BIG SKY – The first Big Sky PBR in 2011 was both a dream and a gamble; a vision to ignite soul within the community and provide a sense of place for the amalgamation of cowboys, ski bums and up-and-coming developers. There’d never been anything like it in the resort town, and creators Eric Ladd and Megan Paulson could only wonder: Will this work? It did. Big time.
Ten years later in 2021, the single day event has blossomed into 10 days of festivities leading up to three nights of bull riding that easily compare to the sport’s top events of the year.
This year, the Big Sky PBR will kick off on Thursday, July 22 at 7 p.m., preceded by live music by David Gautreau and followed by Music in the Mountains at Len Hill Park with Magnolia Boulevard. Jason Boland & the Stragglers will close out Friday night’s bull riding and to cap off the electric championship round on Saturday night, world-touring artist Robert Earl Keen will hit the stage.
The Big Sky event, which has won PBR event of the year seven times, is jam-packed with excitement. “Our crowd is louder than the Vegas world finals, our crowd is more engaged than Madison Square Garden on Friday night,” said Ladd, who is also the publisher of Explore Big Sky. “That energy that’s created is truly unique to the sport.”
