How "World Famous" is the Stampede actually?

[polak]

Well we’re fully into Stampede time so I feel like it’s a good time to discuss the actual world relevance of the Stampede as I feel Calgarians like to think it’s a big deal but I’m wondering how much support there is for that claim. Is it really known at all outside of Canada and rodeo circles?

Genuinely interested in hearing your experiences with people knowing about the Stampede abroad.

I also feel like this isn’t the first time there’s been a thread on this but the only thing close to this I found dated back to 2011 so why not do it again!

[Table 5]

In my experience, it is more “North American famous” rather than World famous. While I’m surprised at how many Americans have heard of the Stampede (i.e. at least by the ones who know that Canada consists of more than Toronto/Vancouver/Montreal), outside of the US, Calgary is still known most for the Olympics if anything. Very few times have I heard the Stampede mentioned by any European I’ve talked to.

The Rockies/Banff is something many people seem to recognize universally though.

[Hammertime]

Coincidentally I had a conversation about this with a colleague today.

He met a couple in south England a few years back who had visiting their Calgary Stampede on their bucket list upon retirement. He hosted them during Stampede week last summer..

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[Jbo]

I've met lots of people that have at least heard about the Stampede. I used to work in hospitality and would see groups from Asia, UK, Australia etc all the time.

[troutman]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calgar...ct_and_tourism

While 70 percent of Stampede attendees are from the Calgary region,[168] officials work to promote the event across the globe.[169] As such, the Calgary Stampede is famed around the world.[170][171] The Stampede draws foreign visitors primarily from the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, and is experiencing growing attendance by tourists from Asia and South America.[172]

[Rutuu]

I've been surprised how many people mention the stampede in my travels. Aussies, euros and Americans. After hearing how they all wanted to visit I figured the Stampede had to step up their game. The energy in the city is great, but they need to increase the quality of the beer tents, upgrade the music to be more of the highlight with the rodeo and start running an official gambling book for the chucks.

[Matata]

Originally Posted by Table 5

In my experience, it is more “North American famous” rather than World famous. While I’m surprised at how many Americans have heard of the Stampede (i.e. at least by the ones who know that Canada consists of more than Toronto/Vancouver/Montreal), outside of the US, Calgary is still known most for the Olympics if anything. Very few times have I heard the Stampede mentioned by any European I’ve talked to.

The Rockies/Banff is something many people seem to recognize universally though.

While travelling in Europe, I frequently noticed that Calgary was often on the schedules as "Calgary/Banff".

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by polak

Is it really known at all outside of Canada and rodeo circles?

My sense is:


Rio Carnival



Munich Oktoberfest




Edinburgh Fringe Festival


Burning Man



Calgary Stampede




















Klondike Days

[darklord700]

It's predominately a "Western" thing so the Texans, the Australians and such would have heard of the Stampede. But I doubt most Hawaiians would know about it.

[troutman]

http://www.marketingmag.ca/brands/ca...-pay-off-69310

The Canadian Tourism Commission says its efforts to market last year’s 100th anniversary of the Calgary Stampede paid off, luring thousands of visitors to Canada. The commission received a special one-time allocation of $5 million from the federal government to promote the event internationally. It now says that over 8,900 travellers booked trips to Canada

http://www.zgm.ca/media/uploads/docu...20Strategy.pdf

Tourism Calgary recently embarked on a market research study. It is not a surprise that Calgary is best known for its western heritage and cowboy image.

[Table 5]

To be honest, I kind of feel a little sorry for anyone who travels across the world with the Stampede as their main destination. I mean the rodeo part is somewhat unique and interesting, but at the end of the day the whole thing takes place in a pretty crappy and dated location (yay giant dusty parking lot), and the Midway rides are of the same craptastic quality that I remember as a kid. If I paid thousand of dollars to attend that, I'd be a little let down after all the hype.

The Rockies are something that truly is world-class and I whole heartily recommend them to anyone I meet...but I don't think the Stampede can come anywhere close to the great festivals around the world. If a visitor wants the cowboy experience, I think they are better off heading into the beautiful ranch country outside of the city.

[killer_carlson]

i've travelled around the world and can also attest to the fact that the Calgary Stampede is known world wide. People know it to be a hell of a party, Canada's equivalent to mardi gras, and for the rodeo aspect as well. The fact that the entire city embraces the experience is also well known and respected based on my experiences.

I also recall an episode of Mash when one of the characters was looking for a piece of fabric or special paper and what he got "looks like it's been through the Calgary Stampede". This would have been at a time where there were not as many channels and Mash as the #1 show on TV.

So while it's a Canadian thing to crap all over our own experiences, as it pertains to the Calgary Stampede, it is legitimately world famous.

[killer_carlson]

Originally Posted by Table 5

To be honest, I kind of feel a little sorry for anyone who travels across the world with the Stampede as their main destination. I mean the rodeo part is somewhat unique and interesting, but at the end of the day the whole thing takes place in a pretty crappy and dated location (yay giant dusty parking lot), and the Midway rides are of the same craptastic quality that I remember as a kid. If I paid thousand of dollars to attend that, I'd be a little let down after all the hype.

The Rockies are something that truly is world-class and I whole heartily recommend them to anyone I meet...but I don't think the Stampede can come anywhere close to the great festivals around the world. If a visitor wants the cowboy experience, I think they are better off heading into the beautiful ranch country outside of the city.

But the Calgary Stampede is not just the Stampede grounds. It is the entire experience in the city, from the breakfasts, bbqs, corporate events, neighbourhood events, bars and concerts.

If you categorize the Stampede as just the Conklin midway with the rodeo aspect, i think you are missing half of what it is about (and many would say the better half).

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Table 5

To be honest, I kind of feel a little sorry for anyone who travels across the world with the Stampede as their main destination. I mean the rodeo part is somewhat unique and interesting, but at the end of the day the whole thing takes place in a pretty crappy and dated location (yay giant dusty parking lot), and the Midway rides are of the same craptastic quality that I remember as a kid. If I paid thousand of dollars to attend that, I'd be a little let down after all the hype.

The Rockies are something that truly is world-class and I whole heartily recommend them to anyone I meet...but I don't think the Stampede can come anywhere close to the great festivals around the world. If a visitor wants the cowboy experience, I think they are better off heading into the beautiful ranch country outside of the city.

Stampede is known for the wild party atmosphere, and everything that surrounds the stampede itself. I doubt very many people are booking expensive trips and travelling for the midway.

[burn_this_city]

Most tourists probably combine the trip with Banff, Jasper and Drumheller ect, rather than just the Stampede itself.

[DoubleF]

You know what? I think we forget how good we have it here sometimes. You'd be surprised at the things that people think are amazing when they visit Calgary.

- It snowed in May. I had people over who were excited to see snow in person for the first time.

- Newcomers I drive often comment about how we have so many beautiful yellow flowers growing by the road. I laugh and explain to them that dandelions are weeds to us.

- I ran into a couple in K-Country on a hike from Sweden and the Netherlands. They said Calgary was a bucket list for them. Odd because they were early 40s and mid 30s at most. They said they wanted to return, plus Lake Louise was too touristy for them.
- I was chastised because I didn't go to see the golden larches every year. The individual in question originally thought it was a 1 in 10 year occurrence or something.
- I met a couple at the Stampede who asked how far the mountains were. I said an hour or an hour and half depending how deep they wanted to go. They thought I was joking at how close it was and I had to clarify the travel time and it turned out they expected to drive 4-5 hours and just wanted to know how to budget time for their day (maybe someone told them 4-5 hours round trip plus activity and they mixed up?). I also suggested Drumheller and they were floored that such a place existed so close by. Unfortunately, I couldn't answer how many fossils were real and how many were replicas off the top of my head, but they still seemed interested.

- Met up with a friend who went on international assignments and this person stated how they missed Calgary. Reason? Air doesn't stink. I laughed and commented they got the short end of the stick. The response was, "The air quality in Asia in general can't compare". Ok... fair enough.

- Met many people completely amazed that the sun is still out after 9:00 on summer days which meant more time to play around. When they say they like it better than where they come from (insert close to the equator, large city) I laugh and say the winters are a completely new adventure in themselves.

- I chatted with several exchange kids about winter. One thought I said 20c (which was ok, he could wear a sweater). I said, no, more like minus twenty. You're going to need a thick coat over your sweaters. One kid from Mexico thought I was lying when I said "Baja Zero" after looking at a blank stare when I said, "No, minus twenty."

- Met many Americans commenting on our Canadian currency (not Calgary related I guess) and how it was colorful... like monopoly money and how they should adopt a color coded system as well.

There's a lot of good in Calgary.

[Minnie]

The kids' friend from Wales said they have been seeing TV ads there, for Stampede. So I guess at least a few people from across the pond are seeing something about it.

[Swift]

I would say it's known of by people who travel/have looked into travel in Canada/North America, but I doubt the average person on the street has heard of it.

To be honest, I'd never heard of it before I moved to Canada. The only thing I knew about Calgary at all was that's where the Hart family were from. My mother, for example, had never heard of the place. This was 10+ years ago, so maybe it's profile has risen slightly?

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by killer_carlson

But the Calgary Stampede is not just the Stampede grounds. It is the entire experience in the city, from the breakfasts, bbqs, corporate events, neighbourhood events, bars and concerts.

I agree that the stuff outside of the ground is often more fun/interesting than the stuff inside (even if your average tourist or non-OG tourist won’t have access to things like corporate tent parties), but there should be more effort to raise the quality of the actual Stampede Grounds itself because it's still stuck in 80s while the rest of the city has evolved.

If we’re going to call it the "greatest outdoor show on earth", make it a venue something we can be proud of, and not just a dusty parking lot with some tents on it. The Stampede grounds could use a serious investment upgrade.

I think they could also do more to elevate the musical festival aspect of the Stampede, as the whole Coke Stage thing is kind of a joke. I think there is an opportunity to make the Stampede more of a serious musical festival, as opposed to the thing where they have 1 somewhat famous act, and the rest is made up of Shania Twin type acts and some washed out Canadian bands.

Basically, I wish the Stampede had grander and more ambitious visions of itself.

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

Most tourists probably combine the trip with Banff, Jasper and Drumheller ect, rather than just the Stampede itself.

Which of course makes sense, but I also think all the other cool places in Alberta makes people think the Stampede is more popular than it really is with international travellers. If the Stampede was in Saskatoon, I doubt it would even register a blip.

[Joborule]

Originally Posted by Table 5

If we’re going to call it the "greatest outdoor show on earth", make it a venue something we can be proud of, and not just a dusty parking lot with some tents on it. The Stampede grounds could use a serious investment upgrade.

I can't wait for the day when Stampede Park actually looks like a park.