The Calgary Stampede

I'm not certain whether the term stampede refers to the rodeo display or the thousands of people that stream through the gates every day of this 10 day event.  Although we have been to the stampede before I can't remember the crowds being so huge.  Thankfully as with most Canadians we have come to know and love the crowds followed the Canadian way and were polite, patient and respectful of others.  There was no pushing or shoving, no stern words or impatient glares, just a willingness to go with the flow.

Incredibly the stampede went ahead less than two weeks after catastrophic floods wreaked havoc on the city of Calgary. Meters of  flood waters covered the entire stampede grounds.  In Calgary, just as we witnessed personally in Brisbane a few years ago,  family, friends and strangers  banded together and worked tirelessly in an effort to bring the city back to a relative state of normalcy in a short period of time.  This year they renamed the stampede caption to "Come Hell or High Water". Unless we had known about the flooding we would not have even guessed that it had even occurred as we walked around the stampede grounds.

The Calgary Stampede is unlike any other event I've ever been to.  Its a combination of rodeo (with the top ten cowboy and cowgirls competing for big $'s), agricultural exhibition, superstar country music performances, gigantic midway and variety musical/acrobatic/gymnastic show (think Australia's Got Talent where everyone is uber talented).  Check the Calgary Stampede website out here.

We went to as many shows and events as we could in the one and a half days that we spent there.  Our first afternoon was spent negotiating crowds then watching the wonderful Trans Alta Grandstand Show.  It was an amalgamation of music, dance, acrobatics, gymnastics and cultural displays rounded off with a brilliant fireworks presentation.  Mel was super impressed with the standard of the show.

The boys were entranced from start to finish (3 hours!!) and did not complain once even though we chose to be in the standing room only section of the arena.

The following day was rodeo day - in the wet.  Yahoo!! What a show.  There's nothing quite like watching bull riding, saddle bronc and calf roping in sloppy, muddy conditions.  I thought a rodeo in dry conditions was tough.  Man this was tougher (and dare I say more entertaining).  The calibre of competition was outstanding which is reflected in the purse they won.  

Our dress of choice to help protect us from the rain.

Boots, hats and buckles  of all styles, sizes and colours were the "uniform" of choice.  I felt a little out of place with my shorts and t-shirt.  Bren fit in really well with his Akubra though!!

Competing in a tractor pull ride.

A fierce competitor in the making!!

After the rodeo we wandered around the grounds looking at displays and watching a few of the shows on offer. Both Seth and Caleb loved visiting an agricultural display geared towards educating children about farming.  Here they were able to pat a cow, crush some whole wheat, plant a few seeds and collect a million brochures.  They were both successful in a competition where they had to answer some questions about physical fitness.  Caleb won a cool frisbee type toy and Seth won a plasma car (a self propelled tricycle!!!)  He was very proud of himself and even lugged it a km or two to our vehicle!!

After a long day our weary feet begged us to return to our campsite so that we could get ready for the next part of our travelling adventure to Banff and Lake Louise.