The Calgary Stampede

For ten days each July, Calgary becomes something else: offices put on jeans and hats, restaurants serve free pancake breakfasts from car parks across the city, and around one and a half million people pass through Stampede Park. The core of it is the rodeo, one of the richest in the world, with bull riding, bareback and steer wrestling, and the chuckwagon races each evening, in which teams of horses pull wagons around a track at speed in a spectacle unique to the western Canadian circuit. Around the arena are a midway, an agricultural show, First Nations pavilions and grandstand shows. The city commits fully, which is what makes it enjoyable even for people with no interest in rodeo.

What you actually see

• The rodeo - bull riding, bareback and steer wrestling in the main arena.
• The chuckwagon races - wagon teams at speed each evening.
• The free pancake breakfasts - served across the city all week.
• Elbow River Camp - First Nations tipis, dancing and craft at the park, renamed from the Indian Village in 2018.

When to go

The Stampede runs for ten days in early July, with dates published a year ahead. Accommodation across Calgary books out and prices multiply, so reserve early. July weather is warm but prairie storms can arrive fast.

Honest expectations

Rodeo involves animals in competition and the chuckwagon races in particular have drawn sustained criticism after horse deaths in past years, with rule changes since; it is worth deciding how you feel before buying a ticket. The park is crowded and the midway is expensive. Outside Stampede week, Calgary is a quiet business city.

Nearby

Banff is ninety minutes west; Drumheller and the badlands are an hour and a half northeast.