PRESTON – This year, That Famous Preston Night Rodeo has a new twist. The Rodeo Queens are sisters. Julian Christensen, 16, is this year’s Queen and her sister Greenlee, 14, is the Jr. Queen. The two locals have earned their place in Preston rodeo history.

Cheryl Kimball, a rodeo committee member, said they deserved it.

“I’ve been involved with our rodeo forever, and this is the first time I can remember the Queen and Jr. Queen being local and sisters,” she said. “We’ve had family members, but I think this is the first time we’ve had sisters.”

“They deserved it. They were judged by three good judges,” she added. “We had six competitors and the Christensen girls were really good in the interview and the horsemanship part of the competition.”

There have been family members who were queen and junior queen, but never sisters.

“This is a cool experience to be a part of this rodeo,” Julian said. “We’ll be representing the people we know and love in our hometown.”

She has competed in middle school and high school rodeo roping competitions.

Greenlee prefers pushing cows on their Birch Creek ranch to racing in an arena.

“I’m glad we were able to do this together,” Greenlee said. “It was tough competing with the other girls, but I’m happy with how it turned out.”

The famous Preston Night Rodeo begins on Thursday, August 1st and runs through Saturday, August 3rd. The famous Preston Night Rodeo claims to be the oldest night rodeo this side of the Mississippi.

Each of the three nights, the pre-rodeo events begin at 8:00 p.m.

The famous Preston Night Rodeo started in 1934 and has been held every year since then, except one year during the war and one year during COVID.

This battle of cattle and cowboys is Franklin County’s biggest event and celebration of the year. There are three full days of parades, horses, ropes, barrels and bulls. Year after year there is a ton of action, entertainment, carnival rides, food trucks and sidewalk sales for visitors to enjoy.

This rodeo attracts some of the biggest names in the industry and they have expanded the capacity to 6,100 new seats so more people can enjoy the fun.

Each night of the rodeo has a theme. Thursday is “Man Up: Domestic Abuse Awareness and Prevention.” The color is purple.

Friday is “Patriot Night.” The colors are red, white and blue. Saturday is “Celebrate Cowboy Night.”

This year’s rodeo parade begins at 6:00 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. This year’s Grand Marshals are Steve and Myrna Fuller.

JJ Harrison is back as a barrel man and clown. He is one of the most sought after barrel men in the rodeo business. He is as much an improviser and stand-up comedian as he is a barrel man.

There is a chuckwagon breakfast from 7am to 10am

Last year, Preston’s rodeo was inducted into the Idaho Rodeo Hall of Fame.

For more information about That Famous Preston Night Rodeo, visit prestonrodeo.com.