Western Slope Cowboy Gathering marks 10th anniversary

Oct 01, 2025 10:17AM ● By Diana Barnett

Cowboy hats, fiddles and poetry will soon fill Grand Junction’s Grand Valley Event Center as the Western Slope Cowboy Gathering celebrates its 10th anniversary October 31 and November 1. The weekend will showcase cowboy poetry and western music, free daytime performances, evening headliners and more.

Organizers say this year’s gathering will be the biggest yet. Daytime performances, which are free to the public, run Friday from noon to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Performers include the Arizona Wildflowers of four young siblings, two of which are multiple-time National Oldtime Fiddle Champions, along with Floyd and Valerie Beard, Bill Clark, Susie Knight, The Russellers, Rocky Sullivan, Joel Alden White and more.

Open mic sessions both days will give new voices a chance to break into the cowboy poetry circuit.

“Word of mouth goes a long way in the world of Western music and poetry,” said festival organizer Peggy Malone, 81, who will also perform alongside fellow organizers Terry Nash and Nona Kelley Carver.

Dave Stamey, Saturday’s headliner.

Friday night’s headliner will be Trinity Seeley of Ojai, California, a songwriter honored with the Western Music Association’s Song of the Year and Best Song from Western Writers of America. Saturday evening will feature Dave Stamey, a former cowboy, mule skinner and wrangler turned songwriter, widely recognized as one of the top western entertainers in the country. He was inducted into the Western Music Hall of Fame in 2016.

New this year is a cowboy poetry contest for kids, with winning entries to be read on Saturday night.

Now a favorite annual tradition, the gathering almost disappeared a decade ago when the original Grand Junction Cowboy Poetry Gathering ended after its organizer fell ill. Nash, Malone and Carver stepped in and launched the Western Slope Cowboy Gathering in 2015 to keep cowboy poetry and Western music alive locally.

Since then, the event has expanded in both reputation and size, moving from the Museum of the West to the larger Grand Valley Event Center, located at 2400 Consistory Court. Nash and Malone said top entertainers now eagerly travel to Grand Junction to perform.

“It’s great family entertainment,” said Nash, 73. “You won’t hear anything on stage that my grandma wouldn’t say.”

Trinity Seeley, Friday’s headliner.

Each year before the festival begins, Nash and his wife host a soup supper for more than 40 cowboy poets at their home.

“It becomes like a family reunion every time you attend,” said Nash.

Tickets for evening performances, which begin at 7 p.m., are $20 each or $30 for a weekend pass. Children under 10 are admitted free. Full schedules and tickets are available at WesternSlopeCowboy Gathering.com or at the door.