Stampede 2012

[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by Daradon

To refine, all of these can be managed or eliminated by the morality of the character in question. The fact that they are not does not bother me and in fact kinda makes me feel like we have a real party going on.

I never broke up or went into debt cause of Stampede... I may have had sex with those that did though...

Obviously the STD and divorce rates are likely similar. Screwing around on your spouse = increase chance of STD = passing it on to spouse = divorce. Pregnancy rates rising confuses me, because if everyone is screwing around on their spouse, who's fathering/mothering the kids? Perhaps its lots of basterd children being born the following April.

Debt goes with all of them because $8 a beer is highway robbery. I've always said it, but how rich could you be if you were able to take every drop of alcohol in this city hostage before the Stampede? I guarentee you people would pay $2,000+ for a case of booze that normally cost $250. People don't seem to care how much it costs them to get drunk this time of year.

[Tron_fdc]

Originally Posted by chemgear

Yeah, I heard about that but I've never actually seen the pic - I trust it's not a Stampede urban myth?

pm me your email addresses

[Daradon]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Obviously the STD and divorce rates are likely similar. Screwing around on your spouse = increase chance of STD = passing it on to spouse = divorce. Pregnancy rates rising confuses me, because if everyone is screwing around on their spouse, who's fathering/mothering the kids? Perhaps its lots of basterd children being born the following April.

Debt goes with all of them because $8 a beer is highway robbery. I've always said it, but how rich could you be if you were able to take every drop of alcohol in this city hostage before the Stampede? I guarentee you people would pay $2,000+ for a case of booze that normally cost $250. People don't seem to care how much it costs them to get drunk this time of year.

So what's your point? You don't like high beer prices?

Where is the evil?

[troutman]

Originally Posted by Tron_fdc

pm me your email addresses

inbox full

[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by Daradon

So what's your point? You don't like high beer prices?

Where is the evil?

Charge whatever you'd like. I think we've all gotten to experience overpriced booze. Thats my point, I wish I had control of the supply right now, cause people would pay anything for alcohol this time of year. Hence why they charge $8 a beer and while people may complain and grumble, they still pay for it.

[MissTeeks]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Statisically proven things that rise after Stampede:

Divorce rates
STD rates
Pregnancy rates
Debt

And of course they all tie together neatly. Good old Stampede.

http://www.stampedisms.com/#57

When people say: I had a baby in April.
What they really mean is: I had such a good time here last year.

[Daradon]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Charge whatever you'd like. I think we've all gotten to experience overpriced booze. Thats my point, I wish I had control of the supply right now, cause people would pay anything for alcohol this time of year. Hence why they charge $8 a beer and while people may complain and grumble, they still pay for it.

I got to lounges that charge 8 bucks for drinks. I go to underground bars to watch local bands that charge 8 bucks for beer. I do it to help establishments that are not sports bars or Irish pubs.

It just seems you want a cheap high. You like cookie cutter Calgary?

[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by Daradon

I got to lounges that charge 8 bucks for drinks. I go to underground bars to watch local bands that charge 8 bucks for beer. I do it to help establishments that are not sports bars or Irish pubs.

It just seems you want a cheap high. You like cookie cutter Calgary?

Being honest I don't even drink that much anymore so I could care less about the cost of booze. And if businesses want to charge $8 a beer and people want to pay that, then thats cool, yay capitalism! My only originaly point is having control of the liquor supply right now would make a person extremely rich. Charging X amount of dollars for a good or service is the businesses preogative, I'll never have a problem with that. People speak with their wallets, and since they seem to keep paying the cost, apparently their cool with it too.

And when I want a cheap high I'll go the Sherry/Colt 45 route. Can't put a price on class.

[Daradon]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Being honest I don't even drink that much anymore so I could care less about the cost of booze. And if businesses want to charge $8 a beer and people want to pay that, then thats cool, yay capitalism! My only originaly point is having control of the liquor supply right now would make a person extremely rich. Charging X amount of dollars for a good or service is the businesses preogative, I'll never have a problem with that. People speak with their wallets, and since they seem to keep paying the cost, apparently their cool with it too.

And when I want a cheap high I'll go the Sherry/Colt 45 route. Can't put a price on class.

Yeah, other world festivals don't up their prices...

Brazil is one of the poorest countries on the planet. What do you think happens when Carnival gets there? (Or more likely, how do you think they got there?)

Not sure what your argument is. People make money? That's one of the reasons I love Stampede.

[Senator Clay Davis]

I'm not sure I ever made any argument at any point here other than people pay what they want, if they didn't the price would go down but obviously since it rises annually they must not care. And that I'd like to control the supply. But uhh yeah, charge whatever the hell you want. Go for it. Charge $5,000 a beer, thats fine. If people wanna pay for it they will, if they don't they won't. It seems we essentially agree here...

[MarchHare]

Originally Posted by J pold

Seriously, either you like the Stampede (at least some aspect of it) or you are wrong.

I don't know...

I appreciate that the Stampede is a huge tourist draw and brings in a ton of money to the local economy, so I guess I like that aspect of it. As far as the Stampede itself, though, I'm completely indifferent. I wouldn't actively protest it like some do (Vancouver Humane Society, PETA, etc.), but I don't go to the grounds or watch the rodeo, chuckwagon races, and grandstand show (did all of that once for the experience, don't need to do it again), and I refuse to dress up in faux-cowboy garb instead of my usual professional work attire. I don't begrudge people who enjoy those things, but they're not my cup of tea.

There is one thing about the Stampede I really dislike: the way local businesses decorate their storefronts with straw/hay, fake wooden fences, and ugly window paintings.

I also wonder if the Stampede does a disservice to Calgary's image. We want to be seen as a modern, business-friendly, world-class city, not a town of hick redneck cowboys, yet our biggest showcase is putting on a 10-day event where everyone pretends to be hick redneck cowboys.

[Daradon]

Originally Posted by MarchHare

I also wonder if the Stampede does a disservice to Calgary's image. We want to be seen as a modern, business-friendly, world-class city, not a town of hick redneck cowboys, yet our biggest showcase is putting on a 10-day event where everyone pretends to be hick redneck cowboys.

Yeah cause New Orleans is really struggling with Girls Gone Wild. It's hurting their rep. Dear god they would be fine if not for all that bad publicity.

The point is one does not depend on the other. NO, had a lot to attract people from all over the continent. They were a destination.

And they need those people now. I know we wont suffer a brutal hurricane, but bankers aren't going to stay away if we have some cowboys and nekkid girlies. In fact they might show up.

The funny thing is we are the biggest festival in Canada, and one of the 10 biggest in the world. If you think it's hurting our image, you are listening to (jealous) Edmonton and Toronto.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Biggest festival in Canada? Sure isn't, though its close

1. Winterlude (Ottawa-Gatineau) 1.6 million
2. Celebration of Light (Vancouver) 1.6 million
3. Just For Laughs (Montreal) 1.5 million
4. Canadian National Exhibition (Toronto) 1.3 million
5. Calgary Stampede 1.2 million
6. Pride Toronto 1.3 million
7. Toronto International Film Festival 0.5 million
8. Quebec Winter Carnival 0.5 million

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by MarchHare

I also wonder if the Stampede does a disservice to Calgary's image. We want to be seen as a modern, business-friendly, world-class city, not a town of hick redneck cowboys, yet our biggest showcase is putting on a 10-day event where everyone pretends to be hick redneck cowboys.

the company i work for is Canadian and our head office is in Calgary, with the main US office in Houston. i've met many people from Houston who come up here for meetings or training sessions, and everyone that's experienced Stampede here has said how fun it was and they wished they had something similar in their own city (who knew we'd have a bigger rodeo than Texas)

honestly Calgarians obsess about the Stampede and the image it gives our city far too much. for the rest of the world that knows about it, it's just seen as a weeklong party/festival with everyone mostly having a good time

[Daradon]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Biggest festival in Canada? Sure isn't, though its close

1. Winterlude (Ottawa-Gatineau) 1.6 million
2. Celebration of Light (Vancouver) 1.6 million
3. Just For Laughs (Montreal) 1.5 million
4. Canadian National Exhibition (Toronto) 1.3 million
5. Calgary Stampede 1.2 million
6. Pride Toronto 1.3 million
7. Toronto International Film Festival 0.5 million
8. Quebec Winter Carnival 0.5 million

Erm, but all of those regions have much larger pops than Calgary. In fact it's entirely and probably safe to say they get at least the same local visitors. The turnstyles in Van, are populated by Van.

For fun. Can you pull up numbers for actual tourists? You might think it's the same, but Calgary has a much higher pop to vis rate.

Go and get er. You'll get it.

EDIT: In fact we are massively small compared to the rest. But we draw... Hmmm.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Biggest festival in Canada? Sure isn't, though its close

1. Winterlude (Ottawa-Gatineau) 1.6 million
2. Celebration of Light (Vancouver) 1.6 million
3. Just For Laughs (Montreal) 1.5 million
4. Canadian National Exhibition (Toronto) 1.3 million
5. Calgary Stampede 1.2 million
6. Pride Toronto 1.3 million
7. Toronto International Film Festival 0.5 million
8. Quebec Winter Carnival 0.5 million

I'm not sure we are comparing apples with apples here. I assume the Stampede figure of 1.2 million only includes entries to Stampede Park, and does not include attendance at the Parade, and hundreds of other events around the city.

I think Celebration of Light in Vancouver is basically a fire-works competition, and not a typical festival. Probably those attendance figures include many repeat viewers who go to each night of the event.

[jar_e]

FWIW in regards to attendance, speaking with Stampede staff, they figure that attendance will be anywhere in the 1.5-1.6 million range, which works out to roughly 30,000 more people a day compared to last year.

[Daradon]

Originally Posted by troutman

I'm not sure we are comparing apples with apples here. I assume the Stampede figure of 1.2 million only includes entries to Stampede Park, and does not include attendance at the Parade, and hundreds of other events around the city.

I think Celebration of Light in Vancouver is basically a fire-works competition, and not a typical festival. Probably those attendance figures include many repeat viewers who go to each night of the event.

Exactly.

Pound for pound, and I've seen it in many sources, from Macleans to New York Times, the Stampede is the biggest outside draw in Canada.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Ottawa-Gatineua is comparable in size to Calgary (1.4m vs 1.1m), but yes beyond that they are all in larger cities. Most of those other festivals all also only a week compared to 10 days for the Stampede. But we're splitting hairs here. Stampede is a huge attraction obviously. I would suspect Just for Laughs probably attracts the largest number of tourists.

I also noticed Montreal Jazz Fest isn't on the list, even though it has over 2 million visitors annually. Montreal Jazz Fest is awesome and actually I would probably say that is the largest festival in Canada.

[Daradon]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Ottawa-Gatineua is comparable in size to Calgary (1.4m vs 1.1m), but yes beyond that they are all in larger cities. Most of those other festivals all also only a week compared to 10 days for the Stampede. But we're splitting hairs here. Stampede is a huge attraction obviously. I would suspect Just for Laughs probably attracts the largest number of tourists.

I also noticed Montreal Jazz Fest isn't on the list, even though it has over 2 million visitors annually. Montreal Jazz Fest is awesome and actually I would probably say that is the largest festival in Canada.

It was shown yesteryear that JFL was 200,000 behind the Stampede. They are the second, I was going to reference that.

Hey, I love JFL, I love Montreal. I love Toronto. I wish Calgary would be more eastern. But as far as festivals go, it's not even close.

This is Canada's Carnival. This is Canada's Spring Break.