Wickenburg’s 59th Annual Gold Rush Days

This event celebrates the town’s origins as a gold mining center in the days before there was a Phoenix. The heritage event was founded 59 years ago, & now Gold Rush Days draws tens of thousands of visitors, during the 3 days of activities. The parade on Sat. is one of the largest in Arizona, with over 125 entries including 1,000 horses, classic auto’s, floats, marching bands, & youth groups participating. Spectators line the street as 1 of the largest parades in Arizona passes by. The parade theme is: “Happy Trails”. This annual celebration is 1 of the signature heritage events for Wickenburg, & was selected to the Library of Congress as 1 of America’s Living Legacies. Joining them in Wickenburg for a special performance is western entertainers “Sons of the Pioneers” who will appear on Feb. 8th & 9th, at the Del E. Webb Center for Performing Arts.

Festivities begin on Feb. 9th, with the Opening Ceremonies on Frontier Street at 10 a.m. with gunfights, & gold rush officials kicking off the event. Frontier Street will also have classic cars on Fri. from 9am - 3 p.m. The main festival area on Valentine Street in the historic district will see 200 arts/crafts exhibitors, a family fun carnival, photography exhibit, art show, free stage entertainment, & gold panning daily from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., with the carnival running throughout the evening. One of the highlights on Friday only is the popular Classic Car Show on Frontier Street from 10am - 3pm - 1 day exhibit of antique & classic automobiles; the 1st show of the Desert Stagers old fashioned melodrama, is held in the historic Saguaro Theatre at 7 p.m., nightly throughout the celebration.

On Saturday the main event activities are the same, but include the additions of a Beard Contest, Western Barbeque, & the 1st performance of the Senior Professional Rodeo held at 2 p.m. at the Everett Bowman Arena, located off of Constellation Road, just 1 mile east of the downtown area. Saturday night inside the Wickenburg Community Center from 8:30 p.m. - 12:45 a.m. is the Gold Rush Days rodeo dance with great western music by the Western Electric Band. A No-Host bar is available. Admission is $8 per person.

On Sunday, activities include the arts/crafts area, gold panning, family carnival, rodeo performance, melodrama, & special day events such as the Young Life Pancake Breakfast at 8 am - 11 am inside the Community Center; traditional Mining events - Mucking & Drilling Contest at 10 a.m. where contestants compete for money & prizes & spectators can bid in a Calcutta Auction for a contestant; & the Arizona Gold Panning Championship, where contestants compete for money & prizes while panning for gold starts at 1 p.m. The 2nd performance of the Senior Pro Rodeo is at 2 p.m. For more info & tickets call the Chamber at (928) 684-5479 or visit their Website at: wickenburgchamber.com.