‘Saddled’: Calgary residents put water crisis aside for fun at Stampede

CALGARY — Calgary residents took a break from their water woes on Friday and lined up six deep downtown to watch the parade kicking off the annual Stampede summer festival.

“I’m saddled,” said Rita Freese, her grandson beside her.

Freese said she hadn’t been out to watch the parade since 1989. Last year, she saw it on TV and decided she had to see it for herself.

“I said, ‘I’m never leaving again, no matter the weather.’”

Some savvy parade watchers began preparations Thursday night, stringing together camp chairs to secure a front-row view. Others arrived as the sun rose, hours before the start, to secure a prime spot to watch the 100 participants, including 21 floats, 11 marching bands and 700 horses.

“My mom made one for the team,” said Danielle Oliverio.

“She came this morning around 6:30 to pick up the spot, and a few hours later my mother-in-law and I arrived just in time to get started.”

Oliverio said she has been attending the parade with her children for the past two years, a tradition she has continued since her parents took her when she was young.

The highlights for the youngsters, she said, were Calgary Flames mascot Harvey the Hound and “the horses and the vehicles that clean up the horse waste.”

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, wearing a navy cowboy hat and denim jacket, waved to the crowd from a float. Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was on horseback, urging the crowd to scrap the tax, citing his party’s campaign against consumer carbon pricing.

Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek also appeared in the parade on horseback, wearing a white hat.

The parade was held exactly one month after a water main that supplies 60 percent of the city’s drinking water burst, flooding streets.

Crews went to work to repair the pipe and found five additional weak spots that needed to be repaired.

Earlier this week, a directive requiring Calgary residents to reduce their indoor water use by 25 percent by showering and flushing less often was rescinded.

A ban on outdoor spraying remained in place and the system was running at reduced capacity to maintain sufficient water in reserve to fight fires and test the replacement pipe.

Oliverio said her family took the restrictions well.

“We bathed the children a little less and obviously didn’t water the grass, but that didn’t have a big impact on us,” she said.

The Stampede, a combination fair, entertainment festival and rodeo competition, draws thousands of visitors to the city each July.

Earlier this month, there were concerns that population growth from the 10-day event would push the city’s water system to breaking point.

Gondek has asked Calgarians to conserve their indoor water use, and there are contingency plans in place for the Stampede. For example, the Stampede will be cleaning the rodeo grandstand less frequently with untreated water.

The Stampede is also the place for political pancake throwing. Smith is scheduled to throw flapjacks on Monday, while the opposition NDP, under new leader Naheed Nenshi, is hosting three pancake events beginning on Sunday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 5, 2024.

Lisa Johnson, The Canadian Press