The Calgary Stampede is set to celebrate First Nations cultures and Indigenous rodeo athletes from across North America with its inaugural First Nations Rodeo and Relay on Saturday at GMC Stadium. The event will feature eight rodeo competitions and relay racing, drawing 494 entries from 390 competitors, including participants from southern Alberta First Nations and as far as Arizona. The rodeo is sanctioned by the Indian National Finals Rodeo.
Relay Qualifier and Rodeo Pairing
The event follows a successful rodeo and relay held for the Rotary International Convention last June, which inspired the Stampede to pair a relay race qualifier with an Indigenous rodeo. A total of 25 relay teams will compete, with the top two overall teams and the two top Treaty 7 teams advancing to the Stampede relay competition in July.
“We’re pretty overwhelmed with the interest,” said Calgary Stampede CEO Joel Cowley on Wednesday. “We know that our audience loves rodeo, we know our audience loves relay and we truly enjoy celebrating First Nations cultures along with our partners.”
Strong Response and Future Plans
Cowley noted the “really strong response” and foresees the event becoming an annual tradition, possibly expanding into a full-day celebration. About 5,000 people are expected to attend Saturday’s event, with infield tickets already sold out. Grandstand tickets are available for $30 plus fees, and the event starts at 6:30 p.m.
Preliminary rodeo competitions will take place Thursday, Friday, and Saturday morning, narrowing to the top 10 competitors for the evening public performance. These preliminaries are free to watch with parking fees. Additionally, about 35 Indigenous vendors will be on site at the concourse level of GMC Stadium.
Indian National Finals Rodeo President Bo Vocu called the Calgary Stampede one of rodeo’s “true landmarks,” adding that the event will be an “amazing” experience for competitors. “When the rumours started buzzing about us hosting an event there, our contestants just couldn’t believe that they would have the opportunity to compete there,” Vocu said. He noted that some of the circuit’s top contestants are participating, and expects bigger turnouts as momentum builds.
