General News
30 July, 2025
Merry Muster brings Cloncurry to life
The annual Cloncurry rodeo is the highlight on the calendar for many locals.
Cloncurry will spring to life this weekend as it prepares to host its biggest event of the year – the Merry Muster rodeo.
While the action starts tonight with some roping at the equestrian centre, the event really kicks into gear tomorrow.
The rodeo activities begin with junior events and some of the APRA sections, before everyone heads into town for the street parade, which this year has the theme of “Blockbusters”.
Then it’s a short walk to the showgrounds for the Xtreme Bulls event and Fred Brophy’s famous boxing tent.
For Janessa Bidgood, one of the driving forces behind the Merry Muster, this is the best time of the year to be in Cloncurry.
“I suppose we have three major events each year – the show, the (Stockman’s) Challenge and the rodeo,” she said.
“I’m obviously a little bit biased, but I would argue that the Merry Mustard brings the biggest crowd, which ultimately spends the most money, keeps the most people, does the best for town.
“I think it’s a good thing and we have to keep it going ... not only do we want it to exist we want to prosper so we keep growing it every year.”
Running a major event with no paid staff is a big task, but the 10 or so committee members relish the chance to do something for the community, Ms Bidgood said.
“The committee does get smaller each year, but it just it ends up being a core group of people that run it,” she said.
“And I would say a well-connected group of people. So we’ve got people who are connected to the mining industry and the agricultural industry, which helps with sponsorship and getting stock etc.
“It’s a thankless job in the sense that it’s all volunteering, but it’s definitely rewarding once you see the event come to life.
“And we have a bit of fun along the way. We have many a laugh at our Monday night meetings, and we’re making an event that we love and enjoy.”
There are almost two parts to the Merry Muster, Ms Bidgood explained to North West Weekly.
“So one part is visitors, and the visitors want to see the whole thing, but the second part, our Friday night, really encompasses our local people, who we value highly,” she said.
“We want to see those people enjoying it as well. Our rodeo was in town for so many years and then in 2014 it got moved out to the equestrian centre.
“So this element of having it in town on a Friday night just brings the whole community together and they get to enjoy what would have been the rodeo back in the day in the same location it was back in the day.”
One of the highlights for the Merry Muster team is the annual street parade on Friday evening.
“Visitors and tourists are not necessarily overly interested in our street parade,” Ms Bidgood said.
“There would be exceptions, but from a local’s perspective, they love it. The kids love it.
“We have people ringing us in January every year asking us what the theme’s going to be for the street parade.
“This year it’s Blockbusters, so we thought we’d open it up a little bit so they can really get creative.
“We’ve got people talking Barbie, we’ve got people talking Magnificent 7, Fast and Furious, anything like that. And they’re all having a lot of fun with it.”
FREE ENTRY
One of the quirks of the Merry Muster is that it’s absolutely free to watch everything from a rodeo perspective.
Even some of the rides for kids come at no cost.
“I think free will always beat any gate price so any family that’s struggling with the cost of living at the moment can come to our event and enjoy it completely free of charge,” Ms Bidgood said.
“Their kids can be on the dodgem cars, mum and dad can watch the rodeo ... they can enjoy the Cowboy’s Smoko totally free of charge.
“There’s a lot of incentive to come to the Curry Merry Muster and a lot of it is the low cost.”
MOUNT ISA REACTION
When the Mount Isa Rodeo went into administration last year, there was no cheering from the Merry Muster committee, despite the two major events sharing some healthy competition.
The fact the event has been saved by a new all-local board is a good thing for the region, said the Merry Muster stalwart.
“I think it’s wonderful for our region, but it’s also wonderful for the sport of rodeo, which is what we’re all about,” Ms Bidgood said.
“Never in a hundred years would we want to see another event go down.
“We would love to see more events like this popping up. So for us to see Mount Isa going ahead this year was not only a sigh of relief, but a happy thing for us. We want to see that event prosper.
“And you’re right, cowboys and cowgirls are travelling from the bottom of Australia up here for these events. So it’s got to be worth their while. The more money and the more events on for them, the better.”
SATURDAY FUN
While Friday night’s action is hard to go past, there’s still plenty of incentive to turn out to the rodeo on Saturday, with a number of events, including barrel racing, team roping, bareback riding, more bulls and the famous Ken Coleman Memorial bronc ride.
This year, the Merry Muster has moved away from a traditional breakfast to a Cowboy’s Smoko.
“We’ve always done a Cowboys breakfast at 7am and I guess the intention of that was a little bit for tourists but also for cowboys,” Ms Bidgood said.
“But we have since learned that cowboys don’t get out of bed at 7am after a Friday!
“So now our breakfast has turned into Cowboy’s Smoko at 9am and it’s overlooking the rodeo grounds this year so basically everyone can turn up, have a scone and a cup of coffee, and basically settle in as the rodeo starts.
“We’re going to invite some pro cowboys and cowgirls along and Keith (Douglas) will be there to interview them and have a chat about life on the road, why rodeo is such a passion of theirs, and just give our visitors and our spectators an insight as to who these people are and why they do what they do.”
Putting on a major event that is free wouldn’t be possible without the support of sponsors and Ms Bidgood said the Merry Muster was blessed to have such strong support from the local business community.
“We’ve got a phenomenal amount of sponsors, but they have actually reduced in numbers and increased in money,” she said.
“That’s a really positive thing for us as a committee because it means people are willing to invest in this event because they see that it brings the community together.
“They see that it gets massive exposure across Australia and they see that it’s a community-focused thing where we’re doing free entry, we’re inviting everyone into it.”
“We can’t thank our sponsors enough for their support.”