The Ten Sleep Rodeo Association will kick off the Big Horn Basin’s celebrations with its 78th annual Fourth of July Rodeo starting at 5 p.m. Monday, July 3 at the Ten Sleep Rodeo Grounds. On the Fourth, the rodeo performance will begin at 1:30 p.m.

Ten Sleep’s Fourth of July Parade will begin at 10 a.m., with this year’s theme as “Yankee Doodle Dandy.” The Ten Sleep-Hyattville Lions Club Pony Express will arrive in time to start the parade, with an estimated 26 riders dedicated to carrying pre-purchased commemorative envelopes 17 miles between Hyattville and Ten Sleep.

A Craft Fair will be in Ten Sleep Town Park from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the Fourth, with a variety of food and vendors to join the crafters selling their wares. Perla Martinez, the event’s organizer, suggested that celebrators could enjoy an outdoor fair during the day before taking on the nighttime festivities.

“I’m thankful the community we live in supports these kinds of events. From the setup crew all the way down to the customers and the public and the community, I’m thankful that we all support each other,” she said, noting that 18 vendors had signed up for this year’s event, a large number for a small town.

On both July 3 and July 4, the Ten Sleep Street Dance will be on Main Street starting at 9 p.m. The Terry Waugh Band of Buffalo will play their country and southern rock covers. Organizer Ann Brock of Richard Realty pitched the event as entertainment for the whole family.

“It’s kind of a one-of-a-kind experience. Street dances are kind of going by the wayside, there’s fewer and fewer nowadays. It’s kind of a tradition,” she said.

Fireworks will not be provided in Ten Sleep this year, as organizers have struggled to find a location where they feel safe setting them off. Rachel Casteel noted that Ten Sleep Brewery had asked that fireworks be ignited on the cliffs rather than by their pond this year, and she did not feel comfortable without the water source nearby.

In Thermopolis, fireworks will be set off on T-Hill at dusk, estimated between 8 and 9 p.m. Basin will allow its residents to ignite fireworks until 10 p.m. on the Fourth of July.

The Town of Greybull will be hosting its Fourth in the Park event, with music by The Rewinders starting at 6 p.m. in the Greybull City Park. Dalins’ BBQ and other local vendors will provide food, with money raised from the barbecue going toward the fireworks fund. Fireworks will be lit on the bluffs starting after dusk, around 10 p.m.

FIREWORKS AT THE PIT

The City of Worland will not provide Fourth of July entertainment and does not allow fireworks within city limits, but fireworks will again be permitted at the public pit. The city and Washakie County have approved use of the first gravel pit along the road to the landfill northwest of Worland for the public to discharge fireworks at July 3-5. Fireworks use is permitted only within the gravel pit, not on the Fifteen Mile Road or gravel pits north of the landfill.  

“This gravel pit is a good location because it poses a low risk for a wildfire start,” said BLM Worland Field Manager Mike Phillips.

Worland Volunteer Fire Department Chief Chris Kocher noted that his crews will be covering the area each night July 3-5 from around 6:30 p.m. to midnight. As an extra precaution during the holiday weekend, the Wind River/Bighorn Basin BLM District fire crew will staff engines throughout the district to provide a quick response if any wildfires are started by fireworks.

BLM Public Affairs official Sarah Beckwith reported that BLM will begin their temporary fire ban exception July 2 for the Worland pit, so that people have a weekend day to enjoy their fireworks. The BLM fire staff will begin patrolling the area at that time and continue through July 5.

Those shooting off fireworks at the pit are asked to properly dispose of litter and avoid the portions of the gravel pit that have been reclaimed and reseeded to allow for the re-establishment of vegetation in sensitive areas.  

“We need people to help pick up after themselves, pick up their spent and used fireworks and dispose of them in the dumpsters placed around the area just for that,” Chief Kocher said. “The cleanup of the spent fireworks takes a lot of time, certainly. We encourage folks to help us help them to continue to have a place year after year to discharge these fireworks.”

“Fireworks are a great American pastime celebrating our Fourth of July, but we do want people to handle them responsibly,” Kocher added. He noted that the fire department advocates against the discharge of handheld fireworks and that children should be supervised during the holiday celebrations.

“I hope everyone enjoys a safe Fourth of July,” Phillips said.