‘A little something for everyone’: Growing Stampede music scene offers eclectic mix

Music has always been a big part of Calgary Stampede but organizers have worked to boost that over the past few years, attracting a variety of options.

Calgary Stampede maintains its title as “The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth,” with its world-famous rodeo, chuckwagon races and grandstand show, but a new slogan is rising as well.

“The Greatest Music Festival in the West,” said Allison Wright, program director for the Calgary Stampede.

Over the 10-day event, Stampede offers more than 100 performances, including Arkells, Tenille Townes, Kaleo, Don Toliver and Simple Plan.

Superstars including Shania Twain require tickets to get into the Saddledome, but many acts don’t cost anything beyond admission to Stampede Park.

Country music is front and centre, of course, but far from the only option.

“Initially, we thought it was just going to be a bunch of country music because it’s Stampede, but it’s nice there’s a lot of pop music,” said Frianca Jirel from High River.

“We’re definitely looking forward to seeing Simple Plan on Sunday,” said Samantha Reyes.

“We were excited to see the country, but it’s nice to bounce back and forth between the others. There’s a little something for everyone.” said Haylee Guigera and Jasper Willans from Australia, who were pleased to see the Aussie band Cat Empire performing at Stampede.

“We feature country, obviously—that makes sense. We also look at other genres to make sure we are appealing to the Calgary demographic broadly. Stampede is that—it is the community engagement in all things Stampede-related, and music is a key piece of that,” said Wright.

“I was surprised at the amount of artists they get and people who are more famous than I thought they would get,” said Willans.

Stampede says it tries to secure popular artists, and sometimes the performers get even more popular after they’ve been booked.

“Sometimes we have artists that have a hit once we contract them in that draw a new crowd or audience that was maybe a little different than we anticipated, but really we’re excited when these artists find their way to Stampede,” said Wright.

There are several options off the grounds, too, including Badlands festivals featuring EDM and South Asian music called Stampede Mela.

Oxford Stomp has offered a bustling festival with big-name artists for 35 years, but organizers say there is a lot more competition now.

“Back when we first started, we were kind of the big music festival. The entire 10 days of Stampede is now a music festival—it’s really amazing how many incredible bands come to Calgary,” said Rob Dubeau.

Dubeau says for its second year at Prince’s Island Park, Oxford Stomp expected a crowd of about 8,000 people for their lineup of Hotel Mira, Dear Rouge, The Sheepdogs and Sheryl Crow.

Playing any venue during Stampede has become a hallmark for many artists.

Dear Rouge played the Coca-Cola stage and now Oxford Stomp.

“Stampede, I think, is always on everyone’s list. It’s amazing because it’s already the biggest festival,” said Drew McTaggart of Dear Rouge.