The Celebration has been giving thousands of horse show tickets to the students for the past several years, but this year the Celebration Board took a different approach in an attempt to reach the masses and it worked.

In the past, the Celebration has given out tickets, with each school having a designated night. This year, students were given the option to use their free ticket whatever night they chose and the result was indeed positive. 

“We have had drawings for the school that had the most tickets turned in and give that school prizes, but we only at the most had about 300 students,” said Connie Allen on behalf of the Celebration.“

This year, 1046 student tickets were redeemed throughout the 11-night event, which the Board felt was a good return.

“Last year’s Equine Education Day was a huge hit,” said Howard, explaining that was one factor the Board considered prior to making the change. “Combined with overall positive season within the industry, we feel like the response from students was much better this year.”

In addition to giving schools tickets to distribute, the local Boys & Girls Club was also given tickets to distribute among their students.