Stampede Has Come and Gone

Before moving here, we had heard so much about Stampede, the ten-day festival that Calgary is famous for - ten days of partying, concert-going, rodeo watching, pancake eating and general mayhem! It arrived before we even knew what had hit us.

Ben and I did our best to jump right into the mix - I think we made it to at least one Stampede-related event every day. The city really came to life more than I've ever seen it. For the first time, there were lots of tourists around, and the streets and restaurants were overflowing. I hope the festive spirit carries into the rest of the summer! Here's the crew enjoying our $3 pancake breakfast on Stephen's Ave. downtown - for some reason pancakes are a major theme of Stampede!

Ironically, after essentially nine months of drought, the thunderstorms all rolled in over the Stampede celebrations. They still have not left entirely but are at least slowing down.

And as most of you probably would have guessed, the actual Rodeo was my least favorite part of Stampede. In spite of reassurance from people in the know that rodeo animals are happy and very well cared for, I still found elements of the show pretty horrible. The calf roping was one event that I had hoped never to witness.

And then there was the calf wrestling, which I had never known even existed: basically a 200 (often more) pound man rides out on a horse alongside a calf, then dives off the horse, tackles the calf and throws it to the ground by its neck. All I could think about was how those poor unsuspecting animals had no idea what was happening to them! And then they ran out of the ring with their tails between their legs, looking so traumatized. Poor cows have a bad lot in life, even though they're docile, sweet, and proven to be as smart as dogs! I later heard that one of the cows that had been wrestled at Stampede never got up, and had to be euthanized. Does it make you feel like a man to tackle an unsuspecting baby animal? Really?? But anyway, the photo below is from the Chuckwagon Races, for which we were up front and center and I actually DID enjoy :)

We also had a great time at the fairgrounds (imagine the biggest state fair you've seen in your life); at "Nashville North," a stage where various country music artists play throughout Stampede; and at the Grandstand Show, which was a massive Cirque du Soleil-type evening show that included acrobatics, singing, dancing, comedy and motorcycle tricks, and culminated in fireworks.

Phew! Now Ben and I are both just trying to recuperate. I'm so excited for my family to come in town this weekend, so am saving up my energy to party down with them. Calgary better watch out, the Kiilerichs are coming!!