Whoop-Up Days is an annual non-profit

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 c ...

exhibition An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibition ...

and

rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working va ...

held in

Lethbridge Lethbridge ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. With a population of 101,482 in its 2019 Alberta municipal censuses, 2019 municipal census, Lethbridge became the fourth Alberta city to surpass 100,000 people. The nearby Canadian ...

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 ...

, for five days in the last full week of August. The event includes a 4-km parade through

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

, daily concerts, bull riding, a rodeo, an indoor and outdoor trade show, entertainment on the free stage, a midway, HobbyWorld and citywide

pancake A pancake (or hotcake, griddlecake, or flapjack) is a flat cake, often thin and round, prepared from a Starch, starch-based batter (cooking), batter that may contain eggs, milk and butter and cooked on a hot surface such as a griddle or fryi ...

breakfasts. In 2007, a record-breaking attendance at the event numbered 69,964. The previous record was set in 2006 when 67,590 visitors attended. Economic impact from the fair amounts to roughly $2.5 million spent by event operations, locals and 13,000 visitors.

Location

Whoop-Up Days takes place at the Exhibition Park, which is on the eastern edge of the city. Permanent structures at the site include a 10,664 m² (114,787 ft²) pavilion complex (main, north, west and south pavilions, and Saddle Room), Heritage Hall, Pioneer Park, a grandstand, and a racetrack.

History

The first fair was held on 5 October 1897 at the agricultural grounds in Queen Victoria Park (renamed in 1955 to Gyro Park). It included stage presentations, traveling shows and horse racing. In 1904, eight years before the

Calgary Stampede The Calgary Stampede is an annual rodeo, exhibition, and festival held every July in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The ten-day event, which bills itself as "The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth", attracts over one million visitors per year and featu ...

, the first large-scale rodeo was staged as part of Whoop-Up Days. In 1912, the festival was moved to its current location east of Henderson Park. There were cancellations in 1917–18 & 1942–45. 2020 saw a virtual event.

References

External links

Whoop-Up Days
August events Festivals in Lethbridge Festivals established in 1897 Fairs in Alberta 1897 establishments in Alberta Whoop-Up Trail {{Lethbridge-stub

Location

History

See also

References

External links