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Published: July 12th 2015
THE STAMPEDE The title is not just a quote from Robin Williams in the movie 'Jumanji'. There are two types of directions you run when the Stampede is in town in Calgary. You run to it or run as far away from it as you can. The 10 day event known as the 'Greatest Outdoor Show On Earth' has so much depth to it I find it hard to work out where to start explaining it. It is event that brings in so many groups of people from all over the world and you would be mistaken for thinking that the common dress is to wear Cowboy gear in these parts or as my exchange teaching partner Mel would say in 'Cow town'!
STAMPEDE PARADE The Stampede starts with its sneak peak day where most Calgarians who have seen it all before will go to check it out to see if there is anything new but to avoid the influx of tourists that stamp upon their territory in the days to come, but where it officially begins is on the Friday with the Stampede Parade. I remember hearing that the parade started at 7:30am in the
morning and so I stupidly decided to get up early and rush down there to see it. I must have clicked onto the sight where all the performers and people involved in the parade had to arrive as the parade did not start until 9:30! If you were a smart cookie, there are a couple of places you can go so you can see the parade twice. Since it strolls along 6th ave and 9th ave you can position yourself early on 6th and rush back to 9th to get a second glimpse. You could also do what Monty, who was the acting Deputy Principal at Fairview for a while had done and go to the Calgary Tower, eat breakfast in the revolving restaurant then watch it from the look out 452 flights of stairs high off the ground. Where I was situated was 9th Ave and 3rd St next to a car park where people had paid for their car park or wondered up the stairs and packed the levels just to get a higher view of this big event.
You could feel the energy, the excitement and the anticipation within the crowd. While most were
in their cowboy outfits I decided since it was 28 degrees and I was going to the rodeo that day I would take the stomping ground flip flops (thongs as I prefer to call them and get told off for over here) shorts and T-shirt. In all honesty it is a great family event and the amount of history local businesses, sporting teams, history of Canada and past pageant queen winners that made up the floats it is either something you love or something you could miss. It was indeed very colourful and listening to the bands that carried their heavy instruments for the 3-4km journey and the crowd chant 'Go Flames Go' when the Flames cheer girls walked past made it something I found worthwhile to see but no need to rush next year to see it again. Although I was excited when Darth Vader and a Storm Trooper walked past. I nearly rushed out to get a photo of this opportunity but then remembered to put the little kid in side of me in check.
GETTING INTO STAMPEDE SPIRIT Dressing up like a cowboy felt quite weird but at the same time you where
living that little childhood dream of being a cowboy which made pretty cool. On the Tuesday I had been guided towards Lammle's Western Wear shop by a couple of staff members after we had some end of year drinks and they took great delight in dressing me in expensive cowboy attire. In the end I spent $420 on the attire with the boots being $180 and that was as cheap as I could get. Needless to say that when I go out from now on, guess what I am wearing. When I first entered the grounds I was amazed by what the Stampede entailed. I entered from the Elton Stampede entrance where straight away I see the Indian Village, a large set up of Indian Tipi's that you could walk through and learn more about the native culture. I regret in some ways not spending more time there as it would have been quite interesting but I only had enough time to explore the grounds quickly before heading to the rodeo.
The grounds outside the main arena were a buzz. The kids and family side was full of rides, side shows and the famous Midway food trucks
with all kinds of different foods and creations to try had a similar feel to what I would see at Adelaide's Royal show. They also had a young kids section full of more appropriate activities of similar make up such as rides, food, rock walls etc near the Saddledome. The rides varied to 'yep that's fun' to 'are you insane?' But they, like the food is expensive and didn't fit into my depleting budget but they were good to watch and admire at the same time. There was the coke stage where they had different performers throughout the day including bands, a hypnotist and a couple of other entertainers and shows such as my little pony (which I obviously couldn't wait to go see). They had two to three other venues for other activities to go watch. The Big Four area had other little shows for the kids to explore and the Hollywoof Super Dogs which if you went to go get a free ticket from a nearby ticket station you could go see. I wanted to but again time was slim but I have heard they are quite good.
They also had the Agrium Western Event
Centre where they had all kinds of shows you could see if you did not intend to see the main event such as sheep showcasing, The Cattle Trail which I managed to sneak a quick look at, the BMO centre where all kinds of products and companies western or not where on show to promote their goods. The Saddledome was home to a number of music concerts including Stevie Wonder who is playing tonight. All this plus plenty more is crammed in and circled around the main stadium at the grounds which is where I strolled to and watched the rodeo.
THE RODEO The rodeo was a good show to see as it was unique for me, unlike my cousins back home on the Yorke Peninsula who had been to a rodeo or two in their time. For future reference though, unless you really have to sit down, by the cheap arse $14 standing ticket, get a group of four who take it in turns to buy the drinks and watch it fence side. Then you are right up with the action and can really admire and appreciate the 8 seconds of thrill and excitement that
is by men moving their bodies to adjust to the will of a wild animal. I had been advised to pay the $73 ticket and sit in the stands which still has a good view and may give you some shade but if (and maybe when) I go or come back again for the stampede that is exactly what I would do. The show starts off with a band to get the energy started before the real action kicks in with bare back horse riding. It didn't take long for the first little heart flutter occurred when a rider front flipped over the top of the horse he was barebacking and landed flat on his back. He was fine but suddenly you got a feel for how much of a skill this is and how dangerous it could be. Apart from the bull/steer riding and the saddle and bare back horse riding where the animal tried to buck off the rider in 8 seconds by spinning or flicking it legs so that the cowboy rider's back gets jerked from the animals head to backside they had more events which I had not expected.
There was an event
where a man would lasso a cow jump off his horse holding onto the rope and quickly tie its legs together. The best guys did this in 7 seconds and it was seriously done in the blink of an eye. The cow got up nice and fine and trotted back to its place of rest on every occasion so don't panic if you are an animal lover reading this. They also had an event where two men ride off together chasing a bull/steer or cow with horns something of that species, then one jumps off his horse and attempts to wrestle it to the ground. Those who were successful did this in 3.5 to 5.5 seconds. Amazing! They also had the ladies who did the barrel riding where a female rider races a horse around a figure 8 or 4 point diamond obstacle course in as fast a time as possible. The final part of the rodeo was the most fun where a team of three girls who are barely in their teens try to get one of the girls on a pony that is running away from them. One holds the rope, another tries to hold the pony while
the third tries to jump on. All they have to do is get on and they are successful. It was quite entertaining watching the poor girl holding the rope getting dragged along the ground a few metres while the others chased after it but it was all a light hearted bit of fun. It was also cute watching the 7 year old girl direct the ponies back to the stock yard after the event was done.
CHUCK WAGONS AND EVENING SHOW On the Monday night I went to watch the Chuck Wagons and the evening show. I was also advised to get good tickets for this as well which I had done and must say, despite the rain and the colder weather, quite the opposite to the Friday where it was bloody hot, I enjoyed the show. The chuck wagons reminded me of the Saturday night trots that I would occasionally go with my family when I was a kid, except instead of riding in the trotting seat the drivers where in sponsored and different coloured chuck wagons. They race 4 at a time and the idea is that the chuck wagons ride as a team
with a solo rider who must finish with 150 yards behind them or suffer a time penalty. The race begins with 4 riders in a race dodging and weaving in a figure 8 motion around two barrels labeled with their lane number and then they race to see who can get out to the first corner. It can be quite a traffic jam at that point which gets the crowd ooooing and arrrring with excitement. They then run round the track like a normal horse race. If the riders knock down one of these barrels they get time penalties as well. While they race each night the riders build up an accumulation of time over the week where the best 8 riders run on the Sunday to see who will take out the championship.
The evening show that followed was just awesome. I loved every minute of it! The theme was all about Canada and where it started to what makes it such a great place to be. Even a country singer came out and sang 'That good old hockey game' which had the Canadian spectators up in voice came out and played along with an acrobat
that did amazing tricks within a dream catcher in the air, a man who looked like he could wrestle a rhino doing all kinds of strength and balance tricks within a cube and a hula hop champion displaying his amazing talent. They also looked back through their most well known artists through the decades and unfortunately Justin Beiber did get a mention in this!!!!! The choreography of the northern lights component was just awesome and despite the fact it rained the whole time, these performers were just simply professional and brilliant to watch.
THE STAMPEDE PARTY The stampede is not just confined to the grounds but it is also known to be one of the biggest social times of the year. Men are known to take their wedding rings off, divorce rates sky rocket and they have the most number of STI cases recorded in this time. If you are a social and party animal this is your place to be at this time of year. Nearly every pub in town has something going on while they also have special tents at the venue as well such as Cowboys and Nashville North (where country bands talent
shows are held and play all day). Some people where the same gear and go out each night spending who knows how much money on alcohol and maybe adding a few notches to their belt, if you know what I mean. I had heard stories of what actually goes on in these parties in the deep dark corners and sometimes in public eye of those within the venue and they are the kind a group of lads would share to impress their mates and not for this blog it is safe to say.
After playing in the Aussie Rules Stampede Cup where the mighty Wolves beat Edmonton to win it and driving back home in rain where even with the windscreen wipers on full steam you could not see anything I managed to get home and prepare for my taste of this party lifestyle. The footy boys had all purchased tickets to Cowboys that would get them express entry before 6! I was running late and had driven my car to a mates place that I planned to leave there over night and collect the next day. They had already left when I got to his place
so I had to sprint in cowboy kit on a good 2 or 3km to get to the Cowboys tent which was next to the Cowboys casino just near the stampede grounds. I got there at 6:15 and saw the line that awaited and thought this was not going to be a good experience. I had messaged one of the boys inside and he told me to use the accent to sweet talk my way in. So I approached the bloke who was in charge and told him my story and he let me in. Not sure if the accent was the winning factor here but feel he was in a good mood. So I strolled past the line of 200 people plus and walked into a tent full of over dressed and in some cases under dressed cowboy wannabes of all ages.
The place was packed and was just like any other kind of large party gathering. I must say, some of the ladies looked amazing in the cow girl attire and it did tickle your interest alot more than they probably would normally. After enjoying a few drinks with the group, I managed to join
a break away group that paid $100 for VIP which meant no toilet line up and pretty much a good view of the party from an upstairs section. This was also where the corporate section hung out in small square roped off areas at $2500 a night. I basically got my ticket checked it out and went back to the boys when a girl just jumped me and before I knew it I am doing the two step in front of everyone. She also had intentions that relate to similar behaviours as I have mentioned above. The time was 8pm by then so I had hardly been there 2 hours spent $100 on VIP just so I could have quick toilet access to be honest and if I was that way inclined my night could have been all done and dusted. Now my handling of the situation probably was not done that well and maybe some fair descriptive words could be used to honestly describe me here but I had told the girl that this was not going to happen at this point. I wanted to make the most of my $100 before I even considered this. It has always
been a problem I have faced in these situations where the nice person inside with different morals takes over the lad and the party man but in this case I moved on and went to VIP. I had told her I would come back which I had planned on but I never did as by some chance I managed to sneak in with a couple of others into a vacant $2500 area and have a pretty awesome night dancing away and socialiing. I event saw Jeff and Jaime, Mel's friends who were also there at a function which was good as I hadn't seen them for quite some time.
OUTSIDE OF THE STAMPEDE GROUNDS In the city and beyond there are also other establishments like Knoxville (which had been renovated) and Ranchman's that are well known as places to go during Stampede time. I happened to check out Ranchman's on Friday night with Amy who is another girl from Adelaide on teacher exchange. Another Adelaide exchange girl called Abby who had been visiting from Denver was also going to join us but her flight for back home left at 6 that night. Both Ranchman's and Knoxville
had a club and a tent section at their venues which made it a pretty big party place to go. On the night I went to Ranchman's I was lucky enough to escape cover charge in both places ($10 for the tent and $20 for the club) and the Footy boys had also ventured to Ranchman's that night as well which was good. Amy and I spent most of our time in the club, where the mechanical bull was getting a good work out as was the two step on the dance floor. The mechanical bull could also be rode on the patio and in the tent section as well. I wanted to ride the bull but just couldn't grab myself to get on the damn thing. I wasn't sure if I was intimidated by the females who we watched ride that bull brilliantly (I mean this in innocent terms too, their technique was brilliant) or another constant battle I can have when i find myself in unfamiliar environments of taking a risk and just giving life a go. It was battle I had with myself all night and unfortunately I didn't ride it, but the bull is always there
and Ranchman's in only a couple kilometres from where I live so my date with the bull I'm sure will happen at some stage before I leave. As the night went on the club was packed with cowboy and girl wannabes who just had a good fun vibe about them. The dance floor was great fun with strangers grabbing Amy and teaching her the two step, as I'll be honest I only knew a few moves and just wanted to have a good fun time.
Before I end my Stampede Blog, the final component that I didn't try and is quite well known is the pancake breakfast that runs all over town during this period. From churches to shopping centres people can line up for a free pancake (can be 1hour long and be a cold pancake from what i was told) but this is just another interesting part of the what they call the 'Greatest Outdoor Show On Earth'. It is a great time in Calgary and if I was 10 years younger, lived here permanently and had the money I would have been like the footy boys who have gone everyday to a number of
different spots to live it up but I was happy I had a taste of it. The question is in future, which direction would I run if I lived here permanently? I'm not sure to be honest and would probably depend on the company I was with and the phase I was experiencing in my life but to my Myponga and Christies mates that read this, I recommend you come over here for the party as it is just one wild ride!!!
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