Eager Canadians and international fans lined up as early as 5 a.m. to get the best spots to watch the Stampede Parade make its way through Calgary’s iconic downtown streets. By the time the parade began, hundreds of thousands of people were there to enjoy the pre-parade warm up show and festivities. The parade kicks off the 10-day rodeo, music festival and exhibition that makes up “The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth”.
The early morning walk from the Westin Hotel Downtown Calgary to the VIP Saddle Viewing area takes visitors down the “Stephen Avenue Walk”, a National Historic Site and pedestrian walkway in the heart of downtown named after the first president of the Canadian Pacific Railway, Lord George Stephen.
Throughout its 113-year history, the Stampede Parade has celebrated the best of Calgary with incredible floats, marching bands, cultural acts, politicians, and of course, the magnificent horses. At 9am, Canadian Icon Shania Twain kicked off the official start of the parade, riding horseback through the streets of the parade route as the official 2025 Parade Marshall.
The first group of floats and performances stunned, with acts from Canada and all over the world including Mexico, Philippines, Vietnam, India, China, Ukraine (for the first time!) and countless more. First Nations also had a strong presence, including entries from the Blackfoot Confederacy and the Parade First Nations Princess Pacey Strangling Wolf, a 25-year-old Jingle Dress Dancer from the Kainai Nation.
In total, there were 111 Parade entries and over 1500 performers, and the energy of the parade could not be more of a tribute to the intersection of Canadian and Western culture. Hundreds of horses were ridden inside the parade, a beautiful spectacle to represent the cowboy culture of the events.
As the parade concluded and everyone was led into the Calgary Stampede Grounds, the joy and excitement of the mass of people was electric. The midway into the grounds was blindingly clean, looked brand new, and felt like a huge carnival.
Hungry visitors lined up to experience the diverse and delicious food trucks that supported the carnival games and atmosphere. We took a fun food truck tour of the newest additions to the food lineup of 2025, which include Fruity Pebbles Corndog at Korean Dogs with icing drizzle, Apple Crumble Pierogis topped with Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal, and a PB&J Chicken Cone.
The absolute best bite of the day was the cleverly named Spampede Bao Buns with spam, shrimp and pineapple – simply incredible, salty and sweet and satiating. I followed up the pineapple theme with a Dole Whip Soft Serve Cone, the ultimate fair food and perfect palate cleanser.
Walking in from the midway to the exhibition park, the vibrant energy continued: the park was packed full of people and the weather was a perfect 70 degrees with almost no humidity.
The entire site of the Calgary Stampede is over 200 acres, so its quite a challenge (impossible) to explore the whole thing in one day. I walked through the rides, games, shows, shopping, and more throughout the day. I stopped at the Monster Energy Street Bike Show for some adrenaline pumping motor cross bike acrobatics.
In the BMO center, I went shopping for all the latest Western wear and products. By the end of the Stampede, I may go home with an entirely new cowgirl wardrobe.
As evening fell, I headed to the Coca Cola stage for my first music act of the festival to catch Amigo and the Devil. Danny Kiranos, better known by his stage name of Amigo the Devil, has been finger-pickin’ on stages since 2010. With darker themes that lean toward the macabre and oddity, it’s no surprise the banjo playing songwriter is a hit with fans across the world. He stuck with his dark humor theme by telling the crowd that he was wearing crocs because he had lost his house in a fire two weeks ago and that it may be a strange coincidence that most of his songs have a fire and burn theme to them. He then launched into “It’s All Gone.”
At 7:30, at the GMC Stadium, the new Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney made an appearance at the opening ceremony of the Rangeland Derby Chuckwagon Races, escorting the Calgary Stampede Princess Breanna Correia onto the stage. The Chuckwagon races will return each night of the Stampede to the GMC stage, though likely without the prime minister.
After the races, at the Big Four Roadhouse, headliner Natasha Bedingfield took the stage wearing a black dress and black cowboy hat to fit with the rodeo theme. Natasha closed out our night with her classic “Unwritten” as every fan in the room sang along.
All in all, a great day to be in Calgary, Canada, to celebrate and enjoy the best of Canadian Western festivities.