Casino brings weekend rodeo, concert stage to Westmoreland Mall parking lots in Hempfield

Looking from Route 30, the hustle and bustle at Westmoreland Mall in Hempfield this week appeared normal.

But nestled in a parking lot toward the back of the shopping center sat more than 1,000 tons of dirt surrounded by a dozen 50-foot bleachers standing upright.

The chirps of two skid loaders could be heard as workers formed the dirt into a rectangle, setting the stage for a rodeo that will take over the parking lot this weekend.

The Pro Bulls & Barrels Rodeo and Concert is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, the first event of its kind hosted by Live! Casino Pittsburgh.

“It’s really cool to watch, especially if you’ve never seen it,” said Shawn Zrowka, owner of Union County-based Rafter Z Rodeo, which was hired for the event. “A lot of times when we do these events, people (say), ‘Well I’m not a rodeo fan.’ You don’t need to be a rodeo fan to come be entertained.”

The event — which is costing the casino about $125,000 to host — will feature professional bull riding, barrel racing, trick ropers and rodeo clowns. Food trucks, as well as stations from the casino’s Guy Fieri’s American Kitchen + Bar and Sports & Social Steel City, will be on site. A kids corner will feature face painting, a balloon artist and more.

A concert also is scheduled for Saturday, featuring The Hobbs Sisters and Grammy-nominated country singer David Nail.

“We take pride in being an entertainment event center, not a casino,” said Sean Sullivan, Live’s general manager. “That’s why we have PBR. That’s why we’re building the event center for concerts and other things. This is an extension of that, as is the summerfest coming on the 16th of July, as is the car show on the 14th of August.”

First announced in April, the event required weeks of planning to ensure the 20,000-square-foot rodeo and concert venue are properly constructed.

In all, 40 tri-axles of dirt were hauled in from The Yard, a Unity-based landscaping company. A 52-foot tractor-trailer hauled the arena, which consists of fencing and an area where bulls will be housed before being led to one of the six bucking chutes.

The arena takes four workers as much as five hours to assemble.

Forty bulls and 30 horses are being brought from across the country. They will spend overnight hours at the Westmoreland Fairgrounds.

“They’ll do their run, they go back in the truck and then they spend the night at the fairgrounds,” Sullivan said. “We don’t want the animals around here, people near them, all that. Over in the fairgrounds, they’ll be able to relax.”

The event will draw dozens of riders to the region, including performers from Guatemala, Mexico, Brazil and Peru.

“The cool part about it is just the man hours in putting it together, starting with a blank slate and coming in,” Zrowka said. “When you come in here on Saturday (with) thousands of people and food trucks and employees and staff, when you look at people coming from all over the world to come to Greensburg, when you really look at the mass of it, it’s a really cool thing how far everybody’s traveling to come to this event.”

The rodeo runs from 3 to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Officials are expecting about 2,000 people on Saturday. Of that, 1,000 are expected to attend the concert, which begins at 8 p.m. Sunday’s rodeo could attract up to 1,500 people.

Both days will feature an awards ceremony for riders. Winners will take home a cash prize, trophy and belt buckle.

Crews will begin cleanup Sunday night. That will last until about mid-day Monday.

Tickets can be purchased online at https://pittsburgh.livecasinohotel.com/rodeo or at the gate.

“It’s not your typical rodeo. … There’s a lot of good music, a lot of high energy, crowd involved,” Zrowka said.