Gates open at noon Friday and cost is $5 per person/per day. Admission: none Days/Hours Open: All Days 8am6pm Address: 110 E. 15th Street, Sweetwater, TX 79556 Other Activities: sweetwater lions club car show, sweetwater rattlesnake roundup Attendance: 9,000 # Food Booths: 20 # of Exhibitors: 235 Juried: no Prize Money: na Deadlines: Art & Craft: 03/01/2023 Music: na Food: 03/01/2023 Our feature-length documentary, Rounding Up Sweetwater, will debunk both the pseudo-science used to justify roundups as well as negative stereotypes about rattlesnakes used to demonize them. Exact attendance figures are unknown because many people such as children are admitted free, but I've heard anywhere from 7,000 to 15,000, said longtime volunteer Jeffrey Cox, who has been helping to organize the Whigham Rattlesnake Roundup for the past four decades. All rights reserved. We also butcher about 1,000 pounds of them each year that we actually cook on the spot., FILE -Sweetwater Jaycees clean and skinned rattlesnakes during 57th Sweetwater Jaycees World Largest Rattlesnake Round-up at the Nolan County Coliseum in Sweetwater Texas, March 14, 2015. All rights reserved. Go here to update it. Visitors and news crews from around the nation and the globe frequently are seen perusing the snake pits at Nolan County Coliseum. Served with ranch or blue cheese and celery. SWEETWATER JAYCEES World's Largest Rattlesnake Roundup March 10, 11, 12 2023 Sweetwater Rattlesnake RoundUp March 10 - 12, 2023 Nolan County Coliseum Sweetwater, TX 79556 Status: Updated 12/5/2022 Sweetwater Jaycees World's Largest Rattlesnake Round Up Admission: none Days/Hours Open: Thu 4:30pm9pm, Fri 8am5pm, Sat 8am6pm, Sun 8am5pm Address: 1699 Cypress Street, Sweetwater, TX 79556 Entertainment: 1 stage - Local. McCann said: "If someone could come up with a better way of killing rattlesnakesso we can keep doing our event, then please come teach me. WOODSTOCK, Ga. (AP) An annual rattlesnake roundup in south Georgia recently changed the format of this months event to celebrate living snakes without skinning and butchering them, earning plaudits from animal rights activists. After seeing firsthand what goes on in Sweetwater every year, we know there is a better way. Active/retired military, $5 (with valid military ID); Ages 5-12, $5; 4 and under, free.. McCann admitted the event was a test of how the state can open up safely and there are "lots of eyes on us". Thousands of people, including families with young kids, flocked to take part in festivities this weekend at the Nolan County Coliseum in Sweetwater, Texas. SWEETWATER, TEXAS RATTLESNAKE ROUNDUP - YouTube 0:00 / 8:15 SWEETWATER, TEXAS RATTLESNAKE ROUNDUP 37,579 views Apr 10, 2018 330 Dislike Share Save Mark Lotterhand 2.13K subscribers Unchecked. . Sweetwater Jaycees Rattle Staid State Capitol with Snakes Miss Snake Charmer 2023 Contestants Attend Pageant Tea Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas, SEED, City of Sweetwater, NFC Partner to Bring Free Fitness Court to Newman Park SISD Transfers SHS Interim Principalship to Kathy Smartt FILE -Sweetwater Jaycees clean and skinned rattlesnakes during 57th. Rattlesnake roundups take 2 different approaches, drawing praise and scorn 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Join Now: Vendors | Artists | Already PRO? The festival has been criticized by animal rights and environmental groups for the way the snakes are rounded up using gasoline fumes to drive them from their dens. We also butcher about 1,000 pounds of them each year that we actually cook on the spot.". Besides renewables, Sweetwater is also known for hosting special events that attract tourists. Several vendors, and swap meet vendors will be available around the park. Animal rights activists praised an annual rattlesnake roundup in south Georgia that recently changed the format of this months event to celebrate living snakes without skinning and butchering them. Doors open Friday at 8 a.m., cost is $10 for adults, $5 for active/retired military and $5 for children ages 5-12, with those 4 and under free. Rattlesnake Roundup Parade March 10, 2022. 231 subscribers 2020 rattlesnake roundup Sweetwater texas music: solitude musician: rook1e music:acoustic guitar 1 musician: music by audionautix.com Limited-time offer - $30 off Explore 85+. Texas rattlesnake butchering festival continues despite objections A Georgia rattler roundup no longer kills the animals but Texas town of Sweetwater is proud of its tradition A. Yes, we're the rattlesnake town, they would say. Theres literally no waste, he said. A mix of light freezing rain and sleet this morning.then cloudy late. Rounding Up Sweetwater. There will be live music on Fri. and Sat. Events began at 4:30 p.m. Thursday with the Rattlesnake Parade, which was followed at 7 p.m. by the Miss Snake Charmer Pageant at Sweetwater Municipal Auditorium. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. Historically, the first rattlesnake Roundup kicked off in 1958, at Sweetwater, Texas, U.S. Yes, were the rattlesnake town, they would say. Plans for the Worlds Largest Rattlesnake Roundup this weekend in the Texas town of Sweetwater are full-steam ahead, with snakes set to be skinned and others milked of their venom. This event runs alongside the Sweetwater Rifle and Pistol Club's gun and coin show, founded in the 1940s. Nolan County Coliseum|1699 Cypress St, Sweetwater, TX | Map. 2012 letter of praise for switching the Claxton Rattlesnake Roundup to a . Sweetwater, Texas 79556 325-235-3484 - Office nolancountycoliseum@gmail.com And in Sweetwater, Texas: cancel the rattlesnake festival? "We certainly haven't made the population extinct by any stretch of the imagination. Heads are pickled in jars complete with exposed fangs, while the flesh is chopped into nuggets and deep fried. Emergency crews responding to southwest Lubbock apartment fire, Woman trapped in vehicle after crash on I-27 involving semi, Semi crash on South Loop leaves one person moderately injured, Noon Notebook: LFR to participate in 48-marathon, Noon Notebook: 34th annual Mayors' Beans & Cornbread Luncheon, Tell Me Something Good - Wednesday, March 1. (Courtney Sacco/Odessa American via AP, File), Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. Plans for the Worlds Largest Rattlesnake Roundup this weekend in the Texas town of Sweetwater are full-scale ahead, with snakes set to be skinned and others milked of their venom. Rather, organizers liken snake hunting to how other hunters keep deer numbers in check. They are also the victims of the largest public slaughter of native wildlife in the United States. The town of 11,000 is expected to swell to around 30,000 during the festival that runs Friday through Sunday, said Dennis Cumbie, one of the organizers. "That's my favorite part because they've got such neat stories to tell," McCann said. Free patch & pin with pre-registration by 4-04-2020. We also butcher about 1,000 pounds of them each year that we actually cook on the spot., Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. They also show the huge divide in how they are seen by some, with the Georgia festival heralded by animal advocates and the Texas roundup shamed. . Plans for the "World's Largest Rattlesnake Roundup" this weekend in the Texas town of Sweetwater are full-scale ahead, with snakes set to be skinned and others "milked" of their venom. The event is a fundraiser for local youth programs. (Brisket, Pork Spare Ribs, Chicken, Chili). The festival started in 1958 and runs annually during the second weekend of March in the city of Sweetwater in Central Texas. Since 1958, the Sweetwater Jaycees has hosted the largest rattlesnake roundup in the world. Its the biggest event in this town every year, Cumbie said. NOLAN COUNTY COLISEUM Sweetwater, TX Terry Locklar General Manager - Marketing Director 220 Coliseum Drive. Rattles are used for souvenirs, as are the heads, Cumbie said. The weekend kicks off on Thursday with a rattlesnake parade, carnival . Sweetwater has held its rattlesnake roundup for more than six decades, and what we have figured out over 64 years is that were not damaging the population of the snakes whatsoever, Cumbie said. Begun in 1958 as a means for controlling the rattlesnake population in the area, the roundup has become a major annual driver for the Sweetwater economy. We will be donating the first month of each new vendor & artist subscription to the Austin Justice Coalition. The snakes' skins will eventually show up on cowboy boots, belts and other western wear. FestivalNet is not the event & does not book the participants; we provide contact info to save you time in event research. Thousands of rattlesnakes are bagged up to be put on display in the snake pits. Join Festivalnet.com now to unlock additional details,