Calgary Stampede 2024 was busy and booming!               

By Terry Lusty

(ANNews) – Calgary has been a virtual beehive of activity for ten consecutive days, during the first half of July each and every year – since 1912. Its world-famous exhibition and stampede are legendary.

Now everybody loves a parade and this year’s 2024 Stampede parade on July 5 was exceptional. Tens of thousands lined the streets to see First Nation actor, Owen Crow Shoe lead the two-and-a-half hour parade on horseback as stampede parade marshal.

Stampede President, Will Osler, praised the actor, saying, “His commitment to celebrating and sharing his culture both on and off the screen is inspiring. He is a role model for many around the world and we couldn’t be more proud to have him lead the parade as marshal.”

Crow Shoe was honoured and extremely proud to serve as parade marshal.

He was born in Lethbridge to Kainai and Piikani parents and did some of this year’s emceeing for the powwow in the Saddledome. To his credit, he’s made himself accessible to the public and was often sighted inside the rodeo enclosure. This summer he is starring alongside Kevin Costner in “Horizon: An American Saga,” in addition to the film, “Dream, in California.”  He is best known for his roles in: Black Summer (2019), The Revenant (2015), Suzy Makes Cupcakes (2023), Tin Star (2017), and more.

Among the First Nation riders in the Calgary Stampede parade was 22-year-old Margaret Holloway, the 2024 First Nation Princess. She was busy all summer, making appearances on the grandstand, at the Elbow River Camp and powwow, the rodeo, and more.

The Elbow River Camp contained 26 tipis, most of them handed down in the family lines over the generations. It was the centre of some exciting cultural activities, especially with the addition of competition hand games. There were also a variety of arts and crafts exhibitors onsite with the proprietors operating on a rotational basis. For some crafters it’s akin to “Christmas” in that their sales are strong. The Stampede’s newly opened BMO Centre is now open and has a whopping million square feet of space. Half of that alone housed the Market Centre with 257 vendors and includes the Oasis western art showcasing three dozen feature artists including Sakaw (Cree) artist, Neepin Auger – whose art is on the cover of this edition of Alberta Native News.

Her beautiful canvases were very popular. By Thursday, with three days remaining, she only had three pieces left unsold. Her work is so alluring with its style and vibrancy it pulls in customers like a magnet. Some of the visitors who have seen her art in previous years have noticed tremendous growth in her work and are simply in awe of it all. For many, it gives them a sense of tradition and culture, the heavens, the land, and Creator’s creations. Additionally appealing is the basic simplicity of her craft. It evokes a wonderful feeling of calm and humbling grandeur.

Attendance at the Calgary Stampede topped out at 1,477,953 which beat out the 2012 record by 68,000. With 1.85 million dollars at stake in rodeo payouts, this year’s Stampede again attracted some of the world’s top cowboys out to bolster their overall winnings and up their world rankings.

In saddle bronc riding, Idaho’s Kade Bruno kicked out a 92 to win out over last year’s champion, Zeke Thurston, who has won the event three times and now sits fourth in the world. Bruno moves up to No. 2 in the world behind Damian Brennan.

In bareback riding, R.C. Landingham from California kicked out a 94-point ride (just a point off the record) to beat out Rocker Steiner who leads in the world standings. Landingham now sits 4th in the world.

The tie-down title went to Montana’s Haven Meged who stopped the clock at 6.7 seconds, to best Macon Murphy’s 7.1. As for steer wrestling, Ty Ericksen’s 4.0 flat won him that title over Don Payne’s 4.7. The ladies were rounding the barrels in great times with Oklahoma’s Leslie Smalygo outrunning Hailey Kinsel’s 16.98 with a speedier run of 16.74.

However, saving the best for the last – the bull riding – those magnificent beasts proved far better than the riders this year with ten of the 12 cowboys bucking off in the long round. The only two to last the full eight seconds were Jeff Askey with an 82 on Uncle Buck and Chase Dougherty with an 89 on Sky Fall. But, in the final round between these two riders, Askey bucked off quickly on Chosen and Dougherty did likewise about halfway through his trip aboard Blue Magic. Both cowboys were tied and so banged up, it was just as well that the two split first and second money.

Prize money in all categories was: 1st – $50,000, 2nd – 20,000, 3rd – 10,000, and 4th – 7,500.

The Rangeland Derby (chuckwagon racing) also paid out $50,000 to the winner and that was won by Jason Glass and his Birchcliff Energy outfit in a sizzling 1:11:55 minutes over reigning champion Layne MacGillivray and his Shady Creek Ranch outfit, while Chanse Vigen placed third. MacGillivray, however, hoisted the Richard Cosgrave Memorial Award, along with an additional $25,000, for the driver with the fewest penalties and fastest cumulative running times over the ten days.

For those wondering about the popular Grey Eagle Resort and Casino wagon driven by three-time champion Kurt Bensmiller and owned by Tsuut’ina First Nation on the outskirts of Calgary, it placed ninth overall in aggregate standings, being unable to overcome a couple of unfortunate heats during the ten days. It happens and one can’t always be a winner. At least three other wagons were guided by Indigenous hands: those of Preston Faithful, Cody Ridsdale and Todd Baptiste who came 9th, 16 and 24th respectively.

Overall, this year’s Stampede rodeo events had no repeat winners from last year; all were new to that circle which is a bit of a rarity.