‘Great energy': Calgary Stampede kicks off with oilpatch optimism, patriotic pride

Winnipeg Free Press

a day ago

CALGARY – The party tents are up, straw bales are scattered around sidewalks and the most crucial 10 days of the year are in full swing for one Calgary bar and restaurant operator.
The Calgary Stampede is a yearly celebration of western culture that kicks off Friday with a parade and includes rodeo events, concerts, carnival games, midway rides, neighbourhood pancake breakfasts, corporate shindigs and a whole lot of cowboy cosplay.
As part of the festivities, Concorde Entertainment Group has transformed two parking lots into rollicking party destinations — the Wildhorse Saloon tent in the downtown core and the NTNL Saloon in the nearby Beltline neighbourhood. The company also hosts corporate Stampede events and out-of-towners at Barbarella, Brigitte Bar, Major Tom and other popular food-and-drink spots it runs.
'Without question, Stampede is the biggest 10 days of the year for us,' said Jon Molyneux, Concorde's vice-president of business development, sales and events.
This year is gearing up to be a big one, he said.
It took a while after the COVID-19 pandemic for parties to regain their momentum and companies that had put their festivities on hold are coming back, Molyneux said.
Corporate bookings have never been so high, Molyneux said, adding the staff orientation session earlier this week at the Wildhorse Saloon was the fullest he's seen.
'There's a great energy in the city right now and I think this one's going to be a banger.'
A report from the Mastercard Economic Institute suggests that last year, Stampede represented a 158 per cent increase in overall dining spending and an 18 per cent increase in accommodation spending compared to estimates of what it would have been without the event. It came up with those figures using a machine-learning methodology known as 'synthetic control' to create a comparison scenario with no Stampede.
Stampede organizers say the fair and rodeo grounds just southeast of downtown hosted nearly 1.5 million visitors last year, an all-time attendance record.
That was despite a catastrophic water main break a month earlier that forced everyone in the city to cut back on lawn watering, showering, toilet flushing and car washing. In the end, repairs were made in the nick of time and none of the festivities had to be scaled back or scrubbed.
The Stampede, a not-for-profit organization, estimates it contributes $540 million to the Alberta economy year-round.
'It's significant enough to move the needle a little bit,' said BMO economist Robert Kavcic.
This year's Stampede comes at a time of optimism in Alberta, he said.
'We're still looking at pretty solid economic growth this year — let's call it two per cent or slightly stronger — even as other parts of Canada struggle a bit more.'
Alberta's oil-and-gas-centred economy has been relatively sheltered from U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs, unlike the manufacturing heartland of Central Canada, Kavcic said.
The province's economic fortunes are also being bolstered by the recent startup of LNG Canada, the first major project to enable natural gas exports to lucrative Asian markets.
Though Canadians' spending in general may be crimped this year, more of the discretionary dollars they do have are likely to be spent within the country as they avoid U.S. travel, Kavcic said.
ATB chief economist Mark Parsons agreed there will likely be a bump in domestic tourism this year, noting there's a surge in arriving guests at the city's airport every year at Stampede.
'We see an uptick in spending, and, in particular, the real impact comes from the out-of-province guests,' he said.
This year, that might be even more pronounced as Trumps' tariff and annexation threats, along with general concerns about the U.S. political climate, turn Canadians off vacationing south of the border.
'We do expect more staycations this summer, more of that 'elbows-up' tourism, which I think will actually boost the Stampede numbers and maybe encourage longer stays at the Stampede,' Parsons said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 4, 2025.