Hidy and Howdy were the official mascots of the

1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games (french: XVes Jeux olympiques d'hiver) and commonly known as Calgary 1988 ( bla, Mohkínsstsisi 1988; sto, Wîchîspa Oyade 1988 or ; cr, Otôskwanihk 1998/; srs, Guts� ...

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

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 Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. They were anthropomorphic twin

polar bears The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a hypercarnivorous bear whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the largest extant bear species ...

who wore western/cowboy style outfits. Students of Bishop Carroll High School in Calgary were used as performers during Hidy and Howdy's four years as the mascots of the XVth Olympic Winter Games. After the Closing Ceremonies, they retired from public life, only ever reappearing once for the filming of the 1993 movie ''

Cool Runnings ''Cool Runnings'' is a 1993 American sports film directed by Jon Turteltaub and starring Leon Robinson, Doug E. Doug, Malik Yoba, and John Candy. It is loosely based on the true story of the Jamaica national bobsleigh team's debut in competition ...

'' for a brief cameo appearance, since the film is based on the Calgary Olympics. Hidy and Howdy were also featured on various "Welcome To Calgary" signs located throughout the city of

, but in 2008 the local government had the signs removed and "respectfully transported" to

Canada Olympic Park Canada Olympic Park (COP), formerly known as Paskapoo Ski Hill, is a ski hill and multi-purpose training and competition facility located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, owned and operated by WinSport. It is currently used both for high performance at ...

where they are now kept, in turn ending the duo's iconic place in the city.

References

1988 Winter Olympics Olympic mascots Bear mascots Fictional polar bears Canadian mascots Fictional characters from Alberta {{Mascot-stub