Longhorns on Main Street: Labor Day Weekend in Bandera Is the Round-Up

By Gordon Cook · July 19, 2026 · ← All posts

Some things you just have to see once in your life, and a herd of Texas longhorns coming right down the middle of a town's Main Street is one of them. Around here, that happens exactly once a year — and this year it's Saturday, September 5, when the Bandera Round-Up takes over the Cowboy Capital of the World for Labor Day weekend.

I know Labor Day feels a ways off. It isn't — it's the last long weekend of the summer, and everybody in Texas knows it. More on that in a minute.

The Round-Up: Longhorns, Ranch Rodeos & Three Days of Cowboy Tradition

The Bandera Round-Up is a full three-day celebration over Labor Day weekend, and the centerpiece is the Longhorn Cattle Drive & Parade on Saturday, September 5 at 11:00 AM, right through downtown at the courthouse on Main Street. It's free, it's open to everybody, and watching those big horns sway past the storefronts is about as Texas as it gets. The Bandera County Chamber of Commerce puts it on with the Bandera ProRodeo Association, and they do it right.

That's just the start of it. Round-Up weekend also brings:

• Ranch rodeos at Mansfield Park Arena — real working-cowboy competition, with a Women's Ranch Rodeo, a Men's Ranch Rodeo, and mutton bustin' for the little ones.
• Market days on the courthouse lawn — arts and crafts, Western artists, good food, and live music all weekend.
• Gunfighters and live entertainment downtown, because Bandera never needs much of an excuse.

The full schedule is still firming up, so check banderaroundup.org and the Bandera CVB events page as the weekend gets closer.

Ride in the Parade With Us

Now here's the part I'm most excited to tell you: Al's Hideaway will have a float in the parade this year — and every guest staying with us that weekend is welcome to climb aboard and ride it with us right down Main Street. All we ask is that you bring a bag of candy to throw out to the kids along the route. Not many folks get to say they rode in the Cowboy Capital's Labor Day parade. Our guests can.

A Word of Friendly Advice: Book the Holiday Now

Every year it's the same story. Somewhere around the third week of August, the phone starts ringing with folks looking for a cabin over Labor Day — and every year I have to tell too many of them we're full up. Holiday weekends are the first to go, and this one has longhorns attached to it.

So here's my advice, friend to friend: pick your dates now, while there's still a choice of cabins to be had.

And that goes double if a river float is on your summer list. The Medina, Guadalupe, and Frio are all within easy reach of us, and these next few weeks are prime tubing season — now is the time to make your reservations before those weekends fill up too.

Your Basecamp, 15 Minutes from the Action

Al's Hideaway sits in Pipe Creek, about 15 minutes from downtown Bandera — close enough to get a good spot on Main Street for the cattle drive, far enough that when the music winds down you come home to quiet hills and a sky full of stars.

We've got 13 handcrafted log cabins with real air conditioning, 10 full-hookup RV sites, and 9 cowboy campsites if you'd rather do the weekend the old-fashioned way. Bring the whole family, four-legged members included: we're pet-friendly with no pet fees, and no cleaning fees either. What you see is what you pay.

And while you're here, you'll be staying at the closest campground to the new Kronkosky State Natural Area — the brand-new state park taking shape just down Highway 46, set to open this fall.

Can't make Labor Day work? Circle Saturday, September 26 on your calendar instead — that's the Medina Lake Cajun Festival, and it's worth a trip all its own.

If a longhorn cattle drive sounds like the right way to send off the summer, don't sit on it — book your dates online or give us a call at 830-510-3331 and we'll get you set up.

Until then…

Happy Trails.
Be Safe & God Bless.
— Al