Super Stampede!
By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Joe Lepage Photo
The 57th annual Strathmore Stampede turned out to being a smashing success over the Heritage Day’s long weekend, Aug. 4-7.
Ryan Schmidt, president and CEO of the Strathmore Agricultural Society, said the team could not have asked for a better turnout for the weekend, nor for more ideal weather conditions to operate under.
“The weather has been just perfect, not too hot, not too cold, a little rainfall here and there to keep the dust down (and) we have never had such an incredible turnout for Strathmore Stampede,” he said. “Numbers are up everywhere, people are enjoying themselves and having a wonderful time. We have so many volunteers coming out and the comments I have heard about the volunteers has just been amazing.”
Schmidt added both headlining events taking place at the grandstand on Saturday, being the Running with the Bulls and the chuckwagon races were completely sold out, hitting the 5,000 persons capacity.
Significant growth was also observed on the Friday of the event, being up roughly 20 per cent from last year.
Speaking to new activities this year, Schmidt said the Heritage Towne activities were a big hit with Stampede-goers.
“The pig racing has been very popular and there were different stalls you could stop to learn about different trades like leatherworking, blacksmithing – we had the petting zoo, you could learn how to garden … we are really moving this whole heritage zone towards an agricultural faire style,” he said. “Next year, we want to bring in the chili cookoff – I have been pushing for that for a couple of years now.”
The aim for the area, he explained, is to continue building on a very old-school style theme, showcasing fair activities from as far back as the 1920’s for people to experience.
Similar to last year, the Strathmore Stampede team had to make two extra emergency beer runs, once on Saturday, and again on Sunday to keep up with how quickly attendees were going through cans.
Already looking ahead into next year, Schmidt was excited to announce Clint Black will be making an appearance at the Cowboy Town Concert. According to Schmidt, Black has not toured in Canada for approximately 25 years.
Additionally, next year will also see the completion of the infield suites adding to the experience for watching grandstand events for those wishing to book the rooms, as well as the rooftop patio.