Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo: By the Numbers
• 2007 general attendance: 1,806,129
• Volunteers: 19,000
• 2008 educational commitment: more than $10.6 million
• 2007 wine auction total: $775,500
• 2007 Grand Champion Steer sale price: $300,000
• 2007 Grand Champion Wine: $125,000 for Clos du Bois, Marlstone, Alexander Valley, 2003

It starts with the clatter of horses' hooves.

Some 6,000 riders--many of whom left home days, even weeks, in advance--stream into Houston from every corner of the region. Traffic helicopters swarm overhead. Crowds gather to watch the cavalcade as it skirts the edge of the traffic-clogged streets. News of their arrival sends a current of excitement through the city.

On Saturday, when horses and riders from all 13 trail rides, along with a collection of colorful floats and marching bands, finally roll into downtown for a grand parade, everyone in the city knows. The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is set to begin.

Lasso Some Fun
For more than three weeks, rodeo fever consumes the city. Nearly 2 million visitors pour in from around the world for this all-out, Texas-size celebration. It may seem over the top, but this is no two-bit show for down-on-their-luck cowboys. This is the world's largest, with only the top 50 competitors invited and a prize purse of more than $1.3 million.

What's more, the rodeo is accompanied by a huge stock show, a spectacular carnival with dizzying rides and every fried food imaginable, and a nightly concert series with a star-studded lineup. It takes a small city of volunteers--about 19,000 in all--to organize and run the event.

Big and Bright
Even if everything is bigger in Texas, as natives are quick to point out, it's still a surprise to some that the world's largest rodeo and stock show resides in Houston. This metropolis left its cow town image in the dust years ago. With an economy built on energy, aerospace, and technology, it's now the fourth largest city in the nation.

Yet deep in the heart of every Texan lies the soul of a cowboy. It's more than an occupation. It's an attitude, and that's what built this place. Even if they've never ridden the range or herded cattle, folks here see this event as a way to celebrate Houston's Western heritage.

"The rodeo brings this city together," says The Rev. James M.L. Grace of Houston's Episcopal Church of the Epiphany, who was tapped to bless the annual wine auction. "It brings people of different backgrounds together to raise money for education, to celebrate the beauty of life, and honestly, to have a real good time."