Celebrations at the Calgary Stampede

Friday, July 14, 2017

Written by Alex Farley (BA '13) Alumni Officer, Volunteer Engagement  

Another Calgary Stampede Parade has come and gone, but I am still feeling the urge to greet colleagues around the office with a “howdy”, and tip off my Stetson to friends passing by. We, in Alumni Relations, get to be involved in many exciting events around the world, celebrating the different cultures and communities our alumni live in, and the Calgary Stampede is one for the books! A two week festival or as they describe it “the greatest outdoor show on earth” taking place in the heart of Calgary, featuring all the country music and fried food you could ever want! The parade kicks off the festivities and our breakfast event is hosted annually by our UWaterloo Calgary Alumni Chapter, and always brings out a great group of alumni and their families.

Our team from the Faculty of Mathematics, the Faculty of Science and myself were lucky enough to go and see what the hype was all about, and what it meant to be a cowgirl (or boy) for a few days. The whole city, businesses big and small transforms into what can only be described as the most welcoming old western I’ve ever seen! Here are a few photos from our trip!

This window art was EVERYWHERE in the downtown core, from Tim Hortons, to Banks, to Shopping malls, they have artists paint different pictures related to stampede! It showed the friendly Calgary vibe, and just how excited the city gets for stampede!

Welcome Y'all Sign

A very early start to the day (I met the math team and chapter onsite for 6:45 a.m.) didn’t stop us from being fully in “character.” The Math faculty was even able to get pink foam cowboy hats to celebrate their 50th anniversary.

Mark and Alex

By 8:00 a.m. our stands were packed with a sea of pink hats and the sounds of black and gold cowbells clanged as we cheered on the many pipe bands, floats and horses!

Alumni in Calgary

People from all different styles of dance and from the surrounding areas of Calgary walked in the parade, often stopping for a small dance performance. 

Dancers

And of course my favourite photo of all, as we wrapped up another great event, with some of the fantastic volunteers who made this possible, our UWaterloo Calgary Chapter!

Alex with the Calgary Chapter

We were able to Snapchat the whole experience, watch the video below to see some of the action during the parade! And if you would like to learn more about chapter events in your area, or the Calgary chapter itself please feel free to connect with us!

Remote video URL

Until next time Calgary thanks for the great trip, and YAHOO to all of you enjoying the rest of Stampede!