Summer is officially underway and that means the Calgary Stampede is about to begin. The 10-day, city-wide party – known as ‘The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth’ – kicks off on Friday, July 3. Starting with the annual parade, which will draw 350,000 people into the downtown, the excitement will be endless: daily rodeo, chuckwagon races (invented at the Calgary Stampede) and evening shows, concerts, the Midway, Elbow River Camp, Stampede lotteries, pancake breakfasts (also invented at the Calgary Stampede), wine cellars and so much more.
“We’re really excited to welcome people back after a year,” says Joel Cowley, CEO of the not-for-profit Calgary Stampede. “One of the big things we’re opening up this year is a new north infield suite in GMC Stadium. It has seven suites that are 30-plus persons each. The lower-level suites are at dirt level. When the horses go by, you’ll need to cover your poutine, dirt will be flying!”
The new building features a 300-person rooftop deck called Corona Sky Deck, which provides outstanding views of the rodeo infield and the final turn for the chuckwagon races. “We’re really excited to offer that because we have such tremendous demand for premium spaces,” Cowley says. “This doesn’t satisfy all of it, but it’s a step in the right direction.”
Demand for just about everything at the Stampede has been up in the last few years, particularly coming out of COVID when, for the first time in 97 years, the Stampede was cancelled in 2020. Attendance has surpassed 1.47 million each of the last two years, marking record attendance.
While impressive, these numbers don’t phase Cowley who, prior to joining the Calgary Stampede in 2021, spent 15 years at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo (his last seven as president and CEO), the world’s largest livestock show. Over 23 days, it draws 2.5 to 2.6 million people.
Born in Laramie, Wyoming, Cowley was raised in Fort Collins, Colorado by his paternal grandparents. His grandfather, then retired, rented land outside of town so his grandsons could have livestock and be involved in 4-H. “That’s what really sparked my interest in the agriculture and livestock industry,” Cowley reminisces.
He attended Colorado State University and majored in animal science, and then went to Texas A&M where he did a master’s degree in animal science, focused on breeding and genetics. He also coached the collegiate livestock judging team while there.
“During this time, the Calgary Stampede offered a livestock judging clinic for local producers and I was brought in as an instructor for that,” he notes. “We met at Stampede Park and travelled to different ranches and livestock operations in the area. I was up here nearly every year over a 12-year period.”
Cowley then joined the faculty at Michigan State University for seven years, also completing his MBA there, and then worked at Certified Angus Beef in Ohio in the international division. “I was in Canada quite a bit working with the large retail chains and the upscale casual dining chains like Joey’s and Cactus Club,” he says.
After the passing of long-time Calgary Stampede CEO Warren Connell in December 2020, a local search firm reached out to Cowley regarding taking over. “I had said to my wife previously that the Calgary Stampede was the one place I would still like to work,” he reminisces. “It was meant to be.”
Joining in September of 2021 presented challenges from the get-go. “When I got here, the focus was on survival, quite frankly,” he says. “In Canada, not-for-profits do not carry large financial reserves. So when the Stampede shut down and laid off 80 per cent of the employees, it took out close to $80 million in debt. It’s been a multi-year recovery, and we are not fully recovered yet.”
The pandemic also created a large backlog of capital projects, currently being addressed. “The deal for Scotia Place [the new event centre] really helped because through that deal we traded seven acres of the Scotia Place site for the Saddledome land,” he says. “We need that land to continue to grow our event.”
The Stampede sold three acres to the province (which were contributed to the event centre project to create a 10-acre contiguous site) and a couple of parcels just west of Scotia Place for future development: “We took that money and paid down the debt. In one year, we went from $79 million to $27 million.”
Opened in June 2024, the BMO Centre has also been a source of revenue for the Stampede. “BMO Centre is a true tier-one convention facility,” Cowley opines, “not just the largest, but the nicest convention centre in Western Canada. Through 2025, we hosted 320 events there. We still need hotel support to draw more outside conventions, but it’s done better than we expected.”
This past spring, a 20-year Master Plan for Stampede Park was unveiled. Built off the 2026-2029 Agricultural Strategy, the Master Plan envisions the best use of the Saddledome lands, a new agriculture building and replacement of The Big Four Building with a 5,000- to 6,000-seat multi-purpose venue.
A renewed focus on agriculture is key to the strategy. “The Stampede has always been an agricultural event,” Cowley points out. A keen student of the Stampede’s history, he notes its origins stretch back to 1884 with the incorporation of the Calgary and District Agricultural Society (three months before the city of Calgary was incorporated).
The Society held its first fair – the Calgary Industrial (Agricultural) Exhibition – in 1886. A few years later it purchased what is now Stampede Park – the original 94 acres – for $245 from the federal government. A track with bleachers and some agricultural buildings were erected.
The city of Calgary eventually purchased the land and leased it back to the Society. In 1912, Guy Weadick held the first Western Celebration of Stampede, and in 1923 the Stampede and the Agricultural Society merged to form what is today the Calgary Stampede.
“Even that very first agricultural fair in 1886 had more than just agriculture,” Cowley notes. “The city band competed against the police band. There was a beautiful baby contest, food and rides. If people from then came to the Stampede now, they’d be blown away with the scale and technology, but they’d understand the business because it’s really not that different.”
Today’s Stampede includes both agriculture events and Western heritage events. Agriculture events include livestock shows for youth, horse shows and partnerships with commodity groups to educate folks about where food comes from.
“One of the pillars of our agriculture strategy is the future of agriculture,” he says. “And that really is youth and youth competitions. We have a youth veterinary science competition, a youth agricultural public speaking competition and a youth culinary competition with SAIT.”
Another pillar of the agriculture strategy is food is the facilitator. Taste of Stampede, where chefs prepare meals and connect people to the agricultural products all the way through to the consumable item, will run in the BMO Centre during Stampede.
Fostering connection is another pillar of the agriculture strategy, and this includes meetings and conventions tied to agriculture. “We had a food leadership summit last fall that drew about 200 people from throughout Canada,” Cowley explains. “In April we held a fireside chat with the Prime Minister’s Parliamentary Secretary and 200 agricultural leaders.”
A newer agricultural focus for Stampede is wine, with Stampede Cellar. “Wine is a really important value-added agricultural product for Canada, especially from an export standpoint,” Cowley says. “Having a wine show is a way to both promote a segment of the agricultural industry and draw in new stakeholders.”
A wine competition is held in early March and Stampede Cellar Uncorked is then held in April, with about 1,400 guests in the BMO Centre. This includes 32 Calgary restaurants sampling their signature dishes, as well as the winning wines.
The Stampede Cellar Champion Wine Experience is held during the 10 days of Stampede in the Champions Ballroom – a 50,000-square-foot wine garden in the BMO Centre featuring dueling pianos, cabaret shows and beautiful views overlooking Stampede Park. “It’s an experience unto itself!” Cowley offers.
Tied to the Stampede’s agricultural focus are its two ranches: Stampede Ranch and OH Ranch. “We’re pretty proud of those ranches,” Cowley says. “There are a lot of stock shows and rodeos in North America, but we’re the only one with ranches. They’re the physical embodiment of our commitment to agriculture and Western Heritage.”
Stampede Ranch is located near Hanna, Alberta. Founded in 1961 to breed animals for rodeo competitions (called the Born to Buck™ program), today it has about 500 horses on 23,000 acres. “Of the 500, 200 compete throughout the year,” he says. “They might buck 10 or 11 times a year for eight seconds, that’s their year’s work.”
The ranch’s A string horses are the best there is: “In the last three years we’ve had the most horses selected for the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas. We have really good horses. They are appreciably different because they are so rugged and stout.”
OH Ranch is 8,000 acres west of Longview, Alberta, used for running commercial cows, trail rides and education, including programs run through the Calgary Stampede Foundation, the Stampede’s charitable branch. These include the OH Ranch School and the OH Ranch Branded Beef Program, where 12 youth are selected to raise a steer calf from the OH Ranch and show it at the Stampede.
“All told, the Foundation youth programs will host about 17,000 youth every year through all its programs, some year-round like the Show Band, the Show Riders or Young Canadians, while others are targeted at schools,” Cowley says. The Sam Centre, opened in 2024 as the Stampede’s year-round history and cultural centre, also provides educational programs.
Since the first Stampede in 1912, First Nations have been involved: the inaugural parade was led by 1,800 First Nations persons in full regalia. “Not only did they lead the parade, they came into the park and set up a village, originally known as the Indian Village,” Cowley explains. “That relationship carries forward today to our Elbow River Camp tipi holders – 26 families who set up their tipis. Most of them can trace their tipi back to the original Stampede!”
With 360 full-time, 1,000 part-time and 4,000 seasonal employees hired for the 10 days of Stampede, plus 3,000 volunteers on 36 different committees, the Calgary Stampede’s economic impact cannot be overstated: $721 million per year for Alberta.
“What’s amazing is how important the 10 days are – $389 million of the total,” Cowley says. “Over half. That’s filling hotel rooms, restaurants and Ubers. It’s a pretty incredible organization. I have the greatest job in the world.”
Going forward, Cowley is focused on making sure the Stampede stays relevant to the diverse community that Calgary is, hence the wine cellar, motorcycle shows and EDM concerts: “I like to think of us as a great big tent and we want to keep making the tent bigger, literally and figuratively when the Saddledome is gone, to bring more people here.”
Despite having pretty much seen it all when it comes to agricultural stock shows, Cowley marvels at how the Calgary Stampede is part of the fabric of this city, which has grown up around it: “Our core attendance is from Calgary, so we’re big enough. But Calgary’s also small enough that the Stampede permeates the entire city while it’s happening. It’s an incredible community celebration. I’ve rarely seen anything like it.”