Rupununi residents still feeling the sting of no rodeo

For the second year-round, the Rupununi Rodeo has been cancelled due to the dangers of the COVID-19 pandemic, subtracting some 4,000 visitors and their spending dollar from the Rupununi Region.

Just after the virus hit Guyana in early March 2020, the Rupununi Rodeo Committee announced the cancellation of the event planned that year for April 11-12. More than one year later, there is a general understanding that the rodeo could not be held as the rate at which lives are being snuffed out as a result of the virus has significantly increased.

Now, scores of indigenous and otherwise Rupununi residents, who depended on the increased inflow of cash from the annual event, have turned to farming and kitchen gardening to sell their produce. The shift was needed because the Rupununi Rodeo is just one of many activities now halted in the Region that previously brought in steady revenue.

Speaking to Executive Member of the Rupununi Rodeo Committee and Chairwoman of the Rupununi Livestock Producers Association (RLPA), Rebecca Faria, she said that when markets aren’t available it can be challenging for residents.

“The economy of the Rupununi during Easter (the weeks before and after) were negatively affected by the cancellation of the Rupununi Rodeo. The annual Rupununi Rodeo has been, for years, a source of increased income for all sectors of Region 9 during that time,” she told the Village Voice News.

The types of persons affected include farmers, craft makers, ranch owners, hotel owners and, in general, businessmen and women. According to Faria, it is difficult to pinpoint all who have suffered as a result and to what extent. Visitors to the Rupununi during the period can come for the rodeo but stay on for other activities and for much longer.

In the downtime, the Rupununi Rodeo Committee has been making the best of its time in preparation for a hopeful return. “The Rodeo Committee has been making plans to improve the rodeo when it returns as we know our residents and spectators will be eagerly looking forward to the next rodeo. We are hoping rodeo 2022 — fingers crossed — will be the best rodeo yet!”

The Committee has also been supporting the RLPAs main ongoing project, ‘The Livestock Component’ of Sustainable Wildlife Management.

The Committee invites members of the public to be a part of its Committee as all work done during the rodeo is voluntary and more members are needed. Faria said:  “As we move on to 2022 we will need as much support as we can get in terms of sponsorship, support from all our Rupununi Livestock producers and businesses if we are to make the Rupununi Rodeo a successful, and the biggest rodeo yet.”