At the Southside Fall Festival Rodeo Friday night, good, clean fun never had such a strong odor.

But based on comments overheard at the Civic Arena box office, that scent wasn't a bad thing.

"Oh yeah! The smell of farm! I could smell that all day," exclaimed one young girl in line.

Actually, of the several hundred rodeo fans who showed up in time for the rodeo's opening festivities, many were children. The level of enthusiasm could be seen in their dress, which varied from the comfortable T-shirts and jeans to young boys decked out from the cowboy hats on their head to the spurs that jangled on their little boots as they ran up the arena walkway.

The music of country group Lady Antebellum played over the loudspeakers as Bridget Grace, 35, her son Elijah, 8, and daughter Elizabeth, 6, got seats close to the front of the arena, within spitting distance of horses and calves.

It's the start of a busy, fun-filled weekend for Ms. Grace that also includes stops at the Bishop LeBlond carnival and Southside Fall Festival. Her kids picked up a couple of new cowboy hats (a yearly rodeo purchase), and with the event beginning its second year at the Civic Arena location, Ms. Grace appreciates being away from the insects that bothered her son's allergies at the Stockyards Arena.

"Every year, we'd have to give him Benadryl, and then he'd fall asleep and miss it," she said with a laugh.

Other families traveled quite a distance to support rodeo competitors. Pam Huff's son, Wes, was competing in the steer wrestling event later that evening. She sat high in the rafters for a good view, with her granddaughter and Wes' little girl Hailey, 4, nestled in comfortably beside her. They drove two hours from southern Iowa to see Mr. Huff compete in one of the more than 40 rodeo competitions he's entered this summer. But even if her son wasn't entered in taking down livestock, she says she'd still find herself at an event like this with the kids.

"(There's) not a lot of violence. It's a family atmosphere," she said.

Across the dirt-covered arena floor, as a rodeo clown kept the crowd entertained between events, 33-year-old Matt McBride sat with his son, Andrew, and daughter, Stephanie, snacking on giant pretzels. Both are 10 years old, and both light up with laughter as a cowboy later storms out of the gate, getting jostled on a bucking horse.

"The kids love the animals," Mr. McBride said.

Especially Andrew. He loves the bull riding and would like to take a sheep home as a pet (along with a plastic toy gun from the souvenir stand). As Andrew giggles watching cowboys try their hand in the steer-roping competition, Mr. McBride appreciates what the rodeo offers his kids.

"It gets them out and about," he said. "Half the time, they're sitting at home playing Xbox."

Blake Hannon can be reached at blakehannon@npgco.com.

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Festival events

Today

* 10 a.m. - Parade begins on King Hill Plaza, travels north on King Hill Avenue, turns on Illinois Avenue and ends at Carnegie Library.

* 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. - Festival at Hyde Park.

* 7 p.m. - Rodeo at Civic Arena.

Sunday

* 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. - Festival at Hyde Park.