It’s a ‘Big’ week for Salinas—the rodeo, and the dollars that come with it, is back.

Erik Chalhoub here, noticing signs throughout North County and beyond advertising the California Rodeo Salinas, and perhaps more cowboy hats than usual. For the 115th year, it’s “Big Week” in Salinas, a week of events that lead up to the main attraction July 17-20 at the Salinas Sports Complex.

Big Week kicked off in earnest on July 11 with the Rodeo Carnival, which continues through July 20. A rodeo-themed event at the Northridge Mall and the Kiddie Kapers Parade in downtown Salinas this past weekend has put the city back in the rodeo mood.

More activities are on tap throughout the week, many geared toward children—the stick horse race on Thursday, July 17 sounds straight out of a child’s imagination.

Love it or hate it, there’s no denying the Rodeo (pronounced “ro-DAY-oh”) has a major impact both culturally and financially for Salinas and the county as a whole. It’s not called “Big Week” for nothing: According to a 2015 study by The Institute for Innovation and Economic Development at CSU Monterey Bay (the most recent year available), the total economic impact of the rodeo’s events is estimated at $11 million.

This includes transient occupancy taxes from visitors staying at hotels, sales tax revenues, vendor revenues and more.

In 2024, the California Rodeo Salinas donated $796,337 to nonprofits, Western industry groups and other community organizations, beating the record set in the previous year by 3 percent.

More than a century later, the rodeo continues to be intertwined in the fabric of the Salinas community. That is by design.

In her book Salinas: A History of Race and Resilience in an Agricultural City, historian Carol Lynn McKibben writes that historically, the city’s self-identity is that of a “rustic, cowboy town expressed in the annual Salinas Rodeo.”

Early city leaders knew that they needed an annual event to promote this image not only from within, but to the outside world, to help boost economic activity and grow the burgeoning city.

“These events [such as Big Week] were first and foremost inclusive of the town’s population, and as such, they served the dual purpose of tourist attraction and reinforcement of a group identity as farm and ranch folk, blurring both racial boundaries and definitions of urban and rural,” McKibben writes.

In the next issue of the Weekly, out Thursday, we highlight some of the activities taking place during the California Rodeo Salinas, from the intense competitions to the humble parades.

It’s a “big” week, indeed.