Shepherd of the Hills Offers Fun Fall Festivals and Shows in Branson, MO

Sons of the Pioneers

Sons of the Pioneers

First created by Roy Rogers in 1934, the tradition of the original members is brought to you with the Sons of the Pioneers Dinner and Show by this group of individuals.

If you like fall festivals you will love the Ozarks Fall Round-Up Cowboy Gathering set for October 14-17. It will be a celebration of legend, lore, legacy, and lifestyles of the great American cowboy with food, craftsmanship, song, and story set in the heart of the Ozark Mountain country. The grand finale will be a special tribute to the seventy years of continuous harmony of The Sons of the Pioneers on Saturday night.

Daytime Activities:

Each day begins with a breakfast trail ride featuring a hot cowboy breakfast of eggs, bacon and ham, hash browns, biscuits and gravy, cowboy coffee, juice and water, cooked over an open fire. Accompanying this hearty breakfast will be cowboy poetry, storytelling, and music making your morning all the more pleasant. If you don't feel you can take a horseback ride that early in the morning through Dogwood Canyon, a guided breakfast tram tour is available.

Evening Activities:

Nighttime is when this festival really turns on the entertainment with a different show every evening. On Thursday you will see the most widely performed outdoor drama in America: The Shepherd of the Hills. This amazing show will come to life with horses, mules, a donkey, and a flock of sheep, along with buggies and wagons, eighty actors and actresses all performed on a set the size of a football field. A love story, a mystery and lots of comedy are combined to create a wonderful Pioneer Western, based on a play written a century ago and depicting real people of the region.

Friday night will really put you in the cowboy spirit with The Last Cowboy. R.W. Hampton's award-winning play "Wrangler"  tells the story of the great American icon from a historical viewpoint beginning right after the Civil War, when cowboys began to ride, through their Silver Screen period, all the way to the cowboys of today. Young and old will enjoy this play that will bring out the cowboy in you. Saturday night will bring you the big finale with The Sons of the Pioneers, founded by Roy Rogers in 1934. This group has become American icons singing the "Pioneer Sound" that they are known for. For this performance you will help them celebrate seventy years of continuous entertainment. They remain the longest continuous performing group of all time, and are the standard for which all Western groups are measured.

You will not want to miss this festival of song, and living history all served up with food that will make the cowboy in you sing. This will be a weekend that will bring you memories to be thought about and talked about for years to come.