Travel
Robin Esrock heads to Alberta to discover “The Greatest Show on Earth”
It took me three visits to the Calgary Stampede to fully appreciate why they call it “The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth.”
Nearly one and a half million visitors pack into Calgary, Alta.’s Stampede Park for a 10-day festival with a staggering array of moving parts. There’s an action-packed fairground centred around the Midway, lined with vendors selling everything from smoked ribs and cheeseburger-flavoured ice cream to cowboy boots and lemonade buckets. The Midway also hosts carnival games and free daily performances: large marching bands, soaring freestyle motorcycle wizards, boisterous buskers, and canine trick shows. Flowing with overpriced fried food and barrel-fresh root beer, it’s a spectacle for all ages, centred around GMC Stadium and the world’s richest rodeo.
We enter Stampede Park in the shadow of the Saddledome, a stadium hosting big-name concerts throughout the festival. To our right is the BMO Centre, its steps lined with a full regalia marching band blasting a summer swing. To our left is an exhibition from Canada’s military, where excited kids line up to scramble into tanks and armoured vehicles. Rides are howling with elated screamers, speakers are blasting music, and even with a helpful event app, knowing where to begin is tough. Perhaps we should start with some history, entering the Elbow River Camp to find a chorus of friendly welcomes and two dozen colourful tipis piercing a big, blue prairie sky.
First Nations peoples have been integral to the Calgary Stampede since its inception in 1912. Stampede founder Guy Weadick recognized that any celebration of Alberta’s land and ranch culture must include the Indigenous bands who form a major part of it. Weadick battled racist federal authorities of the day to ensure that Treaty 7 Nations led the inaugural street parade, a Stampede tradition that continues today. Amber Big Plume, an on-site cultural interpreter, tells me how exclusions were made in the Indian Act to allow First Nations to celebrate their traditions at the Stampede, a 10-day reprieve from repressive government policies. Today, visitors are encouraged to interact with diverse participating nations, hear their stories, and engage with their history. Inside a tipi, under the approving eye of an elder, an 11-year-old Siksika girl tells my 11-year-old daughter about the significance of the beaded costumes on display. It’s a sweet, sincere moment of cultural connection. Inside the Elbow River Camp, pow wow drums provide a soundtrack of hope.
Canola seeds are better than slime. My kids make this conclusion inside the Nutrien Western Event Centre as they dip their hands into a large barrel of seeds, learning about Canada’s homegrown cooking oil in the process (the word “canola” is derived from “Canada” and “ola,” a low acid oil). They run deep into the cavernous centre for a hands-on education in grain production and cattle farming. Then, learn about chickens, eggs, horses, beekeeping, pigs, goats and sheep. As urbanites, my family gets our food in boxes and packages. This aspect of the event is a rare opportunity to learn about agriculture and understand the cost, process and effort behind our food, introducing us to some of the hardworking folks who make it all possible.
The divide between food production and how we consume it is perhaps felt most acutely inside the world’s richest rodeo. Like many folks born, raised, and living in a city, I was apprehensive before my first visit to the Rodeo. I believed in many myths, which you can read about in the text box below. Then I went backstage to meet the Rodeo riders, animal owners, organizers and vets, all demonstrating a profound and sincere respect for the animals they work with. I certainly witnessed the physical impact of the sport: powerful broncs and bulls gleamed with health, but riders were painfully hobbling, limping, and receiving medical attention.
Rodeo exists as a time-honoured celebration of an agricultural lifestyle, a mostly harmless (for the animals anyway) contest between those that farm and the animals that sustain them. Just like I’ll never quite get folks who drive large pick-up trucks, cycle between cities or spend 18 hours smoking a brisket, I’ll never quite understand what it takes to live and work with agriculture. Yet, I can appreciate where they come from, ask respectful questions with an open mind, and admire the spectacle. As for the nightly Grandstand Show that follows the chuckwagon races, over the years, I’ve seen it evolve from a community talent show into a world-class, big-budget concert with Cirque du Soleil style acts, popular Canadian musicians, immaculate choreography, and one of the most memorable fireworks displays you’ll ever see.
But wait, there’s more! Miniature pony shows and entertaining livestock auctions, Indigenous contests and space cowboy circuses, a massive indoor market with clothing, unique home appliances, toys, candy, and products, a stylish art exhibition and gallery sale featuring some of the most talented visual artists in the country. Several big concert venues sandwich intimate live music stages, wine tasting and cooking classes, rope making, rollercoasters, and dog and pony shows. All of this runs concurrently with the Rodeo itself. It’s a lot, and we haven’t got to the booming party tents like Cowboys and Nashville North, heaving into the early hours with dancers and drinkers sporting their finest boots and hats. Then, there are the events outside Stampede Park, like the street parades, patio parties, and free pancake breakfasts served daily in Fluor Rope Square.
Thousands of volunteers from all walks of life make this happen every year: generous sponsors, overworked organizers, performing kids, hopeful vendors, friendly courtesy car drivers, cultural ambassadors, spirited performers, and the welcoming citizens of Calgary itself. Above all else, the greatest outdoor show on Earth is an overwhelming display of Alberta’s farm-to-city community spirit.
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