The Calgary Stampede is an annual
rodeo,
exhibition, and
festival
A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival ...
held every July in
Calgary,
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
, Canada. The ten-day event, which bills itself as "The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth", attracts over one million visitors per year and features one of the world's largest rodeos, a
parade,
midway,
stage show
A theatrical production is any work of theatre, such as a staged play, musical, comedy or drama produced from a written book or script. Theatrical productions also extend to other performance designations such as Dramatic and Nondramatic theatre, a ...
s,
concert
A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variet ...
s, agricultural competitions,
chuckwagon racing
Chuckwagon racing is an equestrianism, equestrian rodeo sport in which drivers in a chuckwagon led by a team of Thoroughbred horses race around a track. The sport is most popular in the Prairie Provinces of Canada, where the World Professional Ch ...
, and
First Nations
First Nations or first peoples may refer to:
* Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area.
Indigenous groups
*First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including:
**First Natio ...
exhibitions. In 2008, the Calgary Stampede was inducted into the
ProRodeo Hall of Fame
The ProRodeo Hall of Fame and Museum of the American Cowboy was opened in August 1979 as a museum designed to "preserve the legacy of the cowboy contests, the heritage and culture of those original competitions, and the champions of the past, pr ...
.
The event's roots are traced to 1886 when the Calgary and District Agricultural Society held its first fair. In 1912, American promoter
Guy Weadick
George Guy Weadick (February 23, 1885 – December 13, 1953) was an American cowboy, performer and promoter. Today, he is best known as the founder of the Calgary Stampede in Alberta, Canada. He was married to famed cowgirl, Florence LaDue. Wead ...
organized his first rodeo and festival, known as the Stampede. He returned to Calgary in 1919 to organize the Victory Stampede in honour of soldiers returning from
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. Weadick's festival became an annual event in 1923 when it merged with the Calgary Industrial Exhibition to create the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede.
Organized by thousands of volunteers and supported by civic leaders, the Calgary Stampede has grown into one of the world's richest rodeos, one of Canada's largest festivals, and a significant tourist attraction for the city. Rodeo and chuckwagon racing events are televised across Canada. However, both have been the target of increasing international criticism by
animal welfare groups and politicians concerned about particular events as well as
animal rights
Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their Utilitarianism, utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding s ...
organizations seeking to ban rodeo in general.
Calgary's national and international identity is tied to the event. It is known as the "Stampede City", carries the informal nickname of "Cowtown", and the local
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...
team is called the
Stampeders. The city takes on a party atmosphere during Stampede: office buildings and storefronts are painted in cowboy themes, residents don
western wear
Western wear is a category of men's and women's clothing which derives its unique style from the clothes worn in the 19th century Wild West. It ranges from accurate historical reproductions of American frontier clothing, to the stylized garment ...
, and events held across the city include hundreds of pancake breakfasts and
barbecues.
History
![Program for 1912 Calgary Stampede](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/Program_for_1912_Calgary_Stampede.jpg)
The Calgary and District Agricultural Society was formed in 1884 to promote the town and encourage farmers and ranchers from eastern Canada to move west. The society held its first
fair two years later, attracting a quarter of the town's 2,000 residents.
By 1889, it had acquired land on the banks of the
Elbow River
The Elbow River is a river in southern Alberta, Canada. It flows from the Canadian Rockies to the city of Calgary, where it merges into the Bow River.
Course
The Elbow River originates at Elbow Lake in the Front Range of the Canadian Rocky ...
to host the exhibitions, but crop failures, poor weather, and a declining economy resulted in the society ceasing operations in 1895. The land passed briefly to future
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
R. B. Bennett who sold it to the city. The area was called
Victoria Park Victoria Park may refer to:
Places Australia
* Victoria Park Nature Reserve, a protected area in Northern Rivers region, New South Wales
* Victoria Park, Adelaide, a park and racecourse
* Victoria Park, Brisbane, a public park and former golf ...
, after
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...
, and the newly formed Western Pacific Exhibition Company hosted its first agricultural and industrial fair in 1899.
The exhibition grew annually, and in 1908 the Government of Canada announced that Calgary would host the federally funded
Dominion Exhibition
The Dominion Exhibition was an exhibition held annually in Canada from 1879 to 1913. Every year the federal government awarded the role of host of the exhibition to one of the country's larger fairs.
The first exhibition was held in Ottawa in ...
that year. Seeking to take advantage of the opportunity to promote itself, the city spent
C$145,000 to build six new pavilions and a racetrack.
It held a lavish parade as well as
rodeo, horse racing, and
trick roping competitions as part of the event.
The exhibition was a success, drawing 100,000 people to the fairgrounds over seven days despite an economic recession that afflicted the city of 25,000.
Guy Weadick
George Guy Weadick (February 23, 1885 – December 13, 1953) was an American cowboy, performer and promoter. Today, he is best known as the founder of the Calgary Stampede in Alberta, Canada. He was married to famed cowgirl, Florence LaDue. Wead ...
, an American trick roper who participated in the Dominion Exhibition as part of the
Miller Brothers 101 Ranch
The Miller Brothers 101 Ranch was a cattle ranch in the Indian Territory of Oklahoma before statehood. Located near modern-day Ponca City, Oklahoma, Ponca City, it was founded by Colonel George Washington Miller, a veteran of the Confederate Army ...
Real Wild West Show, returned to Calgary in 1912 in the hopes of establishing an event that more accurately represented the "wild west" than the shows he was a part of. He initially failed to sell civic leaders and the Calgary Industrial Exhibition on his plans,
but with the assistance of local livestock agent H. C. McMullen, Weadick convinced businessmen
Pat Burns
Patrick John Joseph Burns (April 4, 1952 – November 19, 2010) was a National Hockey League head coach. Over 14 seasons between 1988 and 2004, he coached in 1,019 games with the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins, and New Jer ...
,
George Lane,
A. J. McLean
Alexander James McLean (born January 9, 1978) is an American singer, dancer, actor and a member of the pop vocal group Backstreet Boys.
Early life
McLean was born on January 9, 1978, in West Palm Beach, Florida, to Denise (née Fernandez, n ...
, and
A. E. Cross
Alfred Ernest Cross (June 26, 1861 – March 10, 1932) was a Canadian politician, rancher and brewer, known as one of the Big Four who founded the Calgary Stampede in 1912.
Early life
Born in Montreal, Cross was the oldest of seven children. ...
to put up $100,000 to guarantee funding for the event.
The
Big Four, as they came to be known, viewed the project as a final celebration of their life as cattlemen. The city built a rodeo arena on the fairgrounds and over 100,000 people attended the six-day event in September 1912 to watch hundreds of cowboys from Western Canada, the United States, and Mexico compete for $20,000 in prizes. The event generated $120,000 in revenue and was hailed as a success.
Weadick set about planning the 1913 Stampede, promoting the event across North America. However, the Big Four were not interested in hosting another such event. Businessmen in
Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749, ...
convinced Weadick to host his second Stampede in their city, but the show failed financially. A third attempt held in
New York State in 1916 suffered the same fate.
Weadick returned to Calgary in 1919 where he gained the support of
E. L. Richardson, the general manager of the Calgary Industrial Exhibition. The two convinced numerous Calgarians, including the Big Four, to back the "Great Victory Stampede" in celebration of Canada's soldiers returning from World War I.
Calgary Exhibition and Stampede
While the 1919 Stampede was successful, it was again held as a one-time event. Richardson was convinced that it could be a profitable annual event but found little support for the concept within the board of directors of the Calgary Industrial Exhibition. However, declining attendance and mounting financial losses forced the exhibition board to reconsider Richardson's proposals at their 1922 annual meeting.
Richardson proposed merging the two events on a trial basis. Weadick agreed, and the union created the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede.
![1923 Calgary Stampede parade](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/1923_Calgary_Stampede_parade.jpg)
The combined event was first held in 1923. Weadick encouraged the city's residents to dress in western clothes and decorate their businesses in the spirit of the "wild west".
Civic leaders truly supported the event for the first time: Mayor
George Webster followed the costume suggestion and allowed downtown roads to be closed for two hours each morning of the six-day event to accommodate street parties.
The new sport of
chuckwagon racing
Chuckwagon racing is an equestrianism, equestrian rodeo sport in which drivers in a chuckwagon led by a team of Thoroughbred horses race around a track. The sport is most popular in the Prairie Provinces of Canada, where the World Professional Ch ...
was introduced and proved immediately popular. 138,950 people attended and the event earned a profit.
Over 167,000 people attended in 1924 and the success guaranteed that the Stampede and Exhibition would be held together permanently.
Attendance grew annually throughout the 1920s, peaking at 258,496 in 1928, but the onset of the
Great Depression resulted in attendance declines and financial losses. After consecutive years of losses in 1930 and 1931, the exhibition board was forced to make cutbacks, a decision that strained the relationship between the board and Weadick.
Furthering the divide was Weadick's growing resentment of the board's control of what he considered his event. The issue came to a head in 1932 when Weadick and Richardson engaged in a loud argument over the situation, ending with Weadick's threat to quit entirely. One month later, the exhibition board announced that it had relieved him of his duties.
Angered by the decision, Weadick sued the exhibition board for $100,000, citing breach of contract and unfair dismissal. His claim was upheld in courts, but he was awarded only $2,750 plus legal fees. Embittered by the events, Weadick remained at odds with the board for 20 years until he was invited to the 1952 Stampede as an honoured guest and parade marshal.
At least seven movies were filmed at the Stampede by 1950. The most profitable, the 1925
silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized Sound recording and reproduction, recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) ...
''The Calgary Stampede'', used footage from the rodeo and exposed people across North America to the event.
Hollywood stars and foreign dignitaries were attracted to the Stampede;
Bob Hope
Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in Bob Hope filmography, more than 70 short and ...
and
Bing Crosby each served as parade marshals during the 1950s,
while Queen
Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...
and Prince
Philip made their first of two visits to the event as part of their 1959 tour of Canada. The Queen also opened the 1973 Stampede.
Expansion
The discovery of the
Leduc No. 1 oil well in 1946 and major reserves in the
Turner Valley
Turner Valley is a town in the Calgary Metropolitan Region of Alberta, Canada that is surrounded by Foothills County. It is on Highway 22 (Cowboy Trail), west of Black Diamond and approximately southwest of Calgary. It was named after Robert ...
area southwest of the city ushered in a period of growth and prosperity. Calgary was transformed from an agricultural community into the oil and gas capital of Canada.
The city's population nearly doubled between 1949 and 1956, and Calgary's immigrant population not only embraced the Stampede, but encouraged friends and family in their home towns to do the same.
The 1950s represented the golden age of the Calgary Stampede.
![Stampede grounds entrance (18963502424)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/Stampede_grounds_entrance_%2818963502424%29.jpg)
Attendance records were broken nearly every year in the 1950s and overall attendance increased by 200,000 from 1949 to 1959.
The growth necessitated expansion of the exhibition grounds.
The 7,500-seat
Stampede Corral
The Stampede Corral was a multi-purpose venue (ice hockey, professional wrestling, rodeo, tennis) in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Located on the grounds of Stampede Park, the arena was completed in 1950 at a cost of C$1.25 million ($ million tod ...
was completed in 1950 as the largest indoor arena in Western Canada.
It housed the
Calgary Stampeders
The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium and are the third-o ...
hockey team, which was operated by the Board of Governors and won the
Western Hockey League
The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior h ...
championship in 1954.
Acts such as the
Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra
The Minnesota Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded originally as the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra in 1903, the Minnesota Orchestra plays most of its concerts at Minneapolis's Orchestra Hall.
History
Em ...
and
Louis Armstrong played the Corral, although the arena's poor acoustics were a frequent concern to organizers and patrons.
Improvements were made to the grandstand and the race track was rebuilt in 1954.
The Big Four Building, named in honour of the Stampede's benefactors, opened in 1959 to serve as the city's largest exhibition hall in the summer,
and was converted into a 24-sheet
curling
Curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area which is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take turns slidi ...
facility each winter.
The improvements failed to alleviate all the pressures growth had caused: chronic parking shortages and inability to accommodate demand for tickets to the rodeo and grandstand shows continued.
Attendance continued to grow throughout the 1960s and 1970s, topping 500,000 for the first time in 1962 and reaching 654,000 in 1966. Organizers expanded the event from six days to nine in 1967 and then to ten the following year.
The Stampede exceeded one million visitors for the first time in 1976.
The park, meanwhile, continued to grow. The Round-Up Centre opened in 1979 as the new exhibition hall, and the
Olympic Saddledome
Scotiabank Saddledome is a multi-use indoor arena in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Located in Stampede Park in the southeast end of downtown Calgary, the Saddledome was built in 1983 to replace the Stampede Corral as the home of the Calgary Flam ...
was completed in 1983.
The Saddledome replaced the Corral as the city's top sporting arena, and both facilities hosted
hockey
Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...
and
figure skating
Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are m ...
events at the
1988 Winter Olympics.
Maintaining the traditional focus on agriculture and western heritage remained a priority for the Calgary Stampede as the city grew into a major financial and oil hub in Western Canada.
"Aggie Days", a program designed to introduce urban schoolchildren to agriculture was introduced in 1989 and proved immediately popular.
A ten-year expansion plan called Horizon 2000 was released in 1990 detailing plans to grow Stampede Park into a year-round destination for Calgarians;
an updated plan was released in 2004.
The Calgary Exhibition and Stampede organization dropped the word "exhibition" from its title in 2007, and has since been known simply as the Calgary Stampede. Attendance has plateaued around 1.2 million since 2000, however the Stampede set an attendance record of 1,409,371 while celebrating its centennial anniversary in 2012.
Flooding
Severe flooding in Calgary two weeks before the July 5 opening of the 2013 Stampede caused significant damage to the grounds. Stampede officials promised, however, that the event would be staged as planned. Some of the main events, and all concerts, scheduled for the Saddledome were cancelled due to flood damage to the facility, while other events were relocated to other locations.
COVID-19 pandemic
, the 2020 Stampede was cancelled for the first time in almost a century due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
.
Community-oriented events held in compliance with Alberta public health orders were organized on the original dates of the Stampede, including pop-up
drive-throughs offering pancakes and midway food staples, and maintaining the event's
fireworks
Fireworks are a class of low explosive pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a large number of devices ...
show.
The cancellation made a significant economic impact, as recent editions had contributed $540 million to the province's economy.
In April 2021, Alberta's chief medical officer of health
Deena Hinshaw projected that the province could lift some of its restrictions on gatherings by late-June, while Premier Jason Kenney stated that the province could begin doing so once at least two thirds of its residents have been
vaccinated
A vaccine is a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious or malignant disease. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been widely studied and verified.[< ...]
. However, soon afterwards, the province began to enact stricter public health orders to control a major ongoing wave of infections.
On May 14, the Stampede announced that it did plan to hold an in-person event for 2021, but that the structure of the event would have to be "very different" to comply with whatever public health orders will be in effect by then. On May 26, the Alberta government announced a revised "Open for Summer" plan for easing public health orders, which would allow the majority of restrictions to be lifted two weeks after 70% of eligible residents receive at least one vaccine dose (provided that hospitalizations continue to decline). It was later announced that restrictions would be fully lifted on July 1.
Despite the lifting of public health restrictions, measures such as
social distancing
In public health, social distancing, also called physical distancing, (NB. Regula Venske is president of the PEN Centre Germany.) is a set of non-pharmaceutical interventions or measures intended to prevent the spread of a contagious dis ...
would still be encouraged, and the capacity of Stampede Park would therefore be controlled.
There would be pre-purchased entry to the grounds and reduced capacity for events. Citing that participants would not have enough time to prepare for the Stampede on short notice due to other chuckwagon racing events leading up to it being cancelled, the Rangeland Derby was cancelled for the second year in a row.
Admission to Nashville North (which would be an open-air stage rather than a tent) required
proof of vaccination or a negative
rapid test.
As the Mayor of Calgary did not issue a permit for it to occur on public streets,
the Stampede parade was downsized and held as a broadcast-only event within Stampede Park, with
no public spectators admitted.
To compensate for the cancellation of the Rangeland Derby,
bronc riding events were added to the rodeo's evening sessions.
The decision to go on with the Stampede was met with mixed reactions, including concerns that it could become a
superspreading event
A superspreading event (SSEV) is an event in which an infectious disease is spread much more than usual, while an unusually contagious organism infected with a disease is known as a superspreader. In the context of a human-borne illness, a super ...
because Alberta's reopening criteria were based only on the first vaccine dose and not being fully vaccinated. There was also criticism from the chuckwagon racing community over the cancellation of the Rangeland Derby.
On July 27,
Alberta Health Services
Alberta Health Services (AHS) which is headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta is the single health authority for the Canadian province of Alberta and the "largest integrated provincial health care system" in Canada. AHS delivers medical care on beh ...
stated that it had only officially attributed 71 cases of COVID-19 to the Stampede, out of a total attendance of 528,998.
Events
Parade
![Mounties at the Calgary Stampede Parade 2011](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Mounties_at_the_Calgary_Stampede_Parade_2011.jpg)
The parade serves as the official opening of the Stampede and begins shortly before 9 a.m. on the first Friday of the event.
Each year features a different parade marshal, chosen to reflect the public's interests at that time. Politicians, athletes, actors and other dignitaries have all served as marshals. The event features dozens of marching bands, over 150 floats and hundreds of horses with entrants from around the world,
and combines western themes with modern ones. Cowboys, First Nations dancers and members of the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...
in their red serges are joined by clowns, bands, politicians and business leaders.
The first Stampede parade, held in 1912, was attended by 75,000 people, greater than the city's population at the time. As many as 350,000 people attended the parade in 2009,
while the presence of
Prince William
William, Prince of Wales, (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982) is the heir apparent to the British throne. He is the elder son of King Charles III and his first wife Diana, Princess of Wales.
Born in London, William was educa ...
and
Catherine
Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria.
In the early Christ ...
, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, at the 2011 parade as part of their
tour of Canada increased attendance to a record estimate of 425,000.
The parade was downsized and closed to the public in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rodeo
![Barrel-Racing-Szmurlo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/Barrel-Racing-Szmurlo.jpg)
The rodeo is the heart of the Calgary Stampede.
It is one of the largest,
and the most famous event of its kind in the world.
With a prize of $100,000 to the winner of each major discipline and $1,000,000 total on championship day alone, it also offers the richest payout. Cowboys consider performing in front of over 20,000 fans daily to be the highlight of the rodeo season.
There are six major disciplines –
bull riding
Bull riding is a rodeo sport that involves a rider getting on a bucking bull and attempting to stay mounted while the animal tries to buck off the rider.
American bull riding has been called "the most dangerous eight seconds in sports." To recei ...
,
barrel racing
Barrel racing is a rodeo event in which a horse and rider attempt to run a cloverleaf pattern around preset barrels in the fastest time. In collegiate and professional ranks, it is usually a women's event, though both sexes compete at amateur and ...
,
steer wrestling
Steer wrestling, also known as bulldogging, is a rodeo event in which a horse-mounted rider chases a steer, drops from the horse to the steer, then wrestles the steer to the ground by grabbing its horns and pulling it off-balance so that it falls ...
,
tie down roping,
saddle bronc and bareback riding
Bronc riding, either bareback bronc or saddle bronc competition, is a rodeo event that involves a rodeo participant riding a bucking horse (sometimes called a ''bronc'' or '' bronco'') that attempts to throw or buck off the rider. Originally ...
– and four novice events – junior
steer riding
Steer riding is a rodeo youth event that is an introductory form of bull riding for younger riders, usually between the ages of seven and fourteen. Instead of bucking bulls, the children ride steers that buck. Steers are used because they are kno ...
, novice bareback, novice saddle bronc and wild pony racing. Each event is organized as its own tournament, and the cowboys and girls are divided into two pools. The first pool competes each night for the first four nights, and the second each night for four nights following. The top four in each pool advance to the Sunday final, and the remainder compete on Saturday for a wild card spot in the final. The competitor with the best time or score on Sunday wins the $100,000 grand prize.
Most livestock for the rodeo events come from the Stampede Ranch located near the town of
Hanna.
The ranch was created in 1961 as a means of improving the quality of bucking horses and bulls and to guarantee supply. The first of its kind in North America,
the Stampede Ranch operates a breeding program that produces some of the top rodeo stock in the world and supplies rodeos throughout southern Alberta, and as far south as
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
.
Rangeland Derby
![Stampede chuckwagon race](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/Stampede_chuckwagon_race.JPG)
Weadick is credited with inventing the sport of
chuckwagon racing
Chuckwagon racing is an equestrianism, equestrian rodeo sport in which drivers in a chuckwagon led by a team of Thoroughbred horses race around a track. The sport is most popular in the Prairie Provinces of Canada, where the World Professional Ch ...
in 1923, inspired either by seeing a similar event in 1922 at the
Gleichen Stampede or watching impromptu races as he grew up. He devised the sport to be a new and exciting event for the newly joined Exhibition and Stampede.
Weadick invited ranchers to enter their wagons and crews to compete for a total of $275 in prize money.
Officially called the Rangeland Derby, and nicknamed the "half-mile of hell" or the "dash for cash", chuckwagon racing proved immediately popular and quickly became the event's largest attraction.
While only six teams raced in 1923,
today's Rangeland Derby consists of 36 teams competing for $1.15 million in prize money.
Joe Carbury was the voice of the Rangeland Derby for 45 years, until 2008. His distinctive voice and signature phrase of "and they're offfffffff!" to announce the start of a race made him a local legend, and earned him induction into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame in 2003.
The chuckwagon drivers auction advertising space on their wagons before each year's Stampede. The first advertisement on the tarp cover of a chuckwagon was made in 1941, and Lloyd Nelson was the last person to win the Rangeland Derby without a sponsored wagon, doing so in 1956. The current practice of selling advertising via a tarp auction began in 1979.
The revenue generated by the auctions, a record $4 million for the 2012 Stampede, is considered an indicator of the strength of Calgary's economy.
The Rangeland Derby was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Exhibition
![Blacksmith](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/Blacksmith.jpg)
When the agricultural exhibition was first launched in 1886, Alberta was an overwhelmingly rural province. Today, agricultural producers make up less than two percent of the province's population, but the exhibition remains an integral part of the Calgary Stampede. Nearly 70% of all Stampede visitors visit the Agriculture Zone for the displays and demonstrations as well as western events.
Numerous competitions are held as part of the exhibition. The American
National Cutting Horse Association The National Cutting Horse Association (or NCHA) is a non-profit equestrian organization headquartered in the US. Their primary purpose is to promote and sponsor cutting events.[Cutting
Cutting is the separation or opening of a physical object, into two or more portions, through the application of an acutely directed force.
Implements commonly used for wikt:cut, cutting are the knife and saw, or in medicine and science the scal ...]
event, and the World Championship Blacksmith Competition used to be held, attracting top
blacksmith
A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such as gates, gr ...
s from around the world.
Farm and ranch demonstrations feature numerous breeds of livestock along with
stock dog trials and
team penning
Team penning is a western equestrian sport that evolved from the common ranch work of separating cattle into pens for branding, doctoring, or transport.
Today it is a fast-paced event that gives a team of three riders on horseback from 60 to 90 s ...
competitions.
Additionally, the exhibition serves to educate the public about Alberta's ranching and agricultural heritage along with modern food production displays through events like Ag-tivity in the City. The Stampede works with Alberta
4-H
4-H is a U.S.-based network of youth organizations whose mission is "engaging youth to reach their fullest potential while advancing the field of youth development". Its name is a reference to the occurrence of the initial letter H four times i ...
clubs to encourage youth participation in agricultural pursuits.
Midway
The Calgary Stampede
midway has been operated by
North American Midway Entertainment, and its predecessor
Conklin Shows
Conklin Shows was the largest traveling amusement corporation in North America. The 75-year-old company operated traveling carnivals at various summer agricultural shows across North America and is based in Brantford, Ontario and formerly also in ...
, since 1976. The midway is the only part of the event operated on a for-profit basis.
It is considered an essential component of the Stampede, but is separate from the predominantly western theme. The midway opens on the Thursday night before other events begin, known as "sneak-a-peek" night. In addition to the traditional rides and carnival games, the midway features four concert areas. Nashville North, a large party tent, made its debut in 1993 as a
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
venue. It was followed one-year later by what is now known as the
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlant ...
Stage that offers family entertainment during the day and
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
and
pop acts during the evenings. The Saddledome hosts headlining acts, including
Garth Brooks and
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Distinguished by the ...
, who were booked for the Stampede's 100th anniversary in 2012. In 2018, the Stampede's newest concert venue, The Big Four Roadhouse, opened for Stampede-time and year-round events.
Market
The Stampede Market is located in the
BMO Centre
The BMO Centre is the largest convention centre in Calgary, Alberta. It is located in Stampede Park, which is in the Beltline district south of downtown Calgary. The BMO Centre was previously known as the Round-up Centre.
In March 2016, the Ca ...
on the northwest corner of the park.
It offers of retail space and in 2019 began highlighting local artisans.
The Western Oasis, a subsection of the market, offers cowboy and western-themed artwork, bronze statues, craftwork, foods and wine.
Lured by the opportunity to show their wares to the one million people who attend the Stampede, some vendors wait years before gaining admittance, and those that do consider it one of the prime events of the year.
Stampede Park
![Saddledome from Calgary Tower](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/Saddledome_from_Calgary_Tower.JPG)
Stampede Park is located southeast of
Downtown Calgary in the
Beltline District and is serviced by
Calgary Transit
Calgary Transit is the public transit agency which is owned and operated by the city of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. In 2019, an estimated 106.5 million passengers boarded approximately 1,155 Calgary Transit vehicles. It operates light metro (LRT), u ...
's
light rail system. Permanent structures at the site include the Saddledome and Corral, Big Four Building,
BMO Centre
The BMO Centre is the largest convention centre in Calgary, Alberta. It is located in Stampede Park, which is in the Beltline district south of downtown Calgary. The BMO Centre was previously known as the Round-up Centre.
In March 2016, the Ca ...
– a convention and exhibition facility – a casino, the
Stampede Grandstand, the agriculture building, and a number of facilities that support the exhibition and livestock shows.
The park remains at its original location, though attempts were made to relocate. In 1964, the Stampede Board made plans to purchase former military land in southwest Calgary near
Glenmore Trail
Glenmore Trail is a expressway in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, named after the reservoir which it crosses. It is a freeway between Sarcee Trail in southwest Calgary to Ogden Road in the southeast, carrying nearly 160,000 vehicles per weekday at ...
and 24 Street and relocate the park there. A fully developed plan was released in 1965, and while it had the support of the civic and federal governments, intense opposition from nearby residents quashed the proposal.
Space concerns remained a constant issue, and a new plan to push northward into the Victoria Park community beginning in 1968 initiated a series of conflicts with the neighbourhood and city council that persisted for decades.
While Victoria Park fell into steady decline, it was not until 2007 that the final buildings were removed, paving the way for both an expansion of Stampede Park and an urban renewal program for the area. With the land finally secured, the Stampede organization embarked on a $400-million expansion that is planned to feature a new retail and entertainment district, an urban park, a new agricultural arena and potentially a new hotel. The expansion was originally planned to be complete by 2011, but delays and an
economic downturn have pushed the expected completion of the project back to 2014.
Stampede Park has long been a central gathering place for Calgarians and tourists. In addition to attendance at the Calgary Stampede, over 2.5 million people attend other sporting events, concerts, trade shows and meetings on a grounds that hosts over 1,000 events annually.
People
![Patsy Rodgers stage coach 1a](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Patsy_Rodgers_stage_coach_1a.jpg)
Each year, a queen and two princesses are selected as Stampede royalty. They are chosen via a contest open to any woman between the ages of 19 and 24 who resides in Alberta. An emphasis is placed on horsemanship skills and ability to serve as ambassadors for both the Stampede and the city.
The first Stampede Queen, Patsy Rodgers, was selected in 1946 while the princesses were first chosen the following year. The royal trio serve one-year terms during which they will make hundreds of appearances throughout southern Alberta and across North America. They then become members of the Calgary Stampede Queens' Alumni Association, founded in 1971.
The association organizes fundraisers and events in support of organizations that work with special needs children.
First Nations participation
During each Stampede, the five nations of the
Treaty 7
Treaty 7 is an agreement between the Crown and several, mainly Blackfoot, First Nation band governments in what is today the southern portion of Alberta. The idea of developing treaties for Blackfoot lands was brought to Blackfoot chief Cro ...
–the
Tsuu T'ina,
Piikani,
Stoney,
Kainai and
Siksika
The Siksika Nation ( bla, Siksiká) is a First Nations in Canada, First Nation in southern Alberta, Canada. The name ''Siksiká'' comes from the Blackfoot language, Blackfoot words ''sik'' (black) and ''iká'' (foot), with a connector ''s'' bet ...
–create a camp on the bank of the
Elbow River
The Elbow River is a river in southern Alberta, Canada. It flows from the Canadian Rockies to the city of Calgary, where it merges into the Bow River.
Course
The Elbow River originates at Elbow Lake in the Front Range of the Canadian Rocky ...
in the southern section of Stampede Park, originally known as the Indian Village, but renamed Elbow River Camp in 2018.
They erect
tipi
A tipi , often called a lodge in English, is a conical tent, historically made of animal hides or pelts, and in more recent generations of canvas, stretched on a framework of wooden poles. The word is Siouan, and in use in Dakhótiyapi, Lakȟó ...
s, organize
pow wows, offer arts and crafts, and re-enact elements of their traditional lifestyle.
Each year, an Indian Princess is selected from one of the five nations to represent the Treaty 7 as part of the Stampede's royalty. The village is among the Stampede's most popular attractions.
First Nations
First Nations or first peoples may refer to:
* Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area.
Indigenous groups
*First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including:
**First Natio ...
people had been frequent participants in the city's exhibitions since they were first held in 1886, taking part in parades and sporting events and entertaining spectators with traditional dances. By 1912 however, pressure from agents of the
Department of Indian Affairs
Department may refer to:
* Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility
Government and military
*Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
to suppress their historic traditions and to keep them on their farms nearly ended native participation. Weadick hoped to include native people as a feature of his Stampede, but Indian Affairs opposed his efforts and asked the
Duke of Connaught
Duke of Connaught and Strathearn was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom that was granted on 24 May 1874 by Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland to her third son, Prince Arthur. At the same time, he was also ...
, Canada's
Governor General
Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy ...
, to support their position. The Duke refused, and after Weadick gained the support of political contacts in Ottawa, including future
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
R. B. Bennett, the path was cleared.
![Indian Village](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/Indian_Village.png)
Hundreds of Indigenous peoples, representing six tribes, participated at the 1912 Stampede. They camped in tipis and wore their finest traditional regalia, making them among the most popular participants in the parade.
Tom Three Persons, of the Blood (Kainai) tribe, emerged as one of the Stampede's first heroes, amazing spectators with a winning performance in the saddle bronc competition.
He was the only Canadian champion of the first Stampede and became the first person to successfully ride Cyclone, a notorious horse that had thrown over 100 riders during its career.
The federal government attempted to prevent a repeat occurrence, modifying the
Indian Act in 1914 to make it illegal for Indigenous peoples to participate in fairs or parades without permission from the local
Indian Agent
In United States history, an Indian agent was an individual authorized to interact with American Indian tribes on behalf of the government.
Background
The federal regulation of Indian affairs in the United States first included development of t ...
. The new law ended native participation in the Calgary Exhibition, but when Weadick returned in 1919, he successfully fought for their return to the fairgrounds. Indian Affairs again sought to ban native participation in 1925 without success.
While conflicts between the Stampede and Indian Affairs continued until 1932, the Indian Village has remained a staple on the grounds.
First Nations members and the Stampede board have occasionally met with conflict. The original location of the Indian Village was on low-lying ground that frequently flooded, a problem that was not resolved until 1974 when the village was moved to its current location.
Complaints about low appearance fees paid to tipi owners, lack of input on committees related to their participation and accusations that natives were being exploited have periodically been made throughout the years. The Stoneys famously boycotted the 1950 Stampede following a rule change that cancelled a policy giving any Indigenous person free admittance upon showing their treaty card. The event that year was marred by violent thunderstorms, which led to apocryphal stories that the band had performed a rain dance in an effort to ruin the fair.
Despite the conflicts, the native communities around Calgary have been enthusiastic supporters of the Stampede and the Indian Village. The tipi owners have been long-term participants – many are third or fourth generation – and the Stampede has helped preserve and display First Nations cultures to the public. The village again relocated in 2016, doubled in size and featured a new exhibit displaying the partnership between the city, local First Nations and the Stampede.
During the 2018 Stampede, it was announced that the name of the area would be changed to reflect "reconciliation and increased understanding of Indigenous peoples as modern and strong and resilient"; after a voting process among the camps, it was announced on the final day of the Stampede that the Indian Village would be renamed "Elbow River Camp".
Employment and volunteerism
![Calgarystampede](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/46/Calgarystampede.jpg)
Operation of the park throughout the year requires 300 full-time and 1,400 part-time employees. An additional 3,500 seasonal workers are hired for the Stampede itself.
The seasonal positions are often filled by Calgary's youth, and for many, represents their first paying jobs.
The organization is maintained by a legion of volunteers, however. Over 2,000 volunteers sit on 50 committees responsible for all aspects of the Stampede's operation. Chief among them are the board of directors. The board is made up of 25 individuals; 20 elected from amongst the shareholders, three representing the city, one the province and the most recent president of the Stampede board. Nearly half of all volunteers have served for more than 10 years, and some as long as 60.
Young Canadians of the Calgary Stampede
When the Calgary Stampede brought in
The Rockettes
The Rockettes are an American precision dance company. Founded 1925 in St. Louis, they have, since , performed at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Until 2015, they also had a touring company. They are best known for starring in the ...
from New York City in 1964 as part of the grandstand show, they auditioned young local dancers to participate as the "Calgary Kidettes". The group was meant to be a one-time addition to the show, but proved popular with spectators,
and returned for three subsequent years. By 1968, the Kidettes were renamed the Young Canadians of the Calgary Stampede and remained part of the nightly grandstand show, growing into a headline act by the 1970s.
The group was modeled on the American group
Up with People
Up with People (UWP) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Up with People stages song and dance performances promoting themes such as multiculturalism, racial equality, and positive thinking.
History
Archives
The UWP Archives ...
but with a style reflecting the pioneer culture of Alberta and Western Canada. The Young Canadians made television and live appearances throughout North America and attracted large crowds every year at the Calgary Stampede. In 1982, the
Stampede Foundation set up the Young Canadians School of Performing Arts to offer professional training to singers and dancers between the ages of 7 and 19, paid for by scholarships from the Stampede organization. Two of the founders of the Young Canadians were director Randy Avery and choreographer Margot McDermott who remained with the group throughout the 1970s and 80s.
The Stampede Showband
The Stampede Showband was created in 1971 to serve as the organization's musical ambassadors. The troupe features over 150 members between the ages of 16 and 21, and has been named the world champion of marching show bands six times, lastly being in July, 2019.
The group has performed all over the world, in front of royalty and world leaders,
and at the opening ceremonies of the
1988 Winter Olympics. In 2019, the Showband performed the national anthem at the
107th Grey Cup
The 107th Grey Cup decided the champion of the 2019 season in the Canadian Football League (CFL). The match was played on November 24, 2019, between the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at McMahon Stadium in Calgary, Alberta. Wi ...
accompanied by Young Canadians singer, Lindsey Kelly. The Showband performs year round, and make over 100 appearances during the Stampede alone.
They performed in the
Tournament of Roses Parade
A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses:
# One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...
in
Pasadena, California for the third time in 2012 as part of the Stampede's 100th anniversary celebrations. The Showband also performed "
O Canada
"O Canada" (french: Ô Canada, italic=no) is the national anthem of Canada. The song was originally commissioned by Lieutenant Governor of Quebec Théodore Robitaille for the 1880 Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day ceremony; Calixa Lavallée composed the mus ...
" every night during the chuckwagon races with the member of the Young Canadians singing the anthem in English and French. The Stampede Showriders were created in 1985 as a precision
equestrian drill team and colour guard that accompanies the Showband.
Calgary Stampede Talent Search
The Calgary Stampede Talent Search was created in 1981 as an annual competition for amateur artists (aged 13 to 21). Junior performers (aged 6 to 12) are showcased every evening as well. The competition takes place during the stampede and is intended to discover and develop talented young southern Albertans.
Animal welfare
![Stampede Protest](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Stampede_Protest.png)
The Stampede has attempted to balance rodeo tradition against the concerns of
animal welfare groups who argue that the sport is inhumane.
Officials defend the sport, calling the animals the "stars of the show" and stating that the Stampede is "passionate about the proper treatment of animals".
The Calgary Humane Society has found itself at odds with other organizations by choosing to work with the Stampede to ensure that stress on the animals is kept to a minimum.
It is one of two such groups, in addition to veterinarians, who are on hand to monitor the rodeo.
Chuckwagon racing
Chuckwagon racing is an equestrianism, equestrian rodeo sport in which drivers in a chuckwagon led by a team of Thoroughbred horses race around a track. The sport is most popular in the Prairie Provinces of Canada, where the World Professional Ch ...
is a particular source of controversy. Animal rights groups protest the event, arguing that the sport causes undue suffering for the horses. Racers admit the sport is dangerous, but defend their sport amidst the controversy, arguing that the animals are well cared for, and that allowing them to race saves many horses from prematurely going to slaughter.
![Bull-Riding-Szmurlo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/Bull-Riding-Szmurlo.jpg)
Following a particularly deadly series of accidents in 1986 where nine horses were killed in chuckwagon racing incidents alone – including five horses in one spectacular crash – humane society officials, fans and even some drivers called for major changes to the races, while others called for the sport to be banned entirely. Numerous rule changes were announced prior to the 1987 event. The Calgary chapter of the
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
A Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) is a common name for non-profit animal welfare organizations around the world. The oldest SPCA organization is the RSPCA, which was founded in England in 1824. SPCA organizations operate i ...
accepted the changes, stating it would not call for the sport to be banned given that Stampede officials had moved to improve animal safety, further changes were announced in 2011.
Tie down roping is a particular focus of efforts to eliminate the event.
The Stampede altered its policies in 2010 to enforce the rules of the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association.
Additionally, the Stampede was the first rodeo to introduce a no-time penalty for competitors who make a dangerous tackle in the steer wrestling event.
Several more changes were made in 2011, the rule changes were announced after six animals died at the 2010 Stampede and were met with mixed reactions from both cowboys and animal welfare groups.
Such changes have not completely eliminated all risks; periodic accidents have continued to result in the deaths of horses and livestock.
One of the deadliest incidents in Stampede history occurred in 2005 when, late in a trail ride meant to help celebrate the province's centennial, a group of about 200 horses spooked and in the melee nine horses were killed after they were pushed off a city bridge into the
Bow River
The Bow River is a river in Alberta, Canada. It begins within the Canadian Rocky Mountains and winds through the Alberta foothills onto the prairies, where it meets the Oldman River, the two then forming the South Saskatchewan River. These w ...
.
While similar trail rides had been completed without incident in the past,
Stampede officials announced they would not attempt any further rides unless they could ensure the safety of the horses.
Animal welfare groups have called animal deaths "depressingly predictable" and seek a boycott of the rodeo. In the United Kingdom travel agencies have been asked to stop offering tourism packages to the Stampede, and in 2010, 92 members of the UK Parliament signed an
Early Day Motion
In the Westminster parliamentary system, an early day motion (EDM) is a motion, expressed as a single sentence, tabled by members of Parliament that formally calls for debate "on an early day". In practice, they are rarely debated in the House a ...
asking their Canadian counterparts to ban rodeo. Several groups petitioned the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to cancel their planned attendance in 2011. However, the couple attended and participated in a private demonstration of rodeo and chuckwagon events.
Broadcasting
Live coverage of the rodeo and Rangeland Derby competitions were broadcast by the
CBC Sports website and
Sportsnet One
Sportsnet One (SN1 or SN One) is a Canadian English-language discretionary digital cable and satellite specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media; it operates as a national sports channel complementing the Sportsnet group of regional sp ...
.
CBC Television carried daily, late-night highlight shows, and coverage on the weekend.
Supplemental coverage was, until 2013, seen on CBC's former sister cable network
Bold.
In 2019, U.S. sports channel
CBS Sports Network
CBS Sports Network (a.k.a. CBSSN) is an American pay television network owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. When it launched in 2002 as the National College Sports Network (later College Sports Television also known a ...
aired nightly half-hour recaps covering the Stampede's rodeo (under the ''
PBR PBR may refer to:
Science and technology
* Passive bistatic radar
* Partition boot record
* Pebble bed reactor, a type of nuclear reactor
* Peripheral benzodiazepine receptor, another name for translocator protein
* Phosphorus bromide
* Photobio ...
Summer of Rodeo'' banner), while
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
broadcast a one-hour highlight show of the championship on July 21. In 2021, rodeo coverage moved to Sportsnet in Canada and
The Cowboy Channel
The Cowboy Channel (formerly FamilyNet) is an American cable television network in over 42 million cable and satellite homes, which carries Western and rodeo sports. The network was founded in 1979 as the National Christian Network, and took th ...
in the United States.
Community
The festival spirit during Stampede extends throughout the city. Parade day serves as an unofficial holiday as many companies give employees half or full days off to attend. People of all walks of life, from executives to students, discard formal attire for casual western dress, typically represented by
Wrangler jeans
Wrangler is an American manufacturer of jeans and other clothing items, particularly workwear. The brand is owned by Kontoor Brands Inc., which also owns Lee. Its headquarters is in downtown Greensboro, North Carolina, in the United States, wit ...
and
cowboy hat
The cowboy hat is a high-crowned, wide-brimmed hat best known as the defining piece of attire for the North American cowboy. Today it is worn by many people, and is particularly associated with ranch workers in the western and southern Unit ...
s. Many Calgarians have reduced productivity during the event because they take a relaxed attitude towards their usual workplace and personal responsibilities. However, the community and corporate events held during the Stampede create
social network
A social network is a social structure made up of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), sets of dyadic ties, and other social interactions between actors. The social network perspective provides a set of methods for ...
ing opportunities and help newcomers acclimatize to the city.
The Stampede is an important stop for political leaders as part of their annual summer tours of the country, sometimes called the
barbecue circuit.
Pancake breakfasts
![Chinook Stampede Breakfast](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/Chinook_Stampede_Breakfast.png)
The pancake breakfast is a local institution during Stampede.
Dozens are held throughout the city each day, hosted by community groups, corporations, churches, politicians and the Stampede itself.
The tradition of pancake breakfasts dates back to the 1923 Stampede when a chuckwagon driver by the name of Jack Morton invited passing citizens to join him for his morning meals.
The largest is the breakfast hosted at the
Chinook Centre
Chinook Centre (formally branded as "CF Chinook Centre") is the largest shopping mall in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is located near the geographic centre of the city on Macleod Trail, north of Glenmore Trail about south of downtown, and three ...
shopping mall. Four hundred volunteers are required to feed over 60,000 people who attend the one-day event that had its 50th anniversary in 2010.
Other groups, such as the Calgary Stampede Caravan, feed as many as 120,000 people over ten days. The rising popularity of the
barbecue grill in the 1960s and the city's population boom at the time brought with it the growth of community and company barbecues throughout the city during Stampede.
Community booster groups have exported the tradition across the country as a symbol of Calgary's hospitality. Among them are the Calgary
Grey Cup Committee, whose volunteers have hosted pancake breakfasts on the day of the
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...
championship game for over three decades, sometimes in spite of poor weather conditions for the annual November contest.
Stampede parties
The size and number of parties each year during Stampede is viewed as an indicator of Calgary's economic strength.
Corporations and community groups hold lavish events throughout the city for their staff and clients,
while bars and pubs erect party tents, the largest of which draws up to 20,000 people per day. Paul Vickers, who owns several establishments in the city, estimates that he makes up to 20 percent of his annual revenue during the ten days of Stampede alone. Some parties have become known for heavy drinking and relaxed morals,
so much so that one hotel's satirical ad promising to safely store a patron's wedding ring during Stampede was widely viewed as a legitimate offer.
The parties are not without consequences, as lawyers have noted a significant increase in divorce filings in the weeks following the Stampede, primarily on claims of infidelity. Clinics see an increase in people seeking testing and treatment for
sexually transmitted disease
Sexually transmitted infections (STIs), also referred to as sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and the older term venereal diseases, are infections that are spread by sexual activity, especially vaginal intercourse, anal sex, and oral ...
s,
and Calgary is said to experience an annual baby boom each April – nine months after the event.
Relationship with the city
![Stampede Midway 2011](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/Stampede_Midway_2011.png)
The Stampede has become inexorably linked to the city's identity. Calgary has long been called the "Stampede City", and carries the informal nickname of "Cowtown". The event's iconic status offers Calgary global publicity and plays a significant role in defining the city's image. Calgary's
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...
team has been called the
Stampeders since 1945, and it is a name shared by other teams in various sports throughout the city's history, including the
Stampeders hockey team that operated in the years following World War II.
The Stampede has strong polling support within the province. A 2006
Ipsos-Reid
Ipsos Reid was the name of a Canada-based research company, still existing under the name Ipsos as the Canadian arm of the global Ipsos Group. Founded in Winnipeg in 1979 as the Angus Reid Group, the company expanded across the country and was pur ...
poll found that 86 percent of Albertans felt that it raised the civic quality of life and considered it one of the region's most important cultural events. Nearly three in four stated they look forward to the annual event. However, critics argue that it is not a reflection of Alberta's frontier history, but represents a mythical impression of western cowboy culture created by 19th-century wild west shows.
Part of the event's success can be attributed to the close relationship the Stampede has often shared with both the civic government and community leaders. Mayors of Calgary and city aldermen have sat on the Stampede Board of Governors at the same time they occupied public office, and the Stampede's ability to convince wealthy and influential citizens to volunteer their time has allowed the organization to gain a high-profile within the city. The Stampede operates on city-owned land, pays no property tax on its lease, and typically faces little to no political interference from City Hall. It operates as a non-profit entity with all income reinvested into the park. All improvements to the park would revert to city control if the lease were allowed to expire.
Likewise, the Stampede has support from the media, which has been accused of providing an inordinate amount of positive coverage to the event while trivializing negative aspects. The local media faced national scrutiny in 2009 when both major newspapers refused to run anti-rodeo ads sponsored by the Vancouver Humane Society.
While the ''
Calgary Herald'' simply refused to run the ad, the ''
Calgary Sun
The ''Calgary Sun'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is owned by Postmedia. First published in 1980, the tabloid-format daily replaced the long-running tabloid-size newspaper ''The Albertan'' soon after it was ...
'' defended its position in an editorial. The ''Sun'' refuted charges it was kowtowing to the Stampede and justified its refusal by claiming "we are Calgarians and allowing a group of outsiders to come in and insult a proud Calgary tradition seemed just plain wrong." The ''Herald'' reversed its decision a year later, running a full-page ad sponsored by the Vancouver Humane Society.
Economic impact and tourism
![Sale Pelletier ice show](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/Sale_Pelletier_ice_show.png)
While 70 percent of Stampede attendees are from the Calgary region, officials work to promote the event across the globe. As such, the Calgary Stampede is known around the world. The Stampede draws foreign visitors primarily from the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, and is experiencing growing attendance by tourists from Asia and South America.
A 2019 Conference Board of Canada Report found the annual economic impact of the Calgary Stampede’s year-round activities generated $540.8 million across the province of Alberta. The 10-day event accounted for $282.5 million of that amount. In Calgary alone, the year-round activities of the Stampede accounted for $449.8 million. Of that, 227.4 million was generated by the 10-day Stampede.
Stampede officials estimated in 2009 that the city of Calgary had a gross economic impact of $172.4 million from the ten-day event alone, with a wider provincial total of $226.7 million.
In terms of economic impact, the Stampede is the highest grossing festival in Canada, ahead of Ottawa's
Winterlude
Winterlude is an annual winter festival held in Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec (collectively known as the National Capital Region).
Winterlude is run by the Department of Canadian Heritage and was started in 1979. The event is one of O ...
, the
Canadian National Exhibition
The Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), also known as The Exhibition or The Ex, is an annual event that takes place at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on the third Friday of August leading up to and including Canadian Labour Day ...
in Toronto, and the
Just for Laughs festival in Montreal. Additionally, Stampede officials estimate that for every dollar spent at Stampede Park, tourists spend $2.65 in the rest of the city.
A poll conducted in 2011 found that 40 percent of Calgarians who intended to attend the Stampede expected to spend $150–$400 over the course of the event, and 7 percent stated that they would spend more than that.
Promoting Calgary
Civic leaders have consistently noted the Stampede's impact on the city. Mayor
Andrew Davison
Andrew Davison (December 18, 1886 – April 6, 1963) was a Canadian politician, printer and 24th Mayor of Calgary. He served as alderman 1922 to 1926 and mayor 1929 to 1945. He also served as a member of the Alberta Legislature 1940 to 1948 ...
claimed in 1944 that the event "had done more to advertise Calgary than any single agency", an opinion that has been echoed by his successors. Stampede officials have made similar claims, arguing that the event is one of Canada's most important tourist attractions. The Canadian Tourism Commission placed the event in its Signature Experiences Collection, one of six such events or locations in Alberta.
According to
Ralph Klein
Ralph Philip Klein (November 1, 1942 – March 29, 2013) was a Canadian politician and journalist who served as the 12th premier of Alberta and leader of the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta from 1992 until his retirement in 20 ...
, former mayor of Calgary and premier of Alberta, the Stampede symbolizes the province's spirit. He cited the friendly and welcoming attitude and festival spirit of the city's populace during the event, which community booster groups export around the world. Among examples cited was the infamous
1948 Grey Cup game in which two trains of Stampeder football fans descended on Toronto and launched an unprecedented series of celebrations before, during and after the game that included riding a horse into the lobby of the
Royal York Hotel. The events helped turn the Grey Cup into a national festival and the largest single-day sporting event in the country.
See also
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Calgary White Hat
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Canadian Finals Rodeo
The Canadian Finals Rodeo (CFR) is the national championship professional rodeo in Canada, held in Red Deer, Alberta, and previously in Edmonton. The CFR takes place in early November and is the final event of the Canadian Professional Rodeo Assoc ...
, Canada's other big rodeo
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Canadian Professional Rodeo Association
The Canadian Professional Rodeo Association (CPRA) is the governing body of professional rodeo in Canada. Its championship event is the Canadian Finals Rodeo (CFR) held every November.
History
The Canadian Professional Rodeo Organization was f ...
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Chuckwagon
A chuckwagon is a type of field kitchen covered wagon historically used for the storage and transportation of food and cooking equipment on the prairies of the United States and Canada. Such wagons formed part of a wagon train of settlers or fed ...
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Festivals in Alberta
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Festival Western de Saint-Tite, eastern Canada's largest rodeo
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Raymond Stampede
The Raymond Stampede is an annual rodeo that is held in the town of Raymond, Alberta, Canada every 1 July.
Famous for being Alberta's oldest rodeo, the Raymond Stampede is also known for being Canada's oldest professional rodeo, having started a ...
, Canada's oldest rodeo
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Reg Kesler
References
;Notes
;General
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External links
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Calgary Stampede ShowbandCalgary Stampede Archives
{{featured article
1912 establishments in Alberta
Rodeo in Canada
Equestrian sports competitions in Canada
Exhibitions in Canada
Music festivals in Calgary
Recurring sporting events established in 1912
Rodeos
Sport in Calgary
Festivals established in 1886
ProRodeo Hall of Fame inductees
Summer festivals
Summer events in Canada
Events of National Historic Significance (Canada)
Stampede
A stampede () is a situation in which a group of large animals suddenly start running in the same direction, especially because they are excited or frightened. Non-human species associated with stampede behavior include zebras, cattle, elephants ...
Stampede
A stampede () is a situation in which a group of large animals suddenly start running in the same direction, especially because they are excited or frightened. Non-human species associated with stampede behavior include zebras, cattle, elephants ...
Stampede
A stampede () is a situation in which a group of large animals suddenly start running in the same direction, especially because they are excited or frightened. Non-human species associated with stampede behavior include zebras, cattle, elephants ...
Recurring events established in 1912
Parades in Canada