The Southern Roots Rabbit and Cavy Show is set Friday and Saturday at Maude Cobb Convention and Activity Center in Longview.

The Longview Exhibit Building at Maude Cobb Convention and Activity Center will be hopping with activity this weekend during the Southern Roots Rabbit & Cavy Shows.

Anita Matthews, club president, said the event draws more than 1,000 rabbits per show plus the extra ones people bring to sell.

“We (American Rabbit Breeders Association) have 50 different breeds, maybe 51 … normally not all of those breeds are represented,” she said. “But we are having what we call a rare breed specialty, which means it’s for the breeds that are rare, the breeds that not a lot of people work on. So, that will sometimes bring in some breeds that we normally don’t get.”

The theme for the rabbit show is “Cajuns Vs. Cowboys.”

“There was another club from Louisiana that was folding and wasn’t going to be a club anymore and … asked if I would be interested in taking over the name of the show and keeping it going,” Matthews said. “We’ve had it since then.”

During the show, each breed competes for Best of Breed, Best in Show and other awards.

“The ultimate goal is Best in Show and Reserve in Show. All of the winners in the Best of Breed from that day will go back in front of a judge and that judge will go through every rabbit and compare it to … what matches the standard of perfection,” Matthews said. “And then they will give three places to the top three rabbits represented by those breeds on the table at that time.”

Friday’s event will include a single show.

“The Best of Breeds will go up for open and compete against each other and then all of the Best of Breed winners for youth will compete against each other,” Matthews said. “Youth is separate from open. And then we’ll start all over again on Saturday. We’ll have two shows on Saturday so … will have two chances for going for Best of Breed and then Best in Show.”

Matthews said the club normally has two shows a year at Maude Cobb but they’re usually more spread out. This year, however, was different.

“We had one (show) right after the Fourth of July. Normally we don’t do a show in July but Maude Cobb Center called and said they had a two-week cancellation and they were just curious if we would like to fill the spot with a rabbit show,” she said. “So, I got with the other members of the club and we all voted yes and decided to throw in a last-minute show.”

Moving forward, Matthews said they will continue with the July shows.

“In 2023, we’ve decided we’re going to stick with the July show because everybody was happy to have a show in the summertime,” she said. “So, next year we’re going to have one in July and then the one we’re having this weekend, we bumped it up to November. So we’re going to have a fall show and a summer show and they will be spread out a little bit next time.”

Participants from all over take part in the Southern Roots Rabbit & Cavy Shows each year.

“We have people from Ohio, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Oklahoma,” Matthews said. “We call it ‘Cajuns Vs. Cowboys,’ but it’s not just Texas people against Louisiana people. It’s everybody.”

What: Southern Roots Rabbit & Cavy Shows

When: 6 p.m. Friday, 8 a.m. Saturday

Where: Longview Exhibit Center, 1123 Jaycee Drive, Longview

Admission: Free

Information: Anita Matthews, texasgirlie@yahoo.com