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‘People are coming out, they’re spending, they’re trying new products. People are back into coming to Stampede and enjoying it’
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The Greatest Show on Earth is on track to smash attendance records set in 2012 at 1.4 million attendees.
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The Calgary Stampede was poised to sail past the million-person mark on Friday with the count at 978,421 rodeo and fairgoers through Thursday. It is 120,000 people ahead of last year’s pace, when more than 1.2 million people came to Stampede while still operating under some COVID-related travel restrictions.
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“Eight days in, we’ve really seen the community come out in force, whether that be coming down to Stampede Park to take in the rodeo, to experience agriculture or just enjoying a pancake breakfast in your own community,” said Shannon Greer, manager of communications and media relations for Calgary Stampede. “We’ve really seen people get into the Stampede spirit and that’s been very special this year.”
The record officially sits at 1,409,371 people, set in the Stampede’s centennial year in 2012.
The 10-day celebration of the west kicked off with a record first day of 164,939 guests and peaked on Sunday with 177,532 people going through the turnstiles with hot and sunny temperatures driving early attendance.
Beautiful weather is crucial to beating the record, as shown on Monday when temperatures dipped and rain fell — so, too, did the attendance to 87,681. With a cooler day on Thursday, smoky air and rain in the forecast, 100,974 people came to Stampede.
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People enjoying coming out to Stampede: vendor
Adam Byrne was braving smoky air on Friday with his two daughters Leni, 10, and Jojo, 8. They go to the grounds for at least one day every year, with the log ride being the highlight so far for Lenim while the spin ship has been the big winner for Jojo this year.
They all missed the Stampede when it shut down for 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic.
“Without it, it kind of sucked and having it back is nice to get all the kids out and everyone’s back to normalcy and we don’t have to worry it about anymore,” said Byrne.
The packed midway has been a boon for the 145 food vendors throughout the Stampede grounds, with long lines for lunch and supper, along with steady action throughout the rest of the day.
Harrison Swift operates several food locations on the grounds as So Cute Ice Cream, including the curiously innovative Mustard Ketchup Ice Cream booth, featuring just two flavours of ice cream — mustard and ketchup.
“Last year was the best year we’ve ever had because (of) the weather, but this is by far the best year many vendors are having, with the exception to last year,” he said, noting he has been coming to Calgary for the Stampede from Toronto since 2015. “People are coming out, they’re spending, they’re trying new products. People are back into coming to Stampede and enjoying it.”
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Vendors looking for strong finish to Stampede
With 300 non-food vendors on the grounds — including nearly 120 in the BMO Centre — many were banking on a strong finish to the Stampede.
Lisa West and her husband Keith West have been running West Family Fudge for six years in The Market in the BMO Centre, with other members of their family. The big seller so far has been their fudge and candied apples, while cotton candy has been popular as well.
While they have seen strong foot traffic, sales are down slightly from 2022, which was a record year for them.
Lisa pointed to the tighter economic times as a reason for downward sales. They are also dealing with inflation, which has increased their costs by 15 per cent. This prompted the stand’s first price bump in a decade — the booth has been in operation for 30 years — though the price increase was lower than the rate of their inflation.
“Last year was a big year because it was actually kind of fully open; people were really ready to come down and spend money,” said the retired teacher. “This year they’re all wanting to come down and be probably properly financial.”
The forecast does look promising for the final two days of Stampede, with the Weather Network calling for a high of 25 C on Saturday with a 40 per cent chance of thundershowers in the afternoon. Currently, Sunday is setting up to have partly cloudy skies and a high of 27 C.
jaldrich@postmedia.com
Twitter: @JoshAldrich03
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