'Let's go, cowgirls!': Country icon Shania Twain leads Stampede Parade
'It's been a dream of mine for a very long time,' said Twain, this year's parade marshal who will also perform at the Saddledome on Saturday night.
'I get to take full advantage of the Stampede, enjoy the whole spirit of the Stampede, and this historic event that people come from all over the world to attend.'
Twain said she's particularly thrilled to be leading the parade on horseback.
'I'm going to be riding a horse in the parade — this makes me very happy,' she said.
'Personally, I am just a very basic, simple rider,' she said. 'I won't be doing any trick riding or barrel racing while I'm here, although that would have been wonderful.'
Despite the gathered crowds, Twain said she doesn't view the parade as a performance.
'I see this more as a welcoming,' she said. 'I feel like I'm representing something very important, and I'll be doing it with pride and joy.
'I'll have a smile stuck to my face the whole time.'
She called being in Calgary for the Stampede 'very special.'
'This is the community that lives my dream every day, being so close to horses,' she said. 'This is something that I admire and envy.'
Twain was presented with her official parade marshal badge before the parade — but with great power comes great responsibility.
'Following in the bootsteps of the parade marshals who have gone before you, you will spread fun — I'm sure you will — western spirit, which you have, and plenty of 'Yahoos' for one and all along the road,' said Blair Barkley, chair of the Stampede parade committee.
Many of the parade's floats and bands honoured Twain's presence by playing her music — including the Stampede Showband, which started the parade off with a medley of her greatest hits.
Calgary police estimate that 330,000 spectators flocked to downtown Calgary to watch the parade, which is the second largest in North America.
It featured more than 100 entries, including 35 floats, nine marching bands, representatives of the Treaty 7 First Nations and more than 700 horses. Politicians including Danielle Smith, Pierre Poilievre and Jyoti Gondek smiled and waved at onlookers as they went by — some on horseback and others in wagons.
Many local cultural associations, such as the Nigerian-Canadian Association of Calgary and the United Calgary Chinese Association, entertained crowds with music, dancing and colourful attire.
The parade kicked off at 9 a.m., with parade prelude performances starting at 7:45 — but many arrived early to get the best seats.
Some, like Becky Bowie, have been there since 4:30 a.m. Bowie is a first-time visitor to Calgary from Atlanta, Ga., who came for the Stampede with a friend and her four grandsons.
'I don't know what to expect, but I just hear it's fantastic,' Bowie said, seated in a lawn chair in front of the Calgary Tower at 7 a.m.
'When I heard there was going to be 300,000 people, I thought, 'We gotta get here early.' '
Following the parade, crowds flocked to Stampede Park, taking advantage of free admission between 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
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