ANALYSIS

How the Calgary Stampede makes and spends $150M per year

Public land, private ventures, performing arts, youth programs and Western culture

Robson Fletcher · CBC News · Posted: Jul 09, 2018 6:00 AM MT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

So, what is the Calgary Stampede, anyway? ... Look just about anywhere in the city at this time of year and you'll see something related to the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth. Flags lining downtown streets. Painted storefront windows. Cowboy boots as office attire. The annual summer mega-event is so ingrained in our culture it almost blends into the background. Every year, it's always just there.

Virtually every Calgarian knows the Calgary Stampede, but how many of us actually know how it all works? ... The Stampede, after all, is a complex and unique thing. Nowhere but Calgary will you find such a massive undertaking that combines public land, private ventures (including a casino), youth programs, performing arts, agricultural education and the blending of urban and rural Western culture.

But is the Stampede a corporation? A non-profit? A charity? ... And what does it do with the roughly $150 million that flows in and out of its various operations each year?

This year marks the 106th Calgary Stampede so we figured it was about time to look, in detail, at some of these basic questions. You may have an idea as to some of the answers. Others may surprise you. None of it is secret, but a lot of it is hidden in plain sight. ... So let's make it visible, starting with the venue. The spot where it all takes place.
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Robson Fletcher
Reporter / Editor

Robson Fletcher joined the CBC Calgary digital team in 2015 after spending the previous decade working as a reporter and editor at newspapers in Alberta, British Columbia and Manitoba.

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