MANHATTAN, Kan. — Cattle drives have become a thing of the past... or so you thought.
On April 17th an old-fashioned tradition will make its return to the streets of Manhattan.
"The Aggieville Showdown is a national prospect cattle show that takes place in Manhattan," said Christian Calliham, a coordinator of the event. "It will start at the Riley County Fairgrounds where exhibitors will compete in three different categories, starting with showmanship, market beef and breeding heifers."
Judges will select the top six competitors of the market beef and breeding heifers categories to take part in a grand drive event on Moro Street in the heart of Aggieville.
The event will begin at 6:30 p.m., with the public encouraged to arrive around 6 o'clock to get settled in as well as to allow time to enjoy the great shops and restaurants in the Aggieville Businness District.
"They will come to a portable show arena that will be set up on Moro Street," Calliham explained. "We're going to have our opening ceremonies and then a fashion show that is going to detail shows and boutiques from across the nation and then a live performance from Lucas Maddy."
The Grand Drive will highlight the evenings festivities, where the public will get to observe the top animals in the event, as well as have the judges declare the winner of the Aggieville Showdown. Over $5,000 in cash prizes will be awarded during the main event.
"At the fairgrounds too, it's a jackpot style, so those animals who place first, second and third in their classes will actually get some jackpot money on top of it, but we will be paying out our top four in Aggieville, with the Grand Champions receiving a thousand dollars," said Calliham. "Reserve is $750, third is $500 and fourth is $250."
The events will be stationed with the pen and stage located on the west end of Moro, just in front of the Rally House.
"After that, we're also going to recognize our showmanship champion and our market beef and breeding heifer champions on stage with live interviews," said Calliham.
Some may wonder how the event is possible with cattle running loose in the streets, but Calliham ensured that the animals had all been trained to be led with a halter, so they won't just be roaming free from store to store down Moro.
Calliham is a Kansas State alum who studied Ag Business and marketing, and he says that while at K-State he interned with three of the four national livestock shows in the United States, and through that experience it spurred the idea to hold an event in Manhattan.
"That's where this idea started to stir," he said. "I was actually here with some friends in town one summer for an internship and we had all gotten together after work and were all just talking and having a good time when we just had a sporadic idea that we thought 'wouldn't it be cool if we could have a grand drive event right in the center of Aggieville.'"
That sporadic idea took on, and now the event will come together all throughout Manhattan, connecting the rural and urban settings that mix together in the culture of the Little Apple.
"What's going to be really cool is all the conversations that happen in those streets regarding the agriculture industry and the cattle industry and it will really expose a lot of people to our industry," said Calliham passionately. "Then, they can learn more about what we do and why we do it."
Those interested in more information on the event can visit AggievilleShowdown.com.