Calgary Stampede 2025 Grandstand Show

 Originally I had planned to drive to the Stampede and park, for $30. Taking the train had worked so well, I decided we'd do that again, and get a locker. Most of what we wanted to do was near the south end, and the parking lot was at the north end.

We didn't need to go as early as yesterday, which was nice. It was also Saturday, so we could park in a spot in the reserved section that was empty. We got the train at 12:37. It wasn't too busy, not too surprising since we get on at the end of the line. We got off at the Earlton Station, at the south end. Going through security, I don't remember which day it was, but I set off the metal detector. I was sure I had emptied my pockets, but the wand picked something up. I wasn't wearing a belt, or an underwire bra. Turned out, I had a nickel in my pocket. A nickel didn't make it through security, but later in the Stampede, a knife (or two) did and there were 3 people stabbed. 

There is a little shed with storage for $5, operated by the Girl Guides. Not exactly lockers, but they were super nice and everyone in the group could just take a photo of the number ticket, if they wanted to come back without me. You can access all day, probably until 11:30 when the wheelchairs and strollers have to be back.

We were headed to the RCMP Musical Ride first. I see now that I probably confused "RCMP Horses" with "RCMP Musical Ride" and we weren't at the right building. However, they're neighbouring. The kids decided to go get midway food. Rob and I went in to the arena area and easily found seats. Actual seats, not bleachers. I opted to go to the snack bar and get poutine.

What is more Canadian than some poutine while watching the RCMP Musical Ride? I have wanted to see it for years. 

 

I know a video would be better LOL. I'm sure there's lots on YouTube. I will say, the announcing was nice, but I thought it would be more like synchronized skating, where they're interpreting the music. Instead, it was like a minute of a Canadian pop song from history, and then the announcer saying what the next move was and describing it.

Although the arena is big, they actually put pylons up to make it smaller and give reference points for different maneuvers. Some of the moves were really cool, and a few were like, um, okay, thanks.

Overall, I'm glad I got to see it. I wonder if their shows are always like this, or if they do more of a "musical ride" type show?

After, some got "milk and cookies" from a fundraiser booth, which were actually Wagon Wheels... what would you call them? Snack cakes?

Then there was some aimless wondering it seemed. I wanted to see the Big Four Roadhouse, which said it had food exhibitors and somethings I didn't know what they were. Indeed, in the basement level there are food booths and lots of seating. I wish we had been directed here yesterday. It was expensive, but a nice reprieve from the heat. We actually didn't get anything though.

Several wanted to go to the Stampede store. There were small tents with items around, but we found an actual store. Everyone got something, except Hugh.

I bought a new "buff" but I was a little surprised at how long it was. I might have to trim it down. Also, it's not a seamless tube like the other imitation Buffs I have. 

We decided we'd go for an early dinner. We stopped at the lockers to drop off our stuff and asked for recommendations. The lady didn't really know anything if we went out the south entrance and recommended we go to the Victoria Park entry and walk west. This is what Lucy's friend said to do too.

It was so hot. Well, probably not actually hot by Ontario standards, but it was quite sunny! We walked about 20 minutes and Lucy suggested the Elephant & Castle. They have one in Toronto and her office goes there for socials (but she hadn't been yet). We had walked along 17th Ave SW and it was a block north on 4 St SW. As we approached, we saw a loud large patio tent, so we asked to be seated inside for the AC, but somewhere quiet. Well, inside was not quiet. We were taken to a booth in a cubby that had a speaker aimed down on the table. Part way through dinner, they even turned the music up.

It was happy hour, so we all got drinks! No one was driving for a change, so that was nice. The food was okay. Typical bar type foods, probably from a food supplier. I had wanted to go to a unique Calgary restaurant, like Class Clown Burgers, or something else we don't have. 

We headed back to go to the Grandstand Show. As we walked along 17th Ave SW, I saw a park/homeless camp leading to a big cathedral. I dragged my family through the park towards St Mary's Cathedral. It's an interesting design, and the bells started ringing as we approached. Mass just ended so we didn't go in, but it killed a bit of time. 

We got to the entrance, and the crowd was MASSIVE. Lucy went and asked a volunteer if we had to wait in that crowd since we were re-entries. They said yes. We decided to get on the train, head one stop south, and get off and go in where we had gone in that afternoon. Technically, we should have bought tickets, but c'mon. One stop. I spent almost $80 in tickets for two days. They really need a better pass option for groups, especially on the weekend/during Stampede. 

Entry was much quicker at the Earlton Entry. This night was Shania Twain's concert. We don't know if ticket holders had to enter through Victoria Park or not, but if you're going on an evening when there's a concert at the Saddledome, consider the Earlton Entry. 

We had lots of time, but the doors to the Grandstand were open, so after the girls got some mini doughnuts, we headed in. Again, when we asked which way to our section, the employee was a little vague and then I guess they realized we really didn't know one section from another and walked us over. I'm sorry I interrupted your conversation with a co-worker, but I didn't know where to go!

Our seats were good, almost mid-stands, a few rows up. I really had no idea where would be good seats when I bought them. I had gotten on the Stampede email list and they sent a 2 for 1 ticket sale. So I looked at the highest priced ones (but not the suites LOL) and chose the next cheapest level. Or maybe these were the high price section. They were originally about $120 each. I was worried when I bought them because you couldn't add single tickets, and I needed 5 in total. I had to find where to buy them regularly online, and buy one single. Thankfully, there was one at the end of the 4 seats.

We had a good view of the Saddledome. On the Stampede map, they show it as being almost round. I didn't believe it, but according to the satellite view on Maps, it is! What an optical illusion!

The Calgary Stampede Showband came on stage to perform O Canada. It's a large band, and standing in a formation like this across the stage, especially on a windy night, makes for challenging performing!

We had noticed a helicoptor, and it came flying over with a very large Canadian flag. Pretty cool!

The Calgary Stampede Show Riders also did a version of their show before the show.

There was even a very handy demonstration on how the chuck wagon races work. Though, the demo was one team and the races have three teams!

I knew there were controversies with the chuck wagon races--there had been horses killed in other years. I really didn't know anything about the race itself though. I thought it was just around the track or something. No! There's two "outriders" with horses that aren't part of the team, and four horses for the chuck wagon. The teams come in, warm up around their numbered barrels. One outrider gets a fake camp stove out and has to throw it back in the wagon when the signal to start the race goes. Then he has to mount up and get moving. The other outrider also has to mount up. The chuck wagon team has to figure 8 around their barrels, without knocking any down, and then head out of the main area and around the track. The outriders must be within 200ft of the team when they cross the finish line. 

The individual heats (there were 9!) lasted only 1min 12sec to 1min 18 seconds. However, before each heat, there's a video describing the three teams, they come in for the warm up, they race, then they come back again to show off their sponsor ads and wave and throw t-shirts. 

The race is fast, but the whole event is very slow. Sometimes in between heats there were other things like the female stunt riders, and this adorable event:

These are the little ponies you have to pump your legs to make move. It was adorable. 

Indigenous culture is big at the Stampede. I doubt it's always been that way, but it was great to see. This is a world champion hoop dancer. Fantastic!

We were also excited to see the Indian relay races. Again, we knew nothing about them except they rode bareback and it was fast and dangerous. It was quite thrilling but there were no oopsie moments.

There were Indigenous performers between races too.

Finally, it was time for the Grandstand show. I knew Carolyn Dawn Johnson was the main act, but I had no idea there was so much more to the Grandstand show. In case you're wondering who CDJ is:

Someone hadn't brought a sweater or jacket and was feeling a little chilly.  He rarely is, or at least, rarely admits to it LOL.

First, they had to pull this large stage over to the middle area. Then they set up all sorts of things on stage, including dirt bike stunt ramps and landing pad.

I couldn't help myself but gasp and be amazed with the stunt riders! Their poor mothers!

There was a square dance club from Calgary performing, along with a live fiddle and singer. The singer sang mostly lyrics though, I would have liked to hear someone sing and someone else do the calling. Isn't that the point of square dance?

And then there were the youth performers! Something like 200 youths also did some numbers, including a band (they might not have been youths).

This guy! You can see below how he was suspended from the top. He performed an acrobatic number, I think to "Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy." It was fun.

He also performed quite a long routine down on the stage, balancing on various objects, higher and higher and all that sort of stuff.  Fun to watch, he was quite strong and good!

I didn't realize there were all these other acts before the Grandstand Show. Finally, it was time for Miss Carolyn Dawn Johnson. Her voice sounded amazing, but the sound system sucked. It had been pretty lousy all through the Grandstand Show and it's too bad it wasn't better for her portion. It was so loud, but unclear. The layers all blended together too much. I plugged my ears and it sounded much better. I thought it was just me, but the kids agreed that it was mixed wrong, and perhaps the wrong mics for the windy night.  It was only the second night of the Stampede, so I hope they got it sorted out.

Once she had done her hits, we opted to leave.  Some of us were a little cold, and we were tired. So we also didn't see the drone show or the fireworks.  We thought we might see the fireworks while still in the park, but I guess it took awhile. We headed to the lockers and got our stuff, then headed out to the CTrain.  It was really busy on the train for at least half the way home. It was also really busy around the exits of the Stampede Grounds (had Shania's concert just ended?). I'm glad we didn't drive.

One other thing I learned only a couple weeks before the Stampede--the rodeo is not included!! When I found that out, I tried to get tickets but it was crazy expensive.  These two days were some of the hardest planning I have ever had for a trip. Co-ordinating information from different sources, maps, timing, it was all a little much. We never got to see a rodeo, the Super Dogs, or any of the farm show stuff (Team Cattle Penning or Heavy Horse Show). I think three half days would have been better. We had left Sunday open, not knowing if we'd want to go back for another day but we didn't want to pay admission (we got in free on Friday, and on Saturday, the Grandstand Show ticket includes admission). There was a free pancake breakfast on Sunday, with free entry, but the kids didn't want soggy pancakes LOL. Also, we had really lucked out on the weather considering the forecast earlier in the week. Sunday was still iffy. Stay tuned to see what we ended up doing!

Calgary Stampede 2025, Parade and Opening Day

 When I was trying to figure out how to get from the AirBnB to the parade route, and then from there to the Stampede gates, I was so stressed my watch thought I was exercising too hard!

Every map I'd try to use was single use--the transit map, the parade map, the Stampede map, the Google Map. I couldn't zoom in enough or see enough detail when zoomed out and trying to see the house and the train. 

The parade map:

Okay, it does show the C Train, but the directions to the Stampede for after? So I go look for Stampede Grounds map:

It doesn't label all the streets where the parade is! It does show entrances, but trying to connect those with the parade map was not happening in my brain.

Google Map doesn't show the entrance gates! OMG. Yes, I could look at the satellite image, but it seems the gates are not permanent fixtures so they just don't show. I decided we'd just follow the crowd. Surely there's other people going for the free entry? I had a general idea that we had to walk east and a bit south.

Okay, how to get to the train station? 

In the Facebook groups for Calgary, I was told the Somerset-Bridlewood station had lots of free parking.  Okay, now how to get to it? I was also told we should be at the parade route by 7:00 or 7:30 at the latest. That did not go over well when I said a 6:45 departure. We didn't get out of the house until almost 7:45. I was worried!

The problem in, when getting directions, you can only set it to one mode of transportation. I had to look at how long to the train station, and then how long of train ride, separately. Lucy was able to hook up her phone to the navigation system, but I hadn't gotten my phone to connect. That helped to get us to the station.

We went in the first lot because there were lots of spots. Oh....reserved until 10am and then they're available. So we tried to get to the back lot and the driver asked a question that 3 of us interpreted one way but was NOT what he intended. So we had a tour of the neighbouring streets.  Got back to the lot and I would not say there was "a ton" of available spots. 

We walked up to the ticket machines and the family was NOT patient with me as I tried to figure out if we should get passes or single tickets. I didn't realize we could have gotten an app and bought online. Not as easy as the GO Train. On the website, there isn't even a menu heading for ticket prices. You have to go through a link at the bottom of a different  page. There is no group pass for all adults, and buying 10 tickets at once doesn't give you a discount. A Day Pass was more than 2 trips, so not reasonable. I was really surprised that there wasn't any sort of weekend pass!! Over 2 days, I spent $76 on 20 tickets ($3.80 each).  A little pricey.

There were a lot of volunteers helping with the machines. When you look at the day pass, there a bar:  - 1 +  however, you could only select one ticket. You had to use a separate "Multiple Passengers" button. And the machine was slow to print the actual tickets. I don't know if all stations had the volunteers, or if it was just at the ends of the lines.

As the train got closer, it quickly filled up. They had even added an extra car. By the time we got to the City Centre (City Hall?) stop, it was packed.

I had seen what looked like the parade street as we approached the stop, so we headed that way.  The kids thought we should be at the start, so we'd be done sooner than those at the end of the parade.

It wasn't super busy, and it was probably about 8:30.  Why would we need to be there so early with a chair? (Spoiler, it's a very long parade).  We started out where the vertical street on the right meets the top of the map. Walked down to the cross street, and turned right (left as you look at the map). We only walked to where the blue dot is and realized it would be a good spot. It's a slightly elevated, grassy area. The downsides were that we couldn't see the banners from much of a distance (because of the building beside), and it was in the shade, or it was cloudy, all morning. It got quite cool because we had dressed for hot weather. 

There was supposed to be pre-parade entertainment but all we saw were some cheerleaders walking towards the start, and some other small groups--cops, cowboys, etc. I assume we missed it.

Harry the Horse, the mascot.

Calgary Stampede Show Band (below). It amazes me that other musicians can memorize music. Not just "Happy Birthday", but however many full length songs they did. They were doing  Shania Twain number and I thought that was cool. 

We knew Shania Twain was the parade marshall, and had heard people on the train saying she'd be on a horse, so when I heard someone in the crowd say "It's Shania Twain" I didn't immediately look up. I was almost too late!

At this point, we thought maybe she'd be at the end of the parade, like Santa (how do you end a parade that isn't a Santa Claus parade?). 

There wasn't a banner announcing her, and there had been other people on horses, and we thought she'd have a little more of a blinged-out horse!

It's a screenshot, don't try to click the play button! We heard other people talking about how they almost missed her too because she blended in with the other entries. And man, were there a lot of entries. It was almost like two different parades. One for the Stampede, and then one for Calgary's multiculturalism.

You can click on any photo to go to Blogger's photo viewer for better visibility.

Due to being cold and needing the bathroom, we left before the very end. We walked back up the street, and saw a line of port-a-potties outside the library (the right side of the map photo at the start). 

Now we had to decide how to get to the Stampede. I knew it was slightly east, and slightly south, so we walked that way, and then I saw a sign. The crowd seemed to get bigger. Before long, we were in sight of a large admission tent area. This is why it's not on the Google Map--it's not a permanent structure! So, for reference, we went in the Stampede Trail entrance, which is on the north edge, about in the middle. It was going smoothly, though a nickel in my pocket set off the metal detector!!  Oops!

We were hungry, it was about 1:45 our time, or 11:45 Calgary time. We went into the first big building, the BMO Centre. It said on the map that in BMO Centre were the Wine Garden, Food Exhibitors, Stampede Cellar Champion Wine Experience by Holt Renfrew, and Stampede Perk Cafe. It seemed to be just like going to the Home Show--booths selling massaging chairs, hot tubs, small run BBQ sauce, a couple small food booths but not "meals". The Wine Garden and Experience looked expensive. I didn't notice on the map, the Stampede Perk Cafe. No idea what that is. I see now on the website, you can select filters for the map. Choosing Food doesn't show much, but choosing New Food shows all the midway food. I'm not sure if this was also on the app (I've deleted now). 

We saw an info booth and asked the lovely young lady where to go for food. She pointed in The Market and I said there didn't seem to be real food, just cotton candy and fudge. She vaguely waved her hand to the outside and said there's lots out there. I said we didn't really want midway food, but like, a little restaurant or something. She just kind of re-iterated that it was all out "there".  She never mentioned the Stampede Perk Cafe even. She was very lovely and excited, but just not helpful. So we went outside again.

This was like your local fall fair on steroids. It's been a long tine since I've been to the CNE in Toronto, but it's the same sort of thing. Despite having the map, we couldn't get orientated with it very well. Looking at it now, it sort of makes sense but like the midway area--you can't tell on the map if you can walk through. We all selected some food booths nearby--street dogs, noodles for Hugh, and poutine for Lucy, and sat on the ground (on grass) near the entrance to the BMO Centre, in the shade. There were tables but it was busy, so it was just easier to sit in the shade on the grass. 

We decided to go see the Stampede Showriders. Megan knew about them, and they were in the parade, but the rest of us didn't have a clue. We headed over to "the green area" and then found it was in one of those large barns with the roof made of heavy plastic over hoops. It was still pretty early, so Rob and I held the seats (at the top of the bleachers) while the kids went to look at the farm animal displays.

They returned surprisingly quickly. I don't think they saw everything, but since we knew were nothing was, I don't think they wanted to go far. Rob decided he had to go get a drink. While he was gone--which was a long time--people started to quickly fill in.  People started sitting on the steps of the bleacher. There was a family to my left (also with a son named Hugh), but one spot between us...until the mother showed up. Basically, although we had tried to save Rob's spot, it just got absorbed. When Rob got back, there was no way up. Instead, he went in between the railings and up on to the steps at the side somehow. It was a cozy fit now!

The Calgary Stampede Showriders are girls aged 14-21, who audition in the fall, and they perform on their own horse. They're kind of like the RCMP Musical Ride. They started with a warm up, and one horse was having a rough time. This was their first time performing! The announcer was the team trainer, and she talked them through it, and explained what was happening. This part was really cool to see.

This is the 40th anniversary of the Showriders. Later this year they are going to Portugal to learn from show riders there! It was really cool to watch, though the dust really got kicked up and I was coughing a lot. I did have a mask with me and put that on to help with the dust. 

We walked over to the Elbow River Camp. This is a serene area on the east side, across the river. Several Indigenous tribes have areas with tipis and other displays. There were a LOT of vendors and the kids actually really enjoyed shopping there. Their favourite was probably the fur seller. We thought we'd get bannock, but the line was so long! It had gotten really hot over by now, very sunny.

Megan wanted to go back to the BMO Centre to do some shopping. There are Lammle's stores throughout, and CS souvenir stores, but she was hoping for more Western stores/products in the shopping building. Well, it was just like going to the local home show. Tupperware, Pampered Chef, Cutco had two booths, etc. We did get little packs of Nerds Gummies which I love LOL. 

We were walking past a Soft Tub (portable hot tub) booth, when Rob recognized the salesman. He talked to him a bit. He'd worked at the Arctic Spa store where we bought our hot tub, almost 15 years ago. He'd retired, was spending 6 months/year in Jamaica, and the other months in Ontario (I think). Soft Tub was his friend's biz, but the friend was stuck somewhere and asked him to fly out to Calgary Thursday night to man the booth for a couple days. Small world!

We went towards the back, which was supposed to be Canadian stuff. Still nothing. The Western culture was just not very present at the Stampede, except for the CS booths and visitors. 

We were heading towards the exit when we came upon the CS Lottery booth, and the off-grid trailer. Rob had to take a closer look.

This is the brochure for the trailer in the lottery. Rob had lots of questions.  Megan asked if they used Timbran axles (?), and they did...which is where she did her high school co-op (OYAP--Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program). That's cool. She's pointing to the parts she welded (she doesn't know if she welded this specific one).  She was originally going to wear her Timbran shirt but it was black and she thought she'd be too hot.

These were cool; you could vote on the flower displays (each is a different music star) and win flowers (for a month).

We made one more midway food stop for deep fried Oreos, Snickers, cheesecakes. Apparently the Oreos are the best.

We headed out to the Victoria Park exit to get on the train going south.  It was packed and wThee had to stand half the way home. Once home we made a tray of pulled pork sliders, and a big rigatoni and meatballs, and salads. The oven did not seem to work well, but it was nice to eat at home. 

Lucy made a friend at her job last fall who was on her internship. She's originally from Calgary and she was back in the city after graduating (and she's returning to the company this fall). They arranged to meet up, so we drove Lucy back to the train station and sent her off into the city on her own.

This is the newest hospital, in the south-west end. It had this wonderful mural on it that looked amazing from a bit of a distance. As you got close, it was a bit more abstract, pixelated but still cool.

This is a white tailed jackrabbit. We wanted to drive around the huge development we were in and see a few things we saw on the map--specifically, a couple beaches.  That's when we found out this was a HOA development and the beaches were part of beach clubs for residents. I felt like we were in the States. I started getting ads on Facebook and you can check out the website.

I think there's a bit more done since this map image. It was interesting to drive around. There's hardly any stop signs. It's all round abouts or yield signs, but there was one set of traffic lights that seemed like an odd location. Everyone parks on the streets, which can make driving a bit tricky in spots. Many homes are rear lane garages/parking spots, but there's also streets with short driveways. Even many of those homes park on the street--driveway was empty (maybe they used the garage). I don't know what happens in the winter.

We found driving around Calgary to be interesting. It seemed like we were always getting on a highway, and then getting off (in Ontario, new drivers can't go on limited access highways, so I don't know what they do there). There were isolated left turn lanes, which are great, but the lights confused us. Two red lights stacked:

Right turn lanes had long merges. There was one intersection near the CTrain station where you come off the highway and it felt REALLY confusing. Thankfully, Apple Maps got us through it. Apparently, it's Canada's first diverging diamond interchange. 

Apparently it has really improved safety there, but if I was trying to navigate just from this map, I would have been baffled. I learned in a Facebook group that Calgary has a highly regarded, top level traffic safety research department at the university and it was a very safe driving city. We did notice a few close calls (even Rob almost turned into a left turn lane instead of the traffic lane beside it), and my phone was sending me Google posts about accidents, but much of Calgary is deliberately planned, and they have the space for good planning from the start. 

Lucy was planning to take an Uber back from the train station late, but Rob said no way. It was much easier driving there at midnight, even with Apple Maps! 

It was a long day, and due to my cough, I didn't get a ton of sleep. We didn't have to be up early though, so that was nice.