CLEVELAND — There’s a rodeo coming to town for Rowan County residents and everyone’s invited.

The Cleveland Rodeo, located at Livengood Arena at 875 Redmon Road, will be held on June 10 and 11, opening each night at 6 p.m.

Sharon Livengood, the organizer of the event, explained that the annual festivities began eleven years ago after over 25 years of involvement on the rodeo circuit as her husband competed around North America.

This year, Livengood is expecting 300 contestants from all over the Southeast to compete in eight different events. While she always thought the event would do well, it has more than exceeded expectations with the rodeo drawing crowds of around 1,000-1,200 visitors each night in recent years.

The crowds regularly include people of all ages and there’s entertainment to be found even for those who may not have previous experience following bull riding.

Rebekah Brown, the finance officer and social media coordinator for Cleveland, has been to the rodeo for each of the past 10 years and calls it “an event you don’t want to miss!”

For the first time, the rodeo will also be hosting food trucks, giving the public a chance to try a variety of new dining options as multiple trucks will be serving up everything from refreshments to desserts.

General admission tickets are $20, with children under the age of 6 being welcome free of charge. As always, the event itself will be cash only and entertainment outside of the bull riding will include pony rides, a bounce house and more.

For those interested in learning more about the rodeo, information can be found online at www.facebook.com/ClevelandRodeo.