Description:
Imagine if you lived in a city of a 1,000,000+ people. Once a year, the downtown core hosts a parade, and hundreds of thousands of people line the streets to wave at stagecoaches filled with local celebrities and beauty queens. Before the streets are swept, your city shifts into party mode. For ten days, everyone from oil company executives to farmhands costume up, skip out of work early, head to the rodeo, then party hop with locals and tourists alike.Welcome to the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede, The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth!In early July, some Calgarians pack up and head for the hills, grumbling the whole time about how their city is more than bandanas and boots. They make room for the 1.2 million celebrants who fill hotel rooms and descend upon the Stampede Grounds in the Beltline to celebrate in western style. Here are some tips on how to get the most out of your Stampede Experience.Western AttireWestern clothing is high art in Calgary - don’t be surprised if that pretty, pulled together cowgirl spent more on her outfit than you do on rent. For western duds, look no further than Lammle’s Western Wear & Tack. The real deal, you’ll find ranchers intermixed with the city folk searching for Stetsons. Local tip: cowboy boots aren’t for the faint of sole. Buy a custom made pair at Alberta Boot and ship ‘em home; Jake Gyllenhaal supposedly bought a pair while filming nearby!RodeoThe toughest guys and gals compete for over $2 Million in prize money; tackling, roping, riding, and wrestling their ways into the finals. Words cannot describe how hard this event can be on its participants; after all, no one in the world is more rugged than a man who can stay on a really grumpy bull for over eight seconds. Grab a Caesar (local libation consisting of Vodka, Clamato, Worcestershire, and Tabasco) at 30X Saloon, throw on your Shady Brady to keep out the sun, grab your seat in the Grandstand, and dig in!Stampede Flapjack BreakfastsFree breakfasts for ten days? Yes, if you know where to look! To find a free (or nearly free) breakfast every morning of Stampede, check out the Flapjack Finder. Designed and managed by local Calgary design gurus KARO Group, Flapjack finder ensures maximum flapjack and syrup consumption with minimal research on your part - they even have an iPhone app! Wear your cowboy gear, or you’ll be stared down as the interloper you are.Getting’ yer Party onIf you want the full western experience, ignore the wine bars and gastropubs who throw a bale of hay at the door and drive up the price of their whiskey; your best bet is where the cowboys actually drink year round. Ranchman’s is an authentic western saloon and Calgary legend, where grizzled cowfolk intermingle with nubile cowgirls – try the mechanical bull and hold on to your hat. Elsewhere, lowly parking lots are elevated to the status of an A-list club when tented for a corporate party. Getting on the invite list to some of the more exclusive shindigs is harder than roping a wild filly, but try if you can. Befriend a local working at an energy firm, and you may find yourself rubbing shoulders with local elite, sipping a complimentary Grasshopper beer.Western GrubOnly during Stampede could there be a food festival dedicated to the culinary preparation of a young calf’s business. Buzzard’s Cowboy Cuisine celebrates their yearly, ahem, “Testicle Festival” in early July, where prairie oysters are sautéed, braised, and breaded and fried to perfection.
Author:
Amy
Believing that the only way one can truly get to know a place is through its food and drink, Amy's... view profile
View Iternary mapCalgary
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Alberta Boot
Contact:
- (403) 263-4605
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Location:
- #50 - 50 Ave SW
- Calgary,AB
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Description:
Hockey fans relish 3-goal "hat-tricks", but here in Calgary they're known as "boot-tricks" thanks to Alberta Boot. Anytime a Calgary Flames scores 3 goals in a game, Alberta Boot makes them a custom pair of cowboy boots. That's what they're known for. While you won't find a lot of 'standard cowboy boots' on the shelves, you'll be hard pressed to find anywhere else that sells the same quality of custom made boots. They are also known for making police boots, for the RCMP as well as other North American police forces. If you want to show off some personal flair, or you just want some really good quality boots, Alberta Boot is the place to shop!
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Lammle's Western Wear & Tack
Contact:
- 403.266.5226
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Location:
- 209 8th Avenue SW
- Calgary,AB
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Description:
The Lammle family is legendary in Calgary. Would you believe that they not only run one of the most successful retail businesses in Western Canada, but they also run a huge llama farm? Every Calgarian is familiar with the retail business, especially the commercial jingle, L-A-double M-L-E-S. In 2010, Lammle's Western Wear & Tack won a CCMA award for best retail. It has been supplying cowboy clothing, boots and hats for years, and it's been rapidly expanding, opening shops all across Calgary and the rest of Alberta and BC. Or, if you want, you can buy saddles and other western related necessities.
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Calgary Exhibition and Stampede
Contact:
- 403 261 0101(Info) / 403 269 9822 (Tickets) / 1 800 661 1767 (Tickets)
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Location:
- 1410 Olympic Way South East
- (Stampede Park)
- Calgary,ABT2P 2K8
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Our Local Expert Says:
The biggest event of the year, the Calgary Stampede is an experience you won’t get anywhere else. One of the largest outdoor shows on earth, book your hotel, flights and event tickets early.
Description:
The Calgary Stampede is definitely the event of the year in Calgary. The city is consumed by Stampede for 10 days, and everywhere you go you'll see people dressed in Western gear. If you are coming to Stampede for the first time, you must see the Rodeo, or the evening show (Chuckwagon races, a musical show and fireworks). You can buy last-minute rush seating, or high-end premium seating to view the events. If you are interested in the nightlife of Stampede, the best place to party is Nashville North, a tent on Stampede grounds with live music. However, line-ups start early and can get very long. Other bars downtown infamous for Stampede parties are Cowboys, Coyotes and Ranchmans, but any bar downtown will do.
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Buzzards Cowboy Cuisine
Contact:
- 403 264 6959
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Location:
- 140 - 10 Avenue SW
- Calgary,ABT2R 0A3
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Description:
Most Calgarians only "go cowboy" for the two weeks surrounding the annual Calgary Exhibition and Stampede, but western culture is still deeply ingrained in the city and region. Buzzards Cowboy Cuisine is decorated with barn wood, barbed wire, western oil paintings and prairie antiques. A moderately priced menu offers buffalo steaks, Buckaroo Beans and fried bull calf testicles, more delicately known as prairie oysters. Burgers come in four varieties: beef, buffalo, chicken and veggie. There's an English pub to the back offering a myriad of brews from around the world.
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Ranchman's
Contact:
- 403 253 1100
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Location:
- 9615 Macleod Trail South
- (Between Heritage and Southland LRT Stations)
- Calgary,ABT2J 0P6
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Description:
Consistently voted among the top country bars in the country, this south Calgary institution has been packing people in for generations, particularly during the wild annual Calgary Stampede. While other bars purport to be country, this is the real deal, with strapping young men pulling in by truck at night from the ranches that litter the land surrounding Calgary. The rodeo crowd also hangs out here when in town. There's live music in the dance hall section and a DJ in the bar up front, as well as on the outdoor patio. The attached restaurant serves steaks and burgers.
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Fairmont Palliser
Contact:
- 403 262 1234
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Location:
- 133 9 Ave SW
- Calgary,ABT2P 2M3
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Our Local Expert Says:
This hotel has a great location - just down the block from the convention center, Calgary Tower, shopping and Stephen Ave. Fairmont quality is always top notch. And, I've always enjoyed the 'train museum'.
Description:
The Palliser Hotel is Calgary's oldest luxury property, dating back to 1914. Built to accommodate the westward-bound upper-class, many of whom settled in the nearby community of Mt. Royal, it stands as Calgary's Edwardian masterpiece. It is near to many of Calgary's sights, such as the Calgary Tower and Olympic Plaza. The Rimrock Dining Room is elegant, with vaulted ceilings and a giant fireplace, and the lounge bar is fit for oil tycoons, cattle barons, or anyone else who would like to enjoy the upscale atmosphere. The lobby is beautifully decorated with marble floors and columns and gleaming chandeliers. Recent renovations have given a face-lift to the upholstery. The Palliser is in beautiful condition.
- Destination(s): Calgary
- Type: First time visit
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