Christmas in Cowtown will not take place in person in 2020.
Photo courtesy of Junior League of Fort Worth
A cherished Fort Worth holiday tradition is the latest sad cancellation to result from ongoing concerns about the coronavirus pandemic. Junior League of Fort Worth has called off its in-person Christmas in Cowtown Holiday Gift Market, which was to have taken place at the Will Rogers complex in October.
But hope is not lost. A release says that the organization still will present an "adapted opportunity for shoppers to find gifts for nearly everyone on your Christmas list by crafting virtual experiences and partnerships and engaging in innovative ways to support the merchants and vendors during this challenging time."
While the JLFW board voted unanimously to cancel the in-person shopping event, organizers are working hard to create a safe and worthwhile virtual experience that keeps volunteers, patrons, and merchants as the main focus, they say.
“Everyone is experiencing the hardships of living through a pandemic — both organizationally and personally," says JLFW president Amber Robertson in the release. "Thriving during COVID-19 is requiring us to think outside the box, and solutions to some of the challenges we face are requiring creativity. I believe in each of us, in this League, and in our community, and I’m confident that we can thrive with perseverance and grace and continue to serve our community through whatever this year brings."
Proceeds from Christmas in Cowtown go toward Junior League's many civic initiatives throughout Fort Worth. A reimagined, temporary adaptation of Christmas in Cowtown will give the league, which is over 90 years old, an opportunity to continue those vital efforts, they say.
Additional details on the newly imagined event will be coming soon. For more details, visit their website.
"The Junior League of Fort Worth and the Christmas in Cowtown team extend best wishes for everyone’s health and safety during these unprecedented and uncertain times," the organization says.
British royals Mike and Zara Tindall (from left) pose on the mechanical bull at Billy Bob's Texas in Fort Worth.
Zara and Mike Tindall, prominent members of the British royal family, just visited Fort Worth and did the most Cowtown thing possible: posed for pics on the "rodeo bull" at Billy Bob's Texas.
According to an enthusiastic Daily Mail article headlined "The Tindalls take USA! Zara Tindall unleashes her inner cowgirl during wild Texan night out before husband Mike heads to the Super Bowl," the couple was at Billy Bob's with singer John Osborne (of Brothers Osborne), who shared their photo on his Instagram account with the caption "Grab life by the plums."
They were accompanied by Osborne's wife, singer-songwriter Lucie Silvas, as well as retired England rugby union player Lewis Moody and his wife, Annie, the Daily Mail reports.
Zara Tindall is the daughter of Princess Anne and granddaughter of the late Queen Elizabeth II. She is the niece of King Charles III and cousin of Prince William and Harry. Her husband, Mike Tindall, is a former rugby star in England. They live on a royal estate in England but do not carry royal titles, nor are they working members of the royal family.
They do, however, exercise some "soft diplomacy" by making high-profile visits that shine a positive light on the royal family around the world. In this case, the Mail says, during this U.S. visit, one or both of the Tindalls also traveled to Santa Clara, California, for the Super Bowl on Sunday, February 8. (Mike posted a photo from the event to his Instagram stories, but Zara was not in it.)
For their night out at Billy Bob's, they blended in with the crowd. "The mother-of-three donned a casual outfit, including a classic white T-shirt, dark denim jeans and a black cowboy hat, that screamed 'countrycore,'" The Daily Mail said cutely.
Mike was also dressed in a brown shirt and jeans, but appears to be wearing sneakers. (Maybe a boot-shopping trip to M.L. Leddy's or Lucchese in the Stockyards is in order before their next visit.)
The couple reportedly continued their evening at a private residence.
It's not the first time a member of the British royal family has visited the Fort Worth Stockyards. In March 2022, Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, covertly attended the Championship Rodeo at the Cowtown Coliseum.
Prince Harry hung out with cowboys in the Stockyards in 2022. Twitter Omid Scobie
While it's not immediately clear why the Tindalls visited Billy Bob's or Fort Worth in general, it made for amusing conversation on The Daily Mail's royal-focused "Palace Confidential" podcast on February 12. The chat went like this:
Host Jo Elvin: "Princess Anne's daughter, Zara, and her husband, Mike Tindall, were in Texas, the city of Fort Worth to be precise, and appropriately enough, given they were in a place called Cowtown, where they are riding a mechanical bull at a local honky-tonk bar called Billy Bob's. Rebecca, there's a sentence I never imagined I'd be concocting. Tell us about this trip."
Daily Mail royal editor Rebecca English: "I love the way you pronounce honky-tonk. You sound very posh when you do it." English went on to describe the Tindalls as having "gone out for a bit of a jolly" and "having a lark around on a giant bull."
"I mean, why wouldn't you," English says.
"Now I know we have a lot of viewers from Texas," Elvin says. "So tell us in the comments below did you catch a glimpse of the Tindalls and what is the best technique for riding a mechanical bull?"
"And what is Cowtown?" English asks. "And what is a honky-tonk bar?"
CultureMap Fort Worth is here to help our friends across the pond. While we've posed plenty of times on that Billy Bob's bull (which is not actually a mechanical bull but a stuffed rodeo-bull photo prop), we can't speak to the best technique for riding one.
But we can let you know why Fort Worth is called Cowtown, straight from a Visit Fort Worth FAQ: "Kicking off what would be a three-month trek to Kansas, cattle drovers would make one final stop to Fort Worth to purchase supplies. And after the 500-mile journey home after delivery, Fort Worth welcomed them with the first chance to rest and spend their earnings ..."During WWI, the Fort Worth Stockyards was the largest horse and mule market in the world. From cattle drive to auction, there were always plenty of cattle and cowboys in Fort Worth, hence the name."
As for the answer to "What is a honky tonk?," pish posh! Come on over to Fort Worth and we'll meet up at Billy Bob's for a cold beer and two-step across the dance floor under the rhinestone saddle, and let you see for yourself. Don't forget your boots.
Prince Harry hung out with cowboys in the Stockyards in 2022. Twitter Omid Scobie 