The Coronation Of Santa Maria’s 2026 Rodeo Queen

SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT) - The winner of the crown for the 83rd Elks Rodeo Queen was announced tonight.

The winner has an exciting year of networking and community outreach ahead of them.

The Santa Maria Elks Rodeo has been a tradition since the early 1940s, and the Rodeo Queen contest began later in the same decade.

Each candidate represents a local non-profit organization, and they campaign for the crown by raising money for their non-profit.

The candidate with the highest dollar amount raised for their organization is crowned Santa Maria Elks Rodeo Queen.

The chairman of the Rodeo Queen Contest Peter Sterling, says the candidates have been known to raise up to a million dollars in a period of six weeks.

The winner is announced during each year’s Friday night programming, and the queen makes her first appearance at the Elks Rodeo Parade on Saturday morning.

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