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Originally Posted by Igottago
I agree with you on this. The actual fair and rides part of stampede actually goes all over the place doesn't it? Doesnt the same crew end up at klondike days in Edmonton and PNE in Vancouver? And the stuff in the roundup centre is basically late night infomercials in person.
The only thing that can be considered distinct is the rodeo and western themed stuff. But then again you can go to Nashville any time if you're a country music fan. And i'm sure there's rodeo in numerous other North American cities, probably more frequent than in Calgary.
As far as Calgary's history and culture goes, doesn anyone go to stampede and really think about Calgary's heritage? Its a big commercial fair with really generic western themes. There doesn't seem to be any genuine culture or history involved in the Stampede anyways.
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Exactly. The main economic force of the Stampede isn't to sell the awesomeness of Calgary to the world, but to bring one of the world's most awesome travelling fairground shows to Calgary and sell it to Calgarians. I think ditching the corporate midway and running the Stampede more with a local emphasis would do more for establishing the uniqueness of Calgary, but , unfortunately, it would never fly economically.