You will love it!! It is many years since I was there but it was great. The fireworks were wondeful, too. You could see them from many parts of the ciy everynight. Be prepared for many people all over the city. I hope you have your hotel booked.

Cowboy hats and cowboy boots and bales of sraw or hay are everywhere.

I just love the mountains. I would love to have a cabin to stay all summer evey year.

Calgary is famous for its hot air balloons too.

Enjoy yourself. I'm jealous! ( almost)
ivamae

My hometown and I've been to many stampedes over the years. There are so many things you can participate in and get into the cowboy spirit. Go to one of the grandstand shows and for sure see the chuckwagon races. I always enjoyed going through the indian village and talking to the families who camp right on the grounds. Downtown goes wild and they have street dancing, pancake breakfasts etc. Be sure to check out "Heritage Park" when you are there, I love to stroll the streets and go inside all the restored buildings. The zoo is also a great spot to visit if you enjoy animals...Calgary is a great city and there are events all over town during Stampede. I hope you have a great time and be sure to join in many of the activities, the ride through the Rockies is breathtaking....and always be on the watch for all the wildlife.

Well I'm jealous. That sounds like so much FUN!!!!!

I used to live in Calgary and it was a lot of fun during Stampede time. We had chuckwagon breakfasts at work, we watched the parade and it was mandatory that we all wore our cowboy boots and hats. LOL I went to all the rodeo events and loved the chuckwagon races the best. Lots of good food too.

You will have a great time.

Anne

Decades ago when I was taking a trip with a friend we had a close call on lodging because we didn't know about the Stampede. We lucked out and got one of the last rooms available. When we got there, they had given out our room even though we guaranteed it. But they caught it and made arrangements with another (and nicer) place and picked up the tab on it so we only paid the lower rate. But they weren't too friendly on checkout time. O-U-T! LOL Neither of us are into turd-kicking stuff so we moved on through the mob as best we could. But there were some other sites, including Banff, Jasper, etc, that seemed to be fewer people so that may have helped. Western Canada has some very beautiful parts and I'd enjoy going back there. Probably never will but it's an area I wouldn't mind living in either.

Totally off topic... but such is life on the forums!

The Chuck Wagon races are so fun. Only time we have been able to go was many years ago and the family had been so sick and all were well except me--told DH even if I died I would not miss it. It truly is a great experience.

Thanks so much all, for the replies. Now looking forward to it even more. Sounds like we will really have 'an experience'. Not worried about our rooms/reservations/seats...because it is a tour company, all is taken care of and I understand even our seating for stampede is under cover. I knew my KT'ers would have good thoughts for me on here. Thanks...didn't know there was so much 'holiday atmosphere' in Calgary itself. And we DO feel lucky to be going :-)
Haffie

I don't know which route your tour bus will take, but I can say that one of the finest drives in the world is the road from Banff to Jasper. I've driven the south half twice and the complete route once. The route is a relatively easy drive except at one place where you have to gain altitude to go over a divide. There is one switch-back that has such a small radius that busses have to stop and backup to make the turn. Its at a 'safe' location. however.

I hope that you get to stop at Lake Louise, one of the prettiest places on the planet.

In the summer, Jasper is a bustling tourist town. I'll be full of back-packing 20 - 30 yr olds.

I don't have any first hand knowledge about Calgary. We did meet a couple of outdoorsy young men one time while camping at a Provincal Park. We met these two friendly fellows while we were setting up our family tent. At first, I was a little suspicious of them because of their behavor, laying around on the ground and looking at their tents instead of setting them up like maybe they had injested drugs. An introductory converstation revealed they had left work in mid-afternoon and bicycled from Calgary to the camp site, a looong ride. They were merely tired and catching they breath. They were going to do a weekend bicycle tour ending back at Calgary Sunday night.

Have fun, and do take a camera.

I'll be waiing for pics. Take lots.
ivamae

I lived in Calgary for five years. Actually the horseback riding thing I may be going on is in Banff. :)

Calgary really has AWESOME pride and spirit about the Stampede. You will really enjoy it. The Stampede itself is expensive in terms of the food/activities/souvenirs but that is to be expected. :) You will have a great time!

And did you know that Calgary itself has sprawled so much that it is now as big as New York City? In the size of the city itself, not the population. The transit system is pretty good and very affordable.

I like Chinook Mall the best. It has everything!

Danielle