Durango Fiesta Days in Durango, Colorado, is as much a part of our mountain town as, well, the mountains. Or snow. Or rivers. Or the Durango train.

The annual summer rodeo and festival first began in the 1930s and has had many names over the years. First, it was known as Spanish Trails Fiesta then — in the 1960s — became the Navajo Trail Fiesta and, finally, in the 1980s, the event was renamed Durango Fiesta Days. No matter the name, the purpose has always been the same: to showcase local heritage and culture.

This year, the six-day festival kicks off with the 5th annual Snow Top Exceptional Rodeo at the La Plata County Fairgrounds, which is only three block from our Quality Inn Durango hotel. Every day of the festival features barrel racing, team roping and a variety of rodeo performances, and every day of Durango Fiesta Days also features, well, fiestas.

The Basin High School Rodeo Team barbecue, pie auction and street dance is Thursday, July 23, and the La Plata County Cowbelles Chuck Wagon Cookoff starts at 9 a.m. Friday, July 25, followed by the iconic Durango Fiesta Days Parade at 10 a.m. Later in the day, don’t miss the 2015 Queen Coronation or the “Music In The Mountains” concert and dance from 9-11 p.m. in the Exhibition Building.

Sunday, July 26, features Cowboy Church at the Fairgrounds grandstand followed by a pancake breakfast at 10 a.m. and more rodeo performances.

Whether you’re in Durango to enjoy the fiesta festivities or to compete in the rodeo events, you can search all the Durango hotels you want, but you can’t find a better place to stay than at the Durango Quality Inn. Our hotel is three blocks north of the fairgrounds on Main Avenue — only a 6-minute walk according to Google maps — so book your room with us today! Yee haw!