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The Calgary Stampede July 7 -
16 2000
by Richard Pennick
The Stampede starts all over again on July
7 - 16 2000. The Rodeo and Chuck wagon
Races run July 7 - 16. The Rodeo is in the afternoon and the Chuck wagon races
start at 8.00 p.m. followed by the Grandstand Show. You need separate tickets
for each event. Tickets include entry to the Exhibition grounds and most of the
attractions and minor events. Tickets cost from about CDN 18 to CDN 39 for the
Rodeo and from CDN 18 to CDN 46 for the Chuck wagon Races and Evening Stage
Show. For a Calgary Stampede brochure and ticket order form call Freephone 0800
CANADA (0800 22 62 32), or call the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede in Canada
at 403-269-9822 or Fax 403-233-9736 or write Calgary Exhibition and Stampede.
P.O Box 1060, Stn M, Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2P 2K8. Or visit their website
at www.calgary-stampede.com
Calgary Exhibition and Stampede: www.calgary-stampede.com. Calgary Visitor & Convention Bureau: http://www.tourismcalgary.com
-Updated 6-28-00- |
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TM
Calgary is a great place to visit at any
time of the year, and Calgarians the friendliest folk you'll find anywhere in
Canada. It's no wonder that people
planning a Canadian Rockies holiday often head for `Cowtown' for at least a few
days in July each year when the city breaks out during the ten crazy days of
the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede.
Calgarians look forward to the Stampede as
much as the visitors, and not much work gets done around town as the locals don
their Stetsons and whoop it up along with their guests. Professional rodeo
riders come to town from all over North America in the hopes of winning a
little notoriety and more than a little money - winners takes all - $50,000 for the major events during the
richest eight seconds in rodeo!
These cowboys are here to ride bucking
broncos, stick to the Brahma bulls, and wrestle and rope reluctant steers - and
I was there to see them do it! Nothing....nothing compares with seeing this for yourself. The danger,
the dust, the smell of leather, the adrenaline, the fear (your own) and the
sheer excitement of these most extreme of sports will stay with you for a long time.
As exciting as the Rodeo but even more of
heart stopper are the chuck-wagon races! The klaxon sounds and all hell breaks loose as sixteen wild-eyed horses
and four straining wagons explode in an all out dash around the course and down
the long straight for the finish flanked by a bevy of flailing outriders. The thundering hooves, rumbling wheels and
cracking whips heighten the sensation of speed and danger. It's a spectacle
that ignites thousands of fans night after night, year after year. 
Add to all this the crazy antics of the
fearless Rodeo Clowns, a Wild Cow Milking event, Wild Horse Races and the
Cutting Horse Championships and you have the complete Western Rodeo. However,
it's not all dust, sweat, and leather. As the sun goes down,
hundreds of singers, dancers and musicians back up world-class country
performers for a two hour show on a gigantic stage beneath the stars. This
spectacular is capped off with the mother of all fireworks displays. 
Back outside Stampede Park the
fun continues at a seemingly endless street party. The locals mingle with the
visitors and happily guide you toward a restaurant, a bar or even your own
hotel. If the excitement of the day has made you hungry for a steak or ribs....well
Alberta beef is just about the best in the world and the Western influence is
manifest in the numerous TexMex restaurants around town - Calgary is the most
American of Canadian cities! The Urban (and authentic) Cowboy is alive and well
in the many western bars, and the country and western music might encourage you
to accept an invitation to join a line dance at the Ranchman’s, and the roast
beef sandwiches are free!
There are a number of
inexpensive non-western restaurants that I would go back to. Up on 17th
St which just might be Calgary’s boutique restaurant, café and club row at El
Sombrero, we enjoyed an excellent marguerites and authentic Mexican cuisine. At
the other end of the culinary spectrum - in immaculate Japanese surround – sumashi
soup and tempura as fresh and crisp as
it really should be at Seka Sushi on 10th St. One lunch of trolley
dim sum convinced us that a return for dinner was in order at the football
field sized (seats 800) Regency Palace on Centre St, and a taxi driver assured
us that the best pizza in town was to be had at The Trojan (Greek) Restaurant
on 11th Ave – and it was!
This well fed early bird with white Stetson
jammed firmly on head, hit the street party again where `Stampeders' are
serving free frontier breakfasts of pancakes and bacon from the backs of Chuck
wagons before the parades and street dancing start up all over again. Heading back to the Stampede grounds you may
realize that this is an
enormous A&P Show! The Stock Show
is a an impressive salute to the world of Agriculture. Events include an
International Blacksmith's competition. Championship Auctioneers, Cutting Horse
Competitions, a Steer Classic and over a dozen pure-bred livestock shows as
well as the Heavy Horses and the pet size miniatures. (aboriginal boy) The
`Wild West' park is a walk back in time through an Indian Village, or the
streets of a re-created frontier town. There are entertainment stages,
international exhibits and an original western art exhibition.
The folks who run the Stampede have put
some of the profits back into the community. Along the Bow
and Elbow river banks, which border three sides of the city, bike and people
paths run for over 300kms. These tree lined trails pass through various parks
and gardens and are a tranquil home for chipmunks, squirrels, Canada geese and even beaver who build their dams
in the fast flowing water.
The home of the Calgary Stampede is located
smack in the heart of the Canadian West at the foothills of the Canadian
Rockies about 60 minutes from Banff and Kananaskis.