Sun-splashed viewing spaces along 17th Street in downtown Denver were at a premium Tuesday, packed with spectators as cowboys, cowgirls and livestock marched in a chilly National Western Stock Show & Rodeo parade.
Dirty, weeks-old snow piled along curbsides didn’t deter parade goers, many of whom flocked downtown with children in tow.
“I’m going to the parade. I’m going to ride a cow,” announced 3-year-old Devin Nieto, who was bundled in warm clothing and strapped into a stroller.
Devin’s mother, Lindsay Nieto of Thornton, said the toddler is a National Western veteran, having attended his first stock show when he was just a week old.
Nineteen-year-old Anni Graefe of Black Forest, Germany, attended her first stock show parade Tuesday dressed in Western boots, bluejeans, a cowboy hat and a flashy Western shirt – worn under a warm down vest and jacket.
Graefe, who is visiting relatives in Denver, snapped photographs with a digital camera and was “wowed” by the flashy costumes on some of the cowgirls.
“It’s so cool,” Graefe said. “I love animals and I love horses especially.”
Graefe said she’s been to parades in Germany, but never one with a Western theme.
Darren Armstrong has been selling balloons, cotton candy, and inflatable cartoon characters along the parade route for the past 12 years.
He said the size of the crowd seemed about typical, despite a downtown temperature that hovered around 32 degrees when the show kicked off about noon.
The start of the parade was delayed for about 15 minutes as cowboys dealt with long-horned cows that were a bit unruly, said cowboy Kit Haddock.
Haddock, of Monument, rode at the front of the parade on a 27-year-old horse named Rusty to keep the cows in line.
“Rusty knows how to behave in town,” Haddock said. “Your cows, they don’t know how to behave in town.”
Staff writer Kieran Nicholson can be reached at 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com.
