Calgary Day Two - Stampede Extravaganza

It's a good thing we got our rest on Thursday after arriving in to Calgary. Friday, opening day of the Stampede, was a full day, dawn to well after dusk. The first thing we did was head to the opening event, the Stampede Parade. 

No Bull: Marty is ready to watch the Stampede Parade

I hate parades, but somehow I've gone to many of the "big event parades" wherever I've lived: the Pulaski Day Parade in Buffalo (I supposedly "saw" John F. Kennedy at the Pulaski Day Parade when I was 5. I was there, I remember my parents pointing him out to me, but remember not being able to see him...), the Dyngus Day Parade in Buffalo, high school and Penn State homecoming parades in State College, Macy's Thanksgiving parade in New York. The only parade I ever missed in a place I've lived was the Rose Parade in Pasadena. What I don't have down is parade logistics. We got there early, but we forgot two basics: we didn't bring our camp chairs from the Thule carrier; and we planted ourselves (standing) right at a cross walk. That meant standing for several hours, with more and more people crowding around us, and people constantly crossing the street (at crosswalks, as Canadians do) and "excusing" their way by us. But, despite the long stand, we had a good time. We met a grandmother from England who was accompanying her two Canadian grandkids to the parade. And lots of other kids, sitting on the ground right in front of us, who were enjoying a great parade.

The Stampede Parade is a big deal, but unlike any parade you've ever been to. First, there's gunfire. Occasional "cowboy" acts take part in the parade, and with them comes a good deal of six-gun action. Second, there are horses. Even if parades are the only places you see horses, the Stampede has way more horses than what you've seen. Second, very few floats. Oh, there are imaginatively decorated cars, buses, trucks, etc, but no big floats. And no giant balloons. The reason for the latter two: downtown Calgary has many pedestrian bridges between the skyscrapers to help people avoid the harsh winter weather. Balloons and big floats just wouldn't fit under them. 

It's good to get to the parade route early. 

No balloons in this parade - Too many elevated walkways downtown

The Parade makes a long U-shaped trip through downtown. We made a third mistake: staking out a spot at the tail end of the "U". That meant that we had a long time to wait till the parade got to us. The parade starts with a "pre-parade". Local clubs, singing groups and dance troupes, walk the parade route and perform at every intersection. And not just for a minute like you see on the televised Rose Parade, but for 5 minutes or more. Calgary is a very diverse city: Besides the ranchers and First Nations inhabitants, there are Italians, Ukranians, Mexicans, Sikhs, Chinese, Malay, you name it. Why do these people from warmer parts of the world (yes, Ukraine is warmer than Calgary) come to Calgary, where the winters are dark and extremely cold? I don't know, but they've all made their home there. The thing is, the local ethnic dance groups are just as diverse internally as the parade itself. The Italian group had lots of girls who in no way looked Italian: Chinese, Indians (First Nation and Subcontinental), and other kids who just wanted to be part of an Italian dance group. The same was true for the other clubs.

A Mexican dancing and singing group performed for several minutes right in front of us

A local singing group set up and sang at every corner on the parade route

After a brief break, the main parade commenced as this year's Parade Marshal, Kevin Costner, rode through with his posse. The rest of the parade had a lot of what you'd see in a typical parade: marching bands, singing, dancing, but with horses (lots of them), cowboys and cowgirls and Indians (lots of them), and more of the city's ethnic diversity displaying itself.

The Stampede Parade has more horses per mile than any other parade I've seen

A Canada Pacific float. We'd be seeing a lot of their trains as we crossed the prairie in coming days

One aspect of both the pre-parade and the parade itself is the 'personal' nature of the parade. Paraders constantly interact with the audience, especially the kids. No kids are left out, and all feel free to run up to parade performers and ask for a picture. Sometimes, a parader will rush out and accost a random member of the audience. Vicky got a huge surprise hug from a member of the Canadian Navy (how did he know Vicky had worked for the US Navy?)

The costumed characters always stopped to please the kids

Participants from the Canadian police and military were always happy to stop and pose with kids

After the parade, we went back to the AirBnB to rest up for a bit, then headed to the Stampede grounds. We wanted to check out the exhibits, then go to the arena for the evening's big event. Luckily, our AirBnB was about a 10 minute walk and 10 minute train ride from the Stampede grounds.

The Calgary Stampede grounds is right downtown, about a mile-and-a-half from our AirBnB

After the morning's free event, we were introduced to the one big fact about the Stampede: It's a means for the event's organizers to extract as much money from Stampede goers as possible. We weren't naive enough to think otherwise, but we were impressed with how slick and Canadian the operation is. Everything is nice, wholesome, and at just the right level of "overpriced". We'd prepaid our tickets for the shows we attended, but still ended up spending a multiple of that before, during, and after each show on food, refreshment, and souvenirs.

Exhibit One: It's traditional for people who come to the Stampede to wear cowboy gear: boots, Western wear, and cowboy hats, specifically white ventilated (it's summer) hats. Just like fancy hats at the Kentucky Derby, cowboy hats and gear are pretty much a must. And just in case you forgot yours, Lammle's is the official supplier of Stampede gear.. They have tents and shops all over the Stampede grounds. They sell all of that, and T-shirts, and other Stampede souvenirs, at a pretty big mark-up. But the kids they hire to help are so squeaky clean, nice, and helpful, that it makes parting with your money just a bit less painful. 

The Stampede cheer: Yahoo! Vicky's white cowboy hat is almost obligatory

The grounds are loaded with the usual fair fare: games, rides, and fair food (some of it pretty good). And there are free outdoor exhibits. But there are several indoor venues. We stayed indoors as much as possible because we weren't interested in the midway and it was hot outside. Yes, Calgary can get hot in the summer. Sunny, mid-80s. It's a dry heat, but it's more pleasant indoors. Indoors was where most of the free events and displays were. One huge building was devoted to sales. Booths with salesmen and women hawking everything from RVs to clothing, leather goods, home remodeling products, you name it. There are farm show buildings. Catering to ranchers' interests, there are buildings full of animals along with educational "this is where your beef comes from" type displays. 

One of the free inside events that got us out of the heat: carriage horse judging

Where your pork comes from

After a couple of hours wandering from building to building, we headed over to the GMC Stadium. This is the venue for the rodeo competitions (we'd see that the next day) and the afternoon events and evening variety shows. Our first day tickets were for the latter. First on the bill were the chuck wagon races. Each heat featured three teams. Each team consisted of a "chuck wagon" pulled by four horses, and a few cowboys with other tasks associated with the race.  When the race whistle blows (and not before, unless you want a penalty for your team), a cowboy throws a "stove" into the back of the wagon. The horse team is then driven around a barrel obstacle and then once around the half mile track. Teams can lose points if they toss the "stove" into the wagon too early, or if they knock over a barrel. A team can gain an advantage if it navigates the early obstacle well, but it can still come down to a "horse race" around the track. Several heats compete, and will continue to compete in elimination fashion throughout the Stampede until a final day.

Chuck wagon racers make their turn around the barrels before racing a half-mile around the track

Some of the chuck wagon races can be pretty close!

After the chuck wagon races came the bareback relay races. These were run with teams of horses, their handlers, and one rider, all Indians. The rider rode each of three horses on his team around the half-mile track once, bareback. The handlers got each successive horse ready and helped the rider quickly dismount, and then mount the next horse. The "poster boy" of the Stampede, a guy who was featured on the poster for this year's Stampede, easily crushed all other competitors.

This year's official Stampede poster featured the Indian bareback relay racers. The subject of the poster actually won the race we saw!

After the races, the musical finale started. It was an all-star variety show. Kind of a mini-Super Bowl half time show, with moveable stage, several acts, complex choreography, and fireworks. It was hosted by Dave Kelly, a guy whom I called the Dick Clark of Canada. A super MC with a radio announcer voice and a smile as wide as the prairies. He took the audience through all the acts, including "Loop" Rawlins (a trick roper with an incredible flaming lariat act), acrobats, Canadian country music stars Dean Brody and Shawnee Kish, and a musical trip down memory lane with the Young Canadians, all the way to the finale, the Beatles "Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight" with orchestra, Shawnee Kish, a cello soloist, a Young Canadians chorus, and massive fireworks.

Above: Dean Brody, one of the country acts at the night show
Below: A bit of the musical finale with fireworks

It was a great show. It ended close to midnight, but with the efficient Calgary train system, and a brisk walk through the safe streets of downtown, we were back at the AirBnB in less than an hour.