The Rio Grande Valley Livestock Show and Rodeo in Mercedes is one of the largest annual gatherings in the region, and it is two events sharing a fairground.
One is a youth livestock competition — young people who have raised an animal for a year showing it, and in many cases selling it. That half is the reason the show exists and it matters enormously to the families in it. The other half is a professional rodeo with a carnival and a concert lineup, which is what most visitors come for.
If you have never been
The two halves run on different clocks. The livestock barns are busiest during the day and are free to walk through in a way the arena is not; the rodeo and the concerts are evening events. Going in the afternoon and staying through gets you both.
It is a March event, which in the Valley means it can be genuinely hot by mid-afternoon and cool after dark.