The Calgary Stampede fires up Friday July 8th, first with its miles-long downtown morning Parade, immediately followed by full-on Western intensity of live music stages, indoor exhibitions and, of course, renowned world-class rodeo and chuckwagon events.
A mere mile away is Calgary’s first original outpost, the recently restored and expanded Fort Calgary complete with guided tours and exhibits (and where Friday’s parade starts from with hundreds of horses, floats, riding clubs dressed to the nines competing for best group display, and, truly outstanding, native First Nations riding in knockout full ceremonial costumes. Nearby, too, is Calgary’s very first original main street of historic Inglewood, its stores these days transformed into fashionable upmarket restaurants and antique galleries.
It’s also where, this year from July 9th to August 6th Edge Gallery will be hosting internationally recognized wildlife photographer and artist Maureen Enns displaying her latest eclectic collection of Alberta’s very own wild horses that roam the eastern slopes of the Canadian Rockies a hundred miles westwards. That first Saturday (July 9th from 1:00-4:00 p.m.) has the artist in attendance.