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| Calgary Stampede |
Our main reason for being in Calgary was to go to the Stampede, and we had got tickets for two days in the final weekend. The first day, we had evening tickets to the semi finals of the chuck wagon races, followed by the evening show.
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| Calgary Stampede |
Before our session, we had a look around the showground. I have to say, I was a bit disappointed by the grounds. There were some interesting bits, like a stand on the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the First Nations reservation, and some of the agricultural bits, but most of it was no different to what you would get at any fair these days.
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| Calgary Stampede |
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| Calgary Stampede |
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| Calgary Stampede |
I was hoping that there would be more things that felt in keeping with the Stampede - perhaps horseshoe throwing, lassoing, and a mechanical bull or something.
Instead, it was all of the usual stuff, and you could have been anywhere. Nic had a go at the frog flipping.
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| Calgary Stampede |
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| Calgary Stampede |
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| Calgary Stampede |
The chuckwagon racing was great fun though. They have made some changes, over the years, to help safeguard the wellbeing of the horses, but it is still quite fast and furious.
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| Calgary Stampede |
The races were first held here in 1923, 11 years after the organiser, Guy Weadick staged the first Stampede in 1912. Each team is made up of a wagon with a driver and four horses, plus two outriders on their own horses.
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| Calgary Stampede |
The course requires the team to 'break camp', with the outriders having to throw a barrel, representing their camp stove, onto the back of the wagon.
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| Calgary Stampede |
They then all have to complete a figure of eight, being penalised if they knock over any markers, before setting off for a circuit of the race track. All members of the team must cross the line to finish.
It is very entertaining to watch.
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| Calgary Stampede |
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| Calgary Stampede |
After the racing, there is an evening show, which includes various forms of entertainment, such as musicians, singers, acrobats and so forth.
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| Calgary Stampede |
The standard is pretty high, and we rather liked things like the mechanical horses, which were powered by people inside and were being driven on tracks above us.
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| Alberta Ballet, Calgary Stampede |
One of the most amusing performances, was a dance troupe all dressed up as a baseball team, doing quite camp dance moves to Elton John's Benny and the Jets. We later found out that this is one scene from a ballet called Love Lies Bleeding, by the Alberta Ballet. If this one routine was anything to go by, the ballet is probably pretty good.
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| KISS, Calgary Stampede |
We were a little surprised at one of the acts appearing; the Calgary Stampede wasn't somewhere that we would have expected to see 1970s rock band KISS. They were fun though.
The evening finishes with a decent firework display too.
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| Calgary Stampede |
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| Calgary Stampede |
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| Calgary Stampede |
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| Calgary Stampede |
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| Calgary Stampede |
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| Calgary Stampede |
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| Calgary Stampede |
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| Calgary Stampede |
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| Calgary Stampede |
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| Calgary Stampede |
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| Calgary Stampede |
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