The Wildcat Events Board is hosting a UA Hoedown for the second year in a row.

The event will take place in front of the stage on the UA Mall from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m. on Friday and will include a mechanical bull, a petting zoo, a pie-eating contest, square dancing, barbecue food and roping taught by the Rodeo Club.

The petting zoo will have ducks, chickens, miniature horses and pigs.

The hoedown, which is free for students, cost $2,800 to put together, according to Kevin Mauerman, a WEB committee member and biology freshman.

“We had a hoedown last year and it was a huge success,” said Brittany Vraney, WEB executive director and a senior studying natural resources and environmental sciences. “We decided to bring it back because a lot of students requested it again.”

The Rodeo Club will also join the hoedown this year, Vraney said. The food, catered by Redington Catering, will be barbecue like last year, but will include a different selection of choices.

Additionally, the Rodeo Club will be giving roping demonstrations and lessons.

“We love being involved in our campus and campus events,” said Carollann Scott, the Rodeo Club’s president and a journalism junior. “It’s really important to us to promote ourselves and we’re always seeking support for our team because we are small.”

People don’t know a lot about the Western lifestyle, so the Rodeo Club is hoping to clear up misconceptions, such as the fact that the word “lassoing” is outdated term that has been replaced by “roping,” Scott said.

“A lot of the time people think that we will be in Wrangler jeans and plaid shirts every day,” Scott said. “We would like to advertise the fact that we are normal students too. If you saw us on a normal basis, most of the time you wouldn’t recognize us.
People just think we’re just a bunch of hillbillies; the truth of the matter is that some of us grew up in the city and we just enjoy rodeo and preserving the Western heritage that rodeo comes from.”