Calgary Stampede Wraps Up With Record-Breaking Attendance: ‘This Was the Best Yet’

July 15, 2024 TruthUSA

This year’s Calgary Stampede concluded Sunday with its highest attendance on record.

The 2024 Calgary Stampede welcomed 1,477,953 guests during its 10-day program, over 90,000 more visitors than last year, officials said. The previous record was set in 2012, when 1,409,371 people visited the Stampede grounds.

“This was the greatest of ‘the greatest show on earth,’” Calgary Stampede CEO Joel Cowley said at a news conference Sunday, using the alternative name organizers employ to refer to the city-wide event.

The Calgary Stampede is held annually in July to celebrate the city’s Western heritage through showcases, competitions, and performances. It is one of Canada’s largest festivals and one of the city’s main tourist attractions.

The 10-day celebration brings more than $282 million in economic impact to Alberta, and $227 million for the city, Stampede representatives said, citing a 2019 study by the Conference Board of Canada.

Attendance seemingly wasn’t hampered by a city-wide water shortage leading up to the Stampede, which ran from July 5 to July 25 and offered activities such as rodeos, agricultural competitions, concerts, art exhibitions, indigenous demonstrations, games, and rides.

The event began with a parade in downtown Calgary featuring more than 100 entries, including 19 floats, 11 bands, and nine mounted colour guards. It drew some 350,000 spectators to the streets, organizers estimated.

This year’s Stampede events had extra space, made available by the newly expanded BMO Centre, now the largest convention centre in western Canada, which opened in June after four years of construction. That was a contributing factor in breaking attendance records, according to officials.

“Calgary has come out in full force and truly embraced the community spirit and western hospitality behind our annual celebration, both on and off Stampede Park,” said Will Osler, president and chair of the Calgary Stampede board of directors.

“We are proud to call this incredible city home.”

The Calgary Stampede is scheduled to return on July 4, 2025.

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