With the bronze morning sunlight shining on his back, National Western Stock Show President and CEO, Paul Andrews stepped into the show’s stockyard Saturday morning.
He took a deep breath of brisk air and looked around, openly glowing with excitement.
Nearby, hundreds of people began settling in to the stockyard pens, bringing cattle and livestock from all parts of the country including Maine, Wyoming and Kentucky.
The yards were alive with dirt, shavings and animals, straight from the dawn of a Wild West movie.
In a few hours, the yards and nearby stock show buildings would be bustling with an estimated 55,000 attendees — with Andrews noting that due to the nice January weather, that number may stretch into the low 60,000s.
Saturday marked the first day of the 2025 National Western Stock Show — a 119-year tradition at the grounds at 4655 Humboldt St. — that brings about various …