Calgarians put water crisis aside for fun at Stampede

By Lisa Johnson, The Canadian Press on July 5, 2024.

Visitors walk through the park on the last day of the Calgary Stampede in Calgary on July 16, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Calgary residents took some relief from their water woes Friday, lining up six-deep downtown to watch the parade launching the annual summer Stampede festival.

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

Freese said she has been curbside to watch the parade since 1989. She watched it on TV last year, but said it wasn’t the same.

“I said, ‘I’m never not going again, come rain or shine.'”

Some savvy parade watchers began preparations Thursday night, roping together camping chairs to ensure a front-row view.

Others arrived as the sun rose, hours before the start, to ensure a good spot to watch the 100 entries, including 21 floats, 11 marching bands and 700 horses.

The parade was held a month to the day after a major water main broke in the city’s northwest, flooding streets and turning off the taps to 60 per cent of the drinking water for the city and surrounding communities.

Crews scrambled to repair the line and, in the process, found five more weak spots to fix.

A directive to have Calgarians cut their indoor water use by 25 per cent with fewer showers and toilet flushes was lifted earlier this week.

A ban on outdoor watering remained in place, with the system running at reduced capacity to keep enough water in reserve to fight fires and for the replacement line to undergo tests.

The Stampede – a combination midway fair, entertainment festival and rodeo competition – brings thousands of visitors to the city every July.

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

Mayor Jyoti Gondek said while she has asked Calgarians to continue to go slow on their indoor water use, contingency plans are in place for the Stampede.

“It was heartening to see that the Calgary Stampede and their CEO found a way to continue the greatest outdoor show on Earth in a responsible way, by finding ways to save water or bring in water from places outside of Calgary,” Gondek said Thursday.

She said the Stampede will, for example, clean the rodeo grandstand less frequently using non-treated water.

“When you head down to the Stampede grounds this year you will be able see the water storage tanks that are in place and ready to go as needed,” she added.

The Stampede is also the site of political pancake flipping. Premier Danielle Smith is scheduled to toss flapjacks on Monday, while the Opposition NDP, with new leader Naheed Nenshi, is to host three pancake events starting Sunday.

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