- Title: URUGUAY: Uruguay celebrates South America's biggest rodeo
- Date: 31st March 2010
- Summary: AUDIENCE
- Embargoed: 15th April 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Uruguay
- Country: Uruguay
- Topics: Sports,Travel / Tourism
- Reuters ID: LVA3ANWFYB7KQWJZDJD35GQKVFQC
- Story Text: Thousands of gauchos turn out to compete in South America's largest bucking bronco event.
It's a rodeo with a Latin American twist: the Semana Criolla in Uruguay attracts over 200,000 riders with their horses each year in the capital Montevideo for the country's traditional cowboy competitions.
Cowboys in this part of the world are called "gauchos" and all of the region's best are in town for the rodeo.
"For a horse rider, this is the Mecca of riding. It is the biggest riding event in all of South America. The best riders from Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil are here. It is a bit of healthy competition for us. Sometimes we might be competing in the same events here in Uruguay with the same competitors all the time, but this is a competition between horse and rider, not between Tom, Dick and Harry," said 34-year-old Alejandro Romero.
The bucking broncos come off the pole instead of out of a shoot like in North American rodeos.
Just as many Uruguayans leave the city for Easter week celebrations, the rodeo is a cowboy "invasion" of the capital and a chance for the city slickers to see the best of the country, where Uruguay's main agro-exports come from.
"This is a different kind of sport, a place for people to come together and enjoy themselves with the family. It is a tradition, here and in other countries," said 71-year-old Diamela Blanco.
Many foreign tourists also come to see the show.
"I am from the Philippines and it's my first time here and watching this rodeo event is really exciting, amazing, interesting. It's a one-of-a-kind experience for me," said tourist, Junior Carandang.
"It's really great how this kind of people coming from other countries do this stuff and to please all this crowd that is here today. And so it's very neat and it's a nice place to come here. And it's nice experience for me," said tourist Daryl Recto.
Each day 90 riders test out their riding prowess, the winner in each category taking away over $1200. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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