West Georgia residents are in for a rootin’ tootin’ time this weekend at the Villa Rica Civic Center and Sports Complex on Highway 61 as the professional rodeo circuit comes to town for what has become an annual event.

The second annual Villa Rica Frontiers’ Rodeo, a sanctioned event of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA), takes place Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. Doors will open at 5 p.m. with a vendor area that will feature activities that will continue throughout the event.

“This is actually the type of thing that we purchased this park for,” Villa Rica Parks and Recreation Director Jeff Reese said.

Advance tickets costing $11 for adults and $6 for children ages 6-12 will be available through today at Don-Rich Ford, E.T. Doyal & Sons and Venus Tan in Villa Rica and Wallace Farm Supply in Carrollton. Children under 6 years old will be admitted for free.

Tickets will also be available at the door for an additional $2.

While last year’s rodeo drew an estimated 6,500 spectators over the course of the two-day event, organizers are expecting nearly 8,000 this year. To accommodate such large crowds, seating is available in bleachers around the arena and on the hillside overlooking the arena.

“There should be enough room for everyone who wants to come out,” General Manager Clint Chance said. “We’ve tried to expand it as best as we can. We’re expecting a huge crowd and the weather is supposed to be nice.”

The rodeo will feature contestants competing in saddle bronco riding, bareback riding, team roping, tie-down roping, steer wrestling, ladies barrel racing and bull-riding competitions to earn points toward the PRCA national finals later this year.

Both nights will include the same events, but with different cowboys competing for prizes and points.

“It’s a full house as far as riders,” Chance said.

Chance added that in the two years he has held rodeos in Villa Rica he has had no shortage of riders. the rodeo allows participants to build up points for the national championship, and the purse for each event includes an additional $1,000 on top of the entrance fees for each event.

“That definitely helps draw in the cowboys and cowgirls,” he said.

To show that the rodeo isn’t all about man-handling livestock, there will be other activities available throughout the night in the vendor area, including a mechanical bull, a rock climbing wall and pony rides.

A new attraction this year will be a tug-of-war featuring women.

“We were going to have some high school kids do it, but we thought a ladies’ tug-of-war is something you don’t see every day,” Chance said. “Other than that, it’s going to be basically the same fun event as last year.”

Food concessions for the event will be handled by Villa Rica Parks and Rec, which will keep all the funds to help boost the park system, and Villa Rica High School students will collect $1 for parking with the funds going toward the school. Last year, Villa Rica High received about $2,500 from parking and other donations.

“That’s two big things in the community that benefit from this event,” Chance said.