One afternoon, one district
The 2026 Red Steagall Cowboy Gathering ran Oct. 23 to 25 in the Fort Worth Stockyards. The Stockyards billed the 2026 edition as 35 years of the gathering. Friday, Oct. 23 carried the schedule a corporate team could use: a 2 p.m. start, a 7:30 p.m. rodeo and a 9:30 p.m. close.
The Friday sequence
Noon: chuck wagons arrived into camp on Exchange Avenue.
2 to 5 p.m.: Cowboy Gathering Celebration hosted by Schaefer Outfitter.
2:15 p.m.: Red Steagall signed copies of Texas Red at Schaefer Outfitter. The schedule noted limited quantities.
2:30 to 3:15 p.m.: Cowboy Poetry at RFD-TV Studios. Ticketed.
3:30 to 6:30 p.m.: Cowboy Music at RFD-TV Studios. Ticketed.
4 to 7 p.m.: Sip and Shop with Gail Steagall at Double D Ranch.
7:30 to 9:30 p.m.: Ranch Rodeo at Cowtown Coliseum. Ticketed.
Which blocks carried no ticket
The gathering marked ticketed events with an asterisk. On Friday the asterisk sat on Cowboy Poetry, Cowboy Music and the Ranch Rodeo. The Schaefer Outfitter celebration and the Sip and Shop ran without one. A team that wanted an afternoon free of ticket commitments took the 2 to 5 p.m. block and the 4 to 7 p.m. block, then bought seats for the 7:30 p.m. rodeo.
The 2:15 signing set the meet point
The book signing began 15 minutes into the Schaefer Outfitter celebration. A team that landed in the morning and walked into Schaefer Outfitter at 2 p.m. was in the room when the signing started and stayed for the rest of the celebration. Those three hours needed no separate booking.
Names on the Friday tickets
The Friday Roundup package covered admission to the Friday ranch rodeo and listed premium seating and group ticket options. The Ballads & Brands Pass covered Friday daytime entertainment at RFD-TV Studio, including Cowboy Music and Cowboy Poetry. Ranch Rodeo and Western Swing Dance tickets came through the Cowtown Coliseum Box Office at (817) 625-1025. The gathering sold tickets at redsteagallcowboygathering.com.
Five properties for the Friday night
The gathering's schedule page listed five places to stay, each with a published phone number: SpringHill Suites by Marriott, 2315 N. Main St., 76164, 682-255-5100; Courtyard Fort Worth Historic Stockyards, 2537 N. Main St., 76164, 817-624-1112; Hyatt Place Fort Worth Historic Stockyards, 132 E. Exchange Ave., 76164, 817-626-6000; TownePlace Suites, 805 E. Belknap St., 76102, 817-332-6300; Country Inn and Suites, 2200 Mercado Dr., 76106, 817-831-9200.
The bookMyTeam directory lists 255 hotels in Fort Worth and publishes no nightly rate at any of them. The directory's own guidance puts most group rates at 10 or more rooms a night, with some properties discounting from five rooms depending on season and availability.
What went in the request
Four items covered the Friday booking: the headcount, the 2 p.m. arrival at Schaefer Outfitter, the seat count for the 7:30 p.m. ranch rodeo, and the room block for the night. The Fort Worth hotel directory carries the property list. The group rate request takes the dates, the room count and the per-night target. The group rate calculator runs the numbers against the team's own dates.
The gate read the gathering's pages on Oct. 26, after the event closed.
