Calgary Stampede - Calgary, AB
N 51° 02.052 W 114° 03.120
11U E 706688 N 5657764
'The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth', is a week long rodeo and festival with celebrations that occur all over town.
Waymark Code: WMCE36
Location: Alberta, Canada
Date Posted: 08/27/2011
Views: 13
from wikipedia:
The Calgary Stampede is an annual rodeo, exhibition and festival held every July in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The ten-day event, which bills itself as "The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth", attracts over one million visitors per year and features the world's largest rodeo, a parade, midway, stage shows, concerts, agricultural competitions, chuckwagon racing and First Nations exhibitions.
The event's roots are traced to 1886 when the Calgary and District Agricultural Society held its first fair. American promoter Guy Weadick launched his first rodeo and festival in 1912 and returned to Calgary in 1919 to organize the Victory Stampede in honour soldiers returning from World War I. It became an annual event in 1923 when the festival merged with the Calgary Industrial Exhibition to create the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede.
Organized by thousands of volunteers and supported by civic leaders, the Calgary Stampede has grown into one of the world's richest rodeos and a significant tourist attraction for the city. Rodeo and chuckwagon racing events are televised across Canada. However, both have been the target of increasing criticism by animal welfare groups concerned about particular events as well as animal rights organizations seeking to ban rodeo in general.
Calgary's national and international identity is tied to the event. It is known as the "Stampede City", carries the informal nickname of "Cowtown" and the local Canadian Football League team is called the Stampeders. The city takes on a party atmosphere during Stampede: office buildings and storefronts are painted in cowboy themes, residents don western wear and events held across the city include hundreds of pancake breakfasts and barbecues.
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