Genoa Cowboy Poetry & Music Festival

Genoa is a small town below the Sierra Nevada mountains. It is filled with local history and surrounded by ranches. There  are plenty of cowboys.

We visited their second Cowboy Poetry and Music Festival, and it was, from start to finish, a treat. There were plenty of cowboys, talented cowboy poets, gifted musicians and craftsmen, horsemen, and cooks. Both locals and visitors demonstrated a love for and appreciation of the western lifestyle.


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The citizens of Genoa were warm, and welcoming and clearly having a lot of fun.


There were artisans.

Master boot-maker with his favourite boot.

His custom boots can cost over $3,000.

This woman wove horse hair bands for hats

 

Aboriginal weavers

Blacksmith

Poets conducting workshops.

Doris Daley is a Canadian cowboy poet from Alberta. Check out her website .

Horse rides and cowboy cuisine

Cowboy grub- darn tootin'!

 and, of course, the entertainers:

the poets

the musicians,

and a.... um... comedian.

and plenty of cowboy wisdom:

We learned that cowboys may look tough on the outside but they can be soft romantics on the inside. 

And we learned how proud these communities are of their cowboy way of life. 

Cowboy culture is alive and well in Genoa, Nevada and it was a blast to take this quick tour.