100th Calgary Stampede, Calgary, Alberta

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6th July 2012 - 100th Calgary Stampede Parade

6th of July was the first day of the Stampede. We got up at 3.30am to a pretty cold morning, (the winds that come howling across the prairies have a bite) had breakfast at 3.45am and we were off to Crowfoot Station to catch the LRT(Light Rail Transit) into downtown Calgary. You can see the train we caught in the background -we opted for the All Day Pass at $8.25 per person. The ticket machines take quarters, $1 coins (Loonies) and $2 coins (Toonies). What a marvellously efficient transport system.

Arrived at 5.15am,we decided to get off at 3rd St and walked to 6th Av SW where the Parade starts.The LRT is fare free along 7 Ave SW which is a wonderful idea as it allows people working in the city to get around without having massive traffic jams. It also means tourists can jump on and off at the various places of interest along 7 Ave for free. Love Calgary!! Mind you, somebody has to pay for all of this free stuff and its good to see the Canadian tax $$ at work.

9.00am  Parade kicked off with the Calgary Stampede Band.

 

We were looking for a vantage point to watch the parade and came across this wonderful lady Marie and her boys at the corner of 3rd and 6th.  They've been coming to the Stampede for years so she was well prepared with chairs, blankets etc.  See the bleachers(wooden benches) in the background - you have to pay well in advance to sit on them.

The Mexican contingent with the ladies leading the way.

Tom with Marie. We had no chairs etc. and Marine supplied us with a blanket to sit on. She even gave us a couple of tickets for a free breakfast on the top floor of the Barclays Centre which was the building we had camped in front of.

Yep...she's a real cowgirl with spurs.  She did several years of looking after horses.

Representation from the Philippines.

People on our side of the street with Marie and her kids.

One of the warm up acts before the real show.

The Calgary Stampede Show Band.

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The Calgary Stampede Show Riders were formed in 1985 to accompany the Stampede Showband.

Mike Casey President and Chairman of the Calgary Stampede Board.

 

The Budweiser Wagon with the amazingly fitted out Clydesdale horses. The Budweiser Clydesdale tradition started at Anheuser-Busch and were first introduced to the public in 1933 to celebrate the repeal of Prohibition. Check out the Dalmatian dog which is their Mascot!

 

Check out the dressage on these Clydesdales. These majestic beauties do some 100,000 miles taking part in more than 500 parades every year.

 A couple of Mounties with rather frisky horses.

 

Royal Canadian Mounted Police entry included Honor Guard, Marching Troop and Veterans.

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A Leopard Appaloosa horse being ridden by a member of the Oklahoma Express Clydesdales member. This vintage group of western riders are from Express Ranches in Oklahoma.

A Parade of past and current Stampede Queens, Princesses - we spotted some going back to 1955 - looking mighty fine ladies!!

Stoney Nation indians in their colourful ceremonial robes. 

Representation from the Blackfoot Nation. The Blackfoot Nation is made up of 4 nations, the nations have their own separate governments ruled by a head chief.

Families and children from the Stoney Nation located in SW Alberta. It is home to the Bearspaw, Chiniki and Wesley first nations of the Nakoda. Nakoda is their traditional indian name (meaning friend). The name Stoney was given to them by white explorers because the Nakodas used fire heated rocks to cook - kinda of like hot stone cooking I guess.

This is Wild West Willie, a nine year old cross bred Brahma steer. He weighs 3000lbs. and stands over 6ft tall at the shoulder!

The beautiful ladies from the Calgary Arabian Horse Assoc. These horses look "dainty" after the Clydesdales!

Members of the Carriage Association of America, Swendonsons Carriage Collection. This Society helps preserve, restore and build carriages that represent ways of life from years gone by.

Gull Lake Farms - they offer carriage services for special occasions. This year's carriages were pulled by gorgeous Friesen horses from the Netherlands.

A bevy of beauties - another shot of the winners of the Stampede Queens and Princesses past and present.

Now we all know horses do huge poops..well this dollied up Pooper Scooper came and swept it all up every now and then.

The Draft Horse Town entry showcased the partnership between early pioneers and the workhorse in Western Canada.

Past and Present Winners of the different rodeo events at the Stampede. 

This young man was one of the flautists with the Red Deer Royals Marching Band. True Grit and determination!

Well, how was I to know... I thought the girls from  Hooters were also taking part! but I was wrong - they are Cheerleaders from one of the Football Clubs....which one, I didn't know and the guys I'm sure didn't give a hoot!!

Some more photos of the 1st Nation people of the Blackfoot Tribe.

Gorgeous horses and beautiful ceremonial Indian robes.

Calgary Police Service Pipe Band - there is nothing like the wails of bagpipes to get everyone sitting up.

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The Australian Hunter School of the Performing Arts Marching Band (what a mouthful) did us proud. From Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia this is their debut performance at the Calgary Stampede. There were many other international marching bands in the parade including representations from Potsdam, Germany, Helsingor Pipegarde from Denmark, Medellin Marching Band from Colombia, Linkoping Youth Marching & Concert Band from Sweden just to name a few.

There were also floats - this one is from Spokane, Washington, USA is the Lilac Festival Float.I took over 200 pics at the parade alone so there were lots more that we didn't want to put on the blog and have you fall zzzzzz at your computer!

We caught the LRT at 3rd St again for a short ride to Stampede Park. Entry is included if you have bought a ticket to the rodeo show which is the main event at Stampede Park. The Stampede is like a combo of our Ekka (in Brisbane) or the Easter Show (in Sydney), the Gympie Muster in Amaroo State Forest, Queensland and a rodeo. It can be quite an expensive day at the Stampede as a lot of things are not free. It cost us $155 per person for the rodeo show including entry to the Park.

 

Got my photo taken with a real Mountie...not he's not quite Sgt. Preston from the Yukon. Tom asked him if he was for real (just in case he was like one of those dressed up characters in Disneyland). He said he was the real deal!

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police show band was the opening act for the rodeo. Believe they are the world reigning show band champion.

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Bucking broncos..yee haw! We were astonished that the prize money for this competition was $2 million dollars. During the Stampede, they will use approx. 745 bales of hay to feed the horses in the show. If laid end to end, it would stretch the length of 9 football fields. Each horse has their own blanket (no relation to Michael Jackson's son), special mixture of food, horse shoes, special perks like those demanded by pop divas! The farriers are kept working overtime as well!!

 

Calf roping contest-those calves can sure move! Besides these 2 events, there were many others like bull riding, chuckwagon racing (think Melbourne Cup race with 4 horses and going hell for leather).

The Indian Village at the Stampede had some of these fabulous tee pees. They confused me with some spelling their tents as ti pis.

Amelia Crowshoe, the current Calgary Stampede Indian Princess.