Everything you need to know about the 2024 Calgary Stampede
The Calgary Stampede is celebrating BMO Kids’ Day today, offering free admission for everyone until 10 a.m., and free admission for kids (12 and under) all day.
141,053 people visited the Stampede on Monday, down from Sunday’s all-time-high daily attendance of 201,260 people.
The total 2024 Stampede attendance to date is 770,703 people.
Calgary Stampede music picks for July 10
Cowboys Music Festival
Who: Bailey Zimmerman, Nate Smith and Dasha. Doors open at 5 p.m.
Country-music star Bailey Zimmerman shot to fame in 2021 after posting his music to TikTok. Following that, in 2022, Zimmerman’s breakup ballad “Rock and a Hard Place” took the number one spot on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart for six weeks. Nate Smith and Dasha also gained fame in recent years by posting their music to TikTok. This star-studded lineup of country newcomers is guaranteed to draw a crowd.
Coca Cola Stage
Who: Metric, On stage at 9:30 p.m.
These Toronto alt-rock darlings are favourites of the Coca-Cola Stage. In fact, there seems to have been few years that the band hasn’t an appearance. While the act spent some of its formative years in New York City, it’s still widely associated with the Toronto scene of the early 2000s. Before beginning her music career, singer Emily Haines hung out with future Stars member Amy Millan and future Broken Social Scene co-founder Kevin Drew. Now, nine studio albums and nearly 30 years into their career, Metric remains an energetic live act.
Badlands Music Festival
Who: James Hype. Doors open at 6 p.m.
UK-based DJ and record producer, James Hype, headlines Wednesday’s show at the Badlands Music Festival. Before rising to fame in 2017 with his single “More Than Friends,” Hype performed at bars and clubs. Now he is known internationally, working with well known artists around the world.
Stampede visitors seek out heat relief as sun sears grounds
The sun continued to beat down on the Stampede grounds Tuesday, forcing many visitors to seek shade, shelter or solace in cold drinks.
Inside the Nutrien Western Event Centre, Carl Klywak and Stella Chan, both from Calgary, were among dozens of people lined up Tuesday afternoon waiting to fill water bottles at a fountain station before heading back into the sun.
“I was born and raised here and I can’t remember growing up it being this hot. It almost seems like every year it’s getting hotter and hotter,” said Chan.
“Normally, every year we would dress up but this year we’re like, ‘no, I’m forgoing the Stampede boots, the cowboy hat. This year we even brought our chilly pads,” she said of the cooled, wet wraps on their necks.
The Stampede spirit remains, generation after generation
Today is Kids’ Day at the Stampede. It’s also the 75th anniversary of the day I will never forget — a day that gifted me with the optimism and sense of being lucky that has been a part of my psyche even in moments of fear, sadness and regret.
That day I held the winning ticket on the two-wheeled, blue CCM bicycle during the daytime kids’ Grandstand Show.
I will never forget my father bundling his four-year-old daughter in his arms and carrying me down the long flight of stairs to the stage.
I won’t forget the heat from the tar paper burning through my sandals, or the wave of horror that gripped me when alderman Don Mackay, who would become Calgary’s mayor that fall, gently tried to take my pudgy hands from the handlebars. I gripped even tighter, thereby setting in motion the lifelong idea that adults, rules and law were not always right.
Three rodeo animals euthanized after sustaining injuries
A steer was injured and subsequently euthanized Monday, making it the third animal to die during the 2024 Calgary Stampede.
Medical attention was immediately available to the injured animal, but a veterinarian ultimately decided it was “humane” to euthanize it.
Stampede officials called the incident “highly unusual and unfortunate,” and did not provide details on how the injury was sustained.
Meanwhile, two horses injured during the chuckwagon races on Friday and Saturday were also put down, officials said.
Calgary Smith has dreamed of competing in the Calgary Stampede
“I’ve always wanted to compete at the Calgary Stampede just because my name’s that,” said Smith, who is entered with partner Brady Tryan in Wednesday night’s team roping competition at the Nutrien Western Event Centre. “It’s so cool. I’m just excited to get to go.”
Hailing from Adams, Ore., Smith has never met anyone else with the distinct first name his parents gave to him.
“They just thought it was kind of a cool and unique name,” said Smith, who learned about the Calgary Stampede from watching taped — yes, taped — performances of the famous outdoor rodeo. “We have old VHS tapes and stuff that we had recorded off the TV that had old Calgary videos on it and stuff.”
What out photographers saw
