“Everything you know and expect from the Calgary Stampede will be back.”
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Calgary Stampede is returning in full swing this year with everything that’s been missing the last two years, including a long parade route, more concert venues and the Rangeland Derby Chuckwagon Races.
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For the unveiling of the 2022 Calgary Stampede poster and the start of the 100-day countdown to Stampede on Wednesday at the Nutrien Western Event Centre, the Calgary Stampede opened with pyrotechnics and an Indigenous hoop dancing performance.
“Everything you know and expect from the Calgary Stampede will be back,” announced Steve McDonough, Stampede president and chairman of the board.
McDonough said this summer’s Stampede will look like any other pre-pandemic Stampedes, though he doesn’t expect they’ll reach the same level of attendees as 2019. The Stampede will run from July 8 to 17.
“We’re not unaware that there’s still a pandemic. We’re making a plan for a full Stampede, that brings back live music in Saddledome, chuckwagon racing will be back, we’ve got the relay racing doubling, we’ve got four live stages with bands,” he said.
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“But don’t get me wrong, we are able to pivot if things change. We are planning for a heck of a Stampede.”
Calgary Stampede hosted a scaled-back event last summer and introduced a vaccine or negative test passport system for access to the Nashville North tent, several months before the Alberta government required a similar system for indoor businesses.
Despite the measures in place, more than 100 cases of COVID-19 were directly linked to Calgary Stampede events, Alberta Health Services said in August 2021. But health experts at the time said it is unlikely the province will know the full extent of spread.
The Stampede poster shows Kal Jackson, an Indigenous relay race competitor, racing on the back of his late horse Water Runner. The artist, 19-year-old Kane Pendry of Edmonton, said he has put more than 100 hours into the piece and has participated in the youth poster competition for three years.
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“I just really focused on what I wanted to portray and what emotions I wanted to bring out,” said Pendry, who is Méits. He said the project has helped him connect with his roots.
“It was really heartfelt talking to some of the (relay race) riders and that’s when I wanted to do it.”
We are planning for a heck of a Stampede.
Steve McDonough
He interviews the riders after watching the relay racers during last year’s Stampede and took photographs to use as a reference for his painting. It took him four paintings and hundreds of thumbnail sketches.
The winner of the Calgary Stampede Foundation Youth Poster Competition receives a $10,000 Dustin Peers Memorial Scholarship, funded by the Brandon Flock Foundation. Pendry is the fourth Alberta youth to have their artwork selected through the program.
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Jackson said being the subject of the Stampede’s poster was a great honour.
“This is a dream that became a reality for me,” he said. “For the generation to come, I want to be a good example that anything can happen and blessings can be bestowed upon anyone when they work for it.”
He said he was brought to tears when he saw the painting for the first time.
“I can’t be any more proud,” Jackson said.
The relay races have been a part of the Stampede’s evening show since 2017, and will be returning to the event this summer with 10 teams competing in two heats of races each night.
“There’s nothing quite like the warm summer nights of July, with the thunder of the wagons and the electric energy of the relay races. Follow that with the Bell Grandstand and an incredible display of fireworks — and you’re going to have one of the best nights of the year,” said McDonough.
