Fifty-seven years promoting beef — we “steak” our future on it! Join us as we celebrate the beef industry and all it means to our communities in the Great Beef Empire! There will be something for everyone!

Carnival

Come celebrate the kickoff to the Beef Empire Days festival with a week long, family-friendly, carnival. There are rides and all of the amazing carnival foods you can imagine.

Bring your family out as the excitement mounts for this year’s celebration of  Beef in southwest Kansas winds up!

Live & Carcass Show - iT ALL STARTED HERE!

The cattle begin arriving at dawn or before and the excitement level will peak by mid-morning when the annual  Merck Live Show takes center stage. Anyone with an interest in the cattle feeding industry is invited to be in the stands at the Finney County Fairgrounds. Once selections have been made the exhibited animals will be harvested and judged on carcass production. Winners of the event are announced at the Awards Banquet at the end of BED 2025.

Ranch Rodeo

Want to know how the traditional cowboy works the herd? The Ranch Rodeo includes events in which traditional working cowboys gather to compete and demonstrate skills that are used every day in cattle ranching operations. Although there are some similarities to the rodeos people are accustomed to seeing, ranch rodeo events typically use combinations of roping, horsemanship, and groundwork skills to create a more genuine presentation of real-life ranch work. This is considered to be a team event, not an individual competition. A team consists of three members. Events are doctoring, mugging and penning.

Parade

Garden City’s largest parade is sure to be a crowd-pleaser with 100 or more entries. The parade begins promptly at 10:00 a.m. at the American Legion going north towards Walnut.

Schedule of the Event:

May 16-25, 2025

6:00 pm: Weee Entertainment Carnival
Finney County Fairgrounds Parking Lot

May 30, 2025

8:00 Am: 13th Annual Garden City Open Tennis Tournament
Gchs Tennis Courts

10:00 Am-2:00 Pm: Finney County Public Library Summer Reading Kickoff Event
North East Lawn And Nature Center Of The Library

7:00 Pm: Specialty Risk Insurance Ranch Rodeo
Finney County Fairgrounds

May 31, 2025

8:00 Am: 13th Annual Garden City Open Tennis Tournament
Gchs Tennis Courts

10:00am: Western Motor Beef Empire Days Parade
Main Street

11:30 Am: Commerce Bank Chuckwagons In The Park
Stevens Park

2:00 Pm: Sunflower Livestock Showdown Hosted By Beef Empire Days
Fi Co Fairgrounds West Pavilion & Show Ring

4:00 Pm: Western State Bank Plaza Experience
Finney County Fairgrounds Plaza

7:00 Pm: Bulls, Broncs & Rodeo Driven By Legacy Auto - Kpra Rodeo
Finney County Fairgrounds Arena

Following Rodeo: Beef Empire Days Rodeo Concert Frankie Ballard Brought To You By Jax
Finney County Fairgrounds

June 1, 2025

7:30 Am: Sunflower Livestock Showdown Hosted By Beef Empire Days
Fi Co Fairgrounds West Pavilion & Show Ring

8:00 Am: 13th Annual Garden City Open Tennis Tournament
Gchs Tennis Courts

9:00 Am: Empirical Timed Events - Barrel Race
Finney County Fairgrounds

12:00 Pm: Empirical Timed Events - Team Roping
Finney County Fairgrounds

June 3, 2025

9:00 Am: Merck Animal Health Live Show
Finney County Fairgrounds

12:00 Pm: Scoular Grain Cattleman's Steak Cookout
Finney County Fairgrounds

5:30 Pm: Beef Empire Days Sponsors Reception
Moonlight Harvest

7:30 Pm: People's Choice Auction
Moonlight Harvest

June 5, 2025

10:00 Am: Beef Empire Days Cattle Working Contest Finale
Cobalt Cattle Santana

June 6, 2025

12:00 Pm: Sunflower Classic Benefit Truck Show
Fi Co Fairgrounds Expo Building

2:00 Pm: Carcass Show At Tyson Foods
Tyson Processing Plant

6:00 Pm: Awards Banquet
Clarion Inn

June 7, 2025

8:00 Am: Sunflower Classic Benefit Truck Show
Fi Co Fairgrounds Expo Building

8:00 Am: High Plains Archery Club Beef Empire Days Shoot
Mansfield Road

9:30 Am: Super Sprint Triathlon
Garden Rapids

1:00-3:00 Pm: Beef, Boots & Community Roots
Stevens Park

1:00: Cornhole Tournament
Stevens Park

1:00: Pickleball Tournament
Grimsley Gym

8:00-11:30 Pm: Beef, Boots & Community Roots
Finney County Fairgrounds

7:00 Pm-10:00 Pm: Praise In The Park Christian Music Concert
Stevens Park

June 8, 2025

7:00am: Tailgate In The Park - Rules Meeting
Stevens Park

8:00 Am: Sunflower Classic Benefit Truck Show Fi
Co Fairgrounds Expo Building

12:30 Pm: Tailgate In The Park - Hamburger Feed
Stevens Park

4:00 Pm: Tailgate In The Park - Judging
Stevens Park

4:15 Pm: Beef Empire Days Cattle Crawl
The Baron's Steakhouse

Date: May 16 - June 8, 2025

Location: Various Location in Garden City, KS

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