Denver’s National Western Stock Show sees 684,600 visitors

Bundled up against near-zero temperatures and a light snow, a worker tries to dry off cattle from the Bar Arrow Cattle Company in Phillipsburg, Ks., for display in the stockyard as stock growers arrive for the start of the 111th annual National Western Stock Show and Rodeo Thursday, Jan. 5, 2017, in Denver. Stockgrowers and rodeo riders from across the country and Canada will take part in the 16-day show, which is one of the largest of its kind staged in North America. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

DENVER (AP) — Denver’s 111th annual National Western Stock Show has wrapped up with attendance slightly lower last year, but event officials say improvements to the stock show complex and surrounding area will pave the way for higher attendance next year.

The Denver Post reports more than 684,000 people attended the show, which finished Sunday and featured several events, including pony rides for children and horses tugging 8-ton sleds.

Attendance was down from 2016, when the show had its second-highest attendance ever with more than 686,000 visitors.

There’s expected to be more traffic near the stock show complex next year thanks to a voter-approved $1.2 billion overhaul of the facility and the planned replacement of an Interstate 70 viaduct.

The show’s chief executive, Paul Andrews, says the improvements will mean easier access to the event.

Information from: The Denver Post, http://www.denverpost.com