such as John Wayne, James Arness, James Garner and Clint Eastwood spent time filming here in such beloved westerns as: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, McKenna’s Gold, How the West Was Won, Gunsmoke, Maverick and Outlaw Josey Wales.
To satisfy “reel” cowboys, western movie buffs can enjoy the “Little Hollywood Western Film Festival.” Activities include old-time western movies at the Crescent Moon Theater, western movie star and stuntman panel discussions, and lectures on the Kane County movie making heyday. Actors and stuntmen who have performed in southern Utah will be in attendance.
One of the highlights of the weekend is the “High Noon Parade” on Saturday, complete with a herd of cattle running down Center Street, with plenty of “real” cowboys tending to them.
This year’s “Little Hollywood Walk of Fame” honorees are Don Collier, Ted Markland and Bob Hoy (from the TV show High Chaparral), Robert Taylor (who filmed Westward the Women here), Peggy Castle and director William Wellman.
Music headliners include R.W. Hampton, David John and the Comstock Cowboys, Belinda Gail, and many more great entertainers.
Movie stars of yesteryear planning to attend the 2010 Round-Up include Clint Walker, James Drury, Peter Brown, Neil Summers, Ed Faulkner, Cheryl Rogers Barnett, Wyatt McCrea, Lee Meriwether and Miles Swarthout.
Mark your calendars and plan to attend the 2010 Western Legends Round-Up from August 26-28. Come prepared to have a great time. For tickets or more information on Western Legends Round-Up, you can log on to the website at www.westernlegendsroundup.com or call 1-800-733-5263.
