Thousands flock to Bandera for MARDI GRAS

All the stars were in alignment to make the 17th Annual Cowboy Mardi Gras Celebration the best and biggest in Bandera history.

With weather bringing clear bright sunshine filled skies with just a hint of breeze to temper the warmth, crowds came out to Bandera to celebrate, listen to music, eat gumbo and enjoy the parade. Locals estimated the crowd on

Locals estimated the crowd on Main Street to top two thousand, while another source estimated the total number of visitors over the whole weekend numbered 20,000.

Most places along the parade route had viewers seven and eight deep. Some old timers even compared it favorably to the highly successful 2017 celebration.

The Bandera Cattle Company Gunfighters started the parade by re-enacting the famous Bandera Bank robbery and its chase of the robbers from the turn of the century. The crowds were mesmerized by the action, taking video and pictures of the event.

Over 100 entries in the parade made for a long but festive event. The parade, which lasted well over an hour, had a variety of local businesses and families participating, with entries running the gamut from mounted riders, antique cars, light utility vehicles, groups walking the route, motorcyclists, and trailer floats to a man pedaling a bicycle.

Most groups threw favors of beads or candy to the crowd. Children and adults eagerly scrambled to get beads as each new float passed by.

Patricia Moore, Executive Director of the Bandera Convention and Visitors Bureau, commented the “impact on the local Bandera economy was very favorable.”

Many businesses were overwhelmed with customers. Holiday visitors were spending their time and money in local eateries and stores.

Moore mentioned Bandera’s short term rental business was booming this weekend as she listed all the overages at local RV parks, hotels and bed and breakfasts.

She also mentioned local realtors would also see an impact on their business as new visitors look to Bandera for a vacation or retirement home.

“James McGroarty has done a huge service to our community by developing this into a statewide and even nationally recognized event,” Moore stated.

The Bull Riding event offered at Mansfield Park also exceeded expectations as both sides of the arena were filled with spectators. The numbers at that event topped the summer Friday night rodeo series numbers easily.