Spanos Stadium’s dirt arena will be ready to rock and rodeo — rain or shine

Friday’s forecast may call for rain, but that hasn’t cooled Poly Royal Rodeo organizers’ enthusiasm.

“Bring an umbrella. It’s rain or shine,” said AnnMarie Cornejo, spokeswoman for the Cal Poly College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences.

On Thursday afternoon, Cornejo said rodeo prep at Alex G. Spanos Stadium was well underway. This marks the first time that the 77-year-old rodeo will be held at the 11,000-seat venue, which was converted from a football field to a rodeo arena overnight.

“All the soil and everything is in.”

It took 16 trucks, making an estimated 200 trips, to transport 2,000 cubic yards of donated soil to the stadium. Cornejo said Randy Spraggins’ crew was in the process of installing the animal chutes and corrals mid-day Thursday.

The National Weather Service called for a 60 percent chance of rain Thursday night, increasing to 80 percent on Friday before decreasing to a 30 percent chance of rain Saturday.

With rodeo festivities kicking off Friday, Cornejo said the plan is to cover the dirt with a tarp Thursday night, “to protect it from the majority of the rainfall.” After that, “the rodeo will just proceed as planned throughout the day,” she said.

The rodeo is scheduled to begin about 7 p.m. Friday and about 5:30 p.m. Saturday. Chancey Williams and the Younger Brothers Band will perform after the Saturday rodeo.

On Friday, general admission tickets cost $15 to $20 while “chairback” seat tickets cost $35. On Saturday, ticket prices rise to $20 to $25 for general admission and $40 for “chairback” seating.

Cornejo encouraged rodeo attendees to buy their tickets in advance online or by calling 805-756-4849. Tickets also will be sold at the northeast corner of the stadium two hours before the rodeo begins.

This story was originally published April 6, 2017 at 7:50 PM with the headline "Spanos Stadium’s dirt arena will be ready to rock and rodeo — rain or shine."