Fortney: For the Calgary Stampede, the show must go on
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Not only does it make a major contribution to the region’s economic health, but the Stampede also serves as a global ambassador with its reputation of putting on a festival unparalleled in most parts of the world
Author of the article:
Valerie Fortney 
The Coca-Cola Stage was prepared in advance of this year’s Calgary Stampede on Tuesday, June 22, 2021. Photo by Gavin Young/Postmedia Article content
“The show must go on.”
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It’s a phrase that’s been around for nearly two centuries, first coined by the circus world and later to be adopted by anyone who staged a play, musical performance or any other kind of entertainment event.
For what we know in these parts as the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth, the motto has served us well. The Calgary Stampede and its world-renowned rodeo, fair and midway have indeed “gone on” since the Stampede became an annual event starting in 1923 — not even the Great Depression of the 1930s, a world war or the devastating Alberta Flood of 2013 could break its indomitable spirit and will.
The year 2020, though, would prove itself an insurmountable foe. By July of last year, the crowds lining the Stampede parade were replaced with empty streets. The first global pandemic in a century put a hard brake on a world-famous sports, entertainment and cultural event that had its first inauspicious start in 1912, when an American-born cowboy/impresario by the name of Guy Weadick put on a parade, rodeo and show intended to be a tribute to the dying Old West.
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When the Calgary Stampede announced plans to hold a 2021 event, some felt the start date of July 9 for the 10-day event was simply too close to the waning weeks of the pandemic. Bringing together crowds of people at various stages of vaccination, even outdoors, was considered risky.
The safety protocols announced in mid-June, however, paint a Stampede picture unlike any we have ever seen. The 2021 Calgary Stampede’s lengthy list of safety measures will see fewer midway attractions to allow for greater physical distancing; reduced capacity at all venues and mandatory masks for all front-line workers; and for places like Nashville North — party central on the grounds — even proof of vaccination was being considered at the time. (Days later, the Calgary Folk Music Festival followed suit with the announcement of a smaller, safer event in late July.)
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Set up on the Nashville North tent continued for this year’s Calgary Stampede on Monday, June 14, 2021. Photo by Gavin Young/Postmedia
For those with a long track record of being Stampede boosters, these unprecedented measures are being eyed with cautious optimism. “The Stampede is such a part of our collective psyche,” says Cindy Ady, CEO of Tourism Calgary. “I support all they are doing to try and bring us a Stampede with a big focus on safety.”
With so much of the local economy depending on the annual event to keep them in the green, Ady sees even a small-scale Stampede helping in the recovery of the thousands of businesses and individuals who rely on it for their livelihoods. “It’s a biggie, not just in Calgary, but for all of Alberta and even the country,” she says. “So many businesses have just been slammed; it would send such a strong message if they are able to stage it and do it safely.”
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The annual theatre of diversion and entertainment is indeed a biggie for the city’s prosperity. In addition to attracting a million visitors each year, it also provides a $282-million boost to the local economy — dollars that go into the pockets of everyone from restaurateurs and caterers to cowboys and cab drivers.
Not only does it make a major contribution to the region’s economic health, but the Stampede also serves as a global ambassador with its reputation of putting on a festival unparalleled in most parts of the world. If you don’t believe that, then Greg “Scooter” Korek is more than happy to set the record straight.
Korek, who’s been with North American Midway and Entertainment for 44 years and today serves as its VP of client services, regularly travels to events across North America and Europe. No matter if he’s on a train in Scotland with locals or walking down the street in New Orleans, people stop him when they see the Calgary Stampede lapel he proudly wears on his coat.
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“I can’t tell you how many people have told me the Calgary Stampede is on their bucket list,” he says. “I’ve never seen a fair or festival reach so deep down into the community’s roots like Calgary. It has a cultural and community resonance like no other.”
A North American Midway ticket kiosk awaits riders as the Calgary Stampede continued to get ready for this year’s Stampede on Tuesday, June 22, 2021. Photo by Gavin Young/Postmedia
While not everyone — especially in 2021 — will feel comfortable attending the Stampede grounds, it’s long been proven that few Calgarians chafe at the discomfort of standing in long lines for a pancake breakfast. Author Will Ferguson is among those regulars who enjoy the community spirit that is celebrated each Stampede, far from Stampede Park. The 2012 winner of the Giller Prize (Canada’s top fiction award) loves the smaller events around town that bring people of diverse backgrounds together. He’s also a fan of the charitable component, seen everywhere from small breakfasts to the Rotary Club presence on the Stampede grounds — initiatives that bring in millions for charities.
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His latest novel, The Finder, just won the Arthur Ellis Award for best crime novel of the year. That got Ferguson to thinking that perhaps the Stampede should reconsider its response to naysayers. “So many portray Calgary as the villain, so I think we should start giving out black cowboy hats and growing thin moustaches, maybe start chewing on toothpicks,” he says with a chuckle. “I hope as the Stampede reinvents itself, it’ll embrace the outlaw. Because an outlaw is a maverick who’s just taken it one step too far.”
When it comes to community spirit and support, Aaron Park hopes Calgarians will also remember the multitude of programs and initiatives the Stampede puts on year-long. Park, manager of youth education for the Stampede and Stampede Foundation, says that despite the pandemic, many of their programs were able to pivot to online instruction and learning.
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“We kept the Stampede spirit alive but just in a different way,” says Park. “Our goal is to support youth with the activity they love, but we also want to help them develop life skills that include caring for the world around them.”
Every year, thousands of classroom kids and youth in the Stampede performing arts programs — along with hundreds in its agriculture programs — benefit from teaching and mentorship in the Stampede spirit. “We aim to instil in them the western values the Stampede holds dear — western hospitality, integrity, pride of place and commitment to the community,” says Park.
While his young charges in programs like the Young Canadians and the Stampede Show Band know that 2021 will be a pared-down, smaller version of what they are accustomed to, Park says they are excited to bring the Stampede spirit back to the city come July 9.
“They’re so ready to put on a great show,” he says of the performers looking forward to the 10 days that, albeit in a much different version than any Stampede that came before, is being true to the old adage that “the show must go on.”
The Calgary Stampede will return in a modified version, starting July 9, 2021. It’s just in time to help us let off a little pandemic steam, says columnist George Brookman. Photo by Gavin Young /Postmedia file
You can enter for a chance to win evening show, rodeo and general admission tickets from Postmedia Calgary and the Calgary Stampede. Go to m.lndg.page/1qb5WS to enter to win one of 50 prize packs.
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