MITCHELL, SD (Mitchell Now) — For a retiring bullfighter, one last chance to participate in the Corn Palace Stampede Rodeo was an opportunity too good to pass up.
Kaleb Barrett recalls going to the rodeo as a child and falling in love with the action. He dreamed of riding the bulls himself one day, but injuries turned him into a bullfighter. Now he is tasked with charging at up to 1,800 pounds of muscle in a fit of fury and froth and protecting the riders he grew up idolizing.
Barrett is from Whitehall, Montana, on the western side of that gigantic state. Mitchell is a nearly 18-hour drive, but Barrett says the Corn Palace Stampede is worth the extra effort to be a part of it. He tells KMIT morning show host Mike Kelly, “I drive close to 18 hours to go to that event, and it’s for a reason, because it is awesome, and…the venue they have now, it is second to none. It is state of the art, and I’ve not seen it yet. I’m coming back. This is my finale year, my retirement year, and I was fortunate enough to get an opportunity to come back and work it one more time and see the new place, and I am stoked.”
Barrett has made the road trip to Mitchell at least 15 times in his career. His mentor had ties to here. “Part of our culture in the rodeo community, is…if you don’t reach down and give the young people that are coming up a hand, it’s really hard for someone to learn through the school of hard knocks…in our sport, and if you don’t have somebody to mentor you, it’s going to be extremely difficult.
“And I had those people come before me. There’s a guy named Al Sandvold that worked at Corn Palace Stampede for several years. He was my mentor. He found me at a practice at Bozeman, Montana, and he flew me to a bullfighting school and got me fundamentally sound…He took me under his wing, and I put in the work, and just did what he told me to do, and it turned out into a wonderful career. I’ve had an amazing, blessed career.”
Sandvold moved on to Sheridan, Wyoming, allowing Barrett to build a lasting relationship with Mitchell. Barrett beams, “Every community has their own unique rodeo and their own unique culture, and that’s what makes it all great….You get to come and be a part of that every year with all the really good people that put it on, all the fans that come out, and Mitchell has something special. I’ve said it for years and years, it is…unique.”
Four nights of PRCA rodeo take over Stampede Park July 16th through the 19th. Things really get going in advance on Tuesday, the 14th, with the Community Kick-Off BBQ at 5:00 p.m., which is free admission.
On top of the action at the rodeo grounds, there is the traditional Saturday morning parade down Main Street. Entries are judged with prizes available for those that best embody the 2026 theme, “America 250: Red, White, and Blue.”
Sunday is Family Fun Day. It starts with Cowboy Church, followed by a chili cook-off, and kids’ activities, such as a petting zoo, face painting, kids rides, and bounce houses. All activities are free, except for the chili sampling. A cup costs $2 and can be taken to as many crock pots as one’s stomach has room for.
Already, the city is beginning to transform for the event. Several Mitchell businesses sport windows decorated to tie into the rodeo. A link for tickets is here.