Strathmore Stampede a huge success

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

CEO of the Strathmore and District Agricultural Society, Ryan Schmidt, described the Strathmore Stampede – which was finally able to return after a one-year hiatus due to COVID-19, take place over the long weekend – as a huge success.

He explained based on attendance levels, the 2021 show was a banner year for the society, with a record attendance by a large margin.

“It’s just been a thrill and we’re so thankful to everybody in the community who is supporting the event, and we’re so happy we can put this event on for the community,” said Schmidt.

He said normally the Strathmore Stampede estimates 45,000 people to come through the gates over the course of the long weekend, but this year saw approximately 50,000 people. 

Schmidt said with the overwhelming support from the community aside, he saw it as lucky that the show was to go on.

“We kind of took a gamble back in April and said we were going to start planning, we’re going to spend money on this, we’re going to try and make it happen,” he said. “We got lucky that we were able to be open for summer in time for it to happen and now we’ve got full stands and [had] a really successful concert [Friday] night.”

The concert to which he referred, saw Gord Bamford take to the stage for the first time in Strathmore. Paired to follow immediately after the concert, was a barrage of fireworks set off by the GlobalFest team.

Schmidt joked that he had to convince the board of directors to let him take the risk of organizing the show, which he added was well worth it.

“For sure we’re going to bring a concert back now. I had to convince our board of directors to let us give this a shot, and we didn’t lose money on it,” he said. “We did quite well, in fact, and we’re going to be able to bring concerts back to Strathmore every year now as part of Strathmore Stampede.”

He added about two thirds of the beer which had been purchased to last the whole weekend was bought out by concert attendees on Friday night and the team needed to resupply.

Also new to the Strathmore Stampede, which took place shortly prior to the Running With the Bulls on Saturday and Sunday, were prairie chicken and traditional dances from Siksika Nation’s Steve Hunt, which was dedicated to Hunt’s son.

Schmidt said aside from the gamble he took with the concert, simply getting the show off the ground was itself an unknown.

“The most difficult part about it was the uncertainty and knowing how much money to spend on different things when you don’t know whether your event will actually be able to happen,” he said. “Thankfully, because of all our great volunteers and the staff here, we managed to pull it together and had a great success.”

Schmidt said the team was able to pull the show together with three months of time to plan and organize – something which usually is done over nine months.

With regards to the Running with the Bulls event on Saturday, 64 contestants signed up to enter the ring and test their mettle, only one of whom would walk away with a shiny belt buckle and $1,000 prize. Sunday saw 59 contestants enter the event, before Chestermere-Strathmore MLA Leela Aheer also decided to don the pink contestant shirt to make the number an even 60 runners. 

On Saturday, after getting launched into the air and bull-ed over into the dirt, the packed grandstand chanted Tom Rigon’s number, 28, in a massive uproar. 

Rigon said he simply had the prize in mind as he ran at the bulls in the arena. 

“I was pretty close to hurting something, but I think it’s good,” said the Millarville, Alta. native, who entered the event for the first time. “My buddies were coming out, so I thought why not.”

The following day, Calgarian Tyson Cole caught the eye of the judges during the second Running With the Bulls, fetching himself a $1,000 cheque in the process.

“I just always wanted to do it, so why not?” asked the 42-year-old. “I heard about it through my father-in-law, he comes every year so I thought I should come – it love it. It is way better than the (Calgary) Stampede.”