The Grey Cup is just around the corner, and fans from all over Canada can’t wait to see the 113th championship game between the Edmonton Elks and Montreal Alouettes. Sheree Bashak has attended every Grey Cup since 2014, and handcrafted a full-body Grey Cup outfit in 2019. She’s been proudly donning her championship attire since, making upgrades and changes to the outfit when needed. “It took a while to design it, but people love it. We come every year and people get hundreds of pictures with us. It just put smiles on people’s faces,” Bashak said. She says the outfit took several weeks to make, with the hat along taking four or five days. That, on top of maintenance, takes a lot of effort, but she says it’s a labour of love and well worth it to celebrate the CFL. “We were talking to people yesterday, we have friends from all across the country, from all teams, and we say this is the time to come together. We don’t fight each other, it’s just a celebration of our Canadian Football League that we love,” Bashak said. Bashak was one of an estimated 2,000 at the Stampede Grounds Friday, which has transformed into the Grey Cup Festival’s hub of activity, featuring a fan zone for specific teams, live music and dancing, games and activities, football minicamps, and more. “Whether you’re from Calgary or out of town, we’re really coming down and having that western hospitality, that Stampede spirit as well. It’s just awesome,” said Calgary Grey Cup committee chair Steve Sommerfeld. One Last Flyover In the BMO Centre, the Snowbirds were meeting fans and signing autographs ahead of their annual Grey Cup flyover. The Snowbirds are the Canadian military’s flight demonstrations team, and this flyover will be the last one for the next couple of years as the team will be retiring the iconic Tutor White planes. “It’s a little bittersweet, it’s the last fly pass for the Tutor (Whites), but it’s always fun getting to travel, come to Calgary, meet fans, and we get to watch the game itself,” said Iain Muir, one of the pilots. Muir is from Alberta and this will be his first Grey Cup flyover, so he is especially excited for the opportunity to be a part of such an iconic tradition. “Getting to fly past around family for me is always special. My sister is going to get to look outside and watch,” Muir said. Free Football Tattoos Several blocks away from Stampede Grounds at 1112 Olympic Way SE, the Hell Bent Tattoo Collective spent all day giving fans free CFL themed tattoos. This partnership between the Collective and theScore Bet saw “3RD AND INK” take over the shop. Die-hard Edmonton Elks fan Arthur Shea won a contest that allowed him to receive a particularly intricate tattoo for free, so he went with a design that honours both the Elks and Eskimos name, Edmonton’s former team name. “Just coming to the Grey Cup reminds me why I like football. Today, on the way on the C-Train, an Alouettes fan sat next to me in for a whole trip from Tuscany to here, we talked about football. There was no animosity, we just both said ‘good luck,’ … That’s the CFL,” Shea said. It’s been a difficult couple of seasons for Elks fans recently, but Shea was quick to say it’s not a long-suffering fanbase, as he pointed to all the success he was lucky enough to witness in his lifelong journey of being a fan. “I also grew up through the five-peat. I saw Dave Cutler, Larry Highbaugh, Warren Moon, I mean my fandom has been amazing, right? I’ve seen some of the greatest players in the CFL play on the Eskimos, right?” Shea said. “And now to see some of that come back and see that with the philosophy you could see with coach Kilam, it’s absolutely amazing,” Shea continued. The tattoo artists have also loved being a part of this unique experience, saying it’s brought a special kind of energy into their shop and they’re thrilled to provide some lifelong mementos for fans. “All of the artists have been tattooing since the moment it started with fans lining up outside, and it’s just so cool to see because the CFL is such a big part of Canada,” Erin Porter, Hell Bent Tattoo Collective assistant shop manager. “When we were reached out to about this event is was just a collective like, ‘absolutely, yes, we definitely want to be a part of this.’ And they were so excited to tattoo all day long because that’s what we love. The sports fans are here because they love sports and we are here because we love tattoos,” Porter continued. If you want to be a part of the festivities it will also be taking place tomorrow as well at Stampede Grounds, with the Tattoo Collective also continuing its non-stop tattooing for as many fans as it can fit in.
