Yahoo to you Calgary

By Aldin Avdic

The crowd goes wild as an old mustache-wearing cowboy prompts them to say, Yahoo!

Calgary Stampede kicked off with its iconic parade on July 5, bringing hundreds of thousands into the show.

Beginning the day at 8 a.m. I made my way over to 6 ST SW, 9 Ave to a parking lot, to watch the show.

Along the way I was met with many folks excited for the show to begin. Some chairs left overnight had a pool of water about a thumb deep on their seats. Other spectators had blankets on them with their hats slouched down on their faces. Chairs and people lined the street, forcing me on the road.

Officers patrolled the street with an on-theme accessory, black cowboy hats.

A bright orange vest-wearing man, with grey hair, walking with a limp on his left leg, approached some viewers with a slight crooked smile off to his left side, with raised eyebrows, he greeted the crowd. “Howdy y'all.”

It wasn't until 10 a.m. that the real show began.

What struck me the most was this First Nation horse rider. I’m not too sure as to what he was, but he was among some chiefs. While the rest of the Native males were clean-faced, he had this baby bear head dress will black and white paint over his face. The black paint covered his eyes in a box that was about three inches wide. Some black paint also covers his mouth from the tops and sides of his lips. Three or so inches in width. The rest of his face is white. 

Speaking to a viewer about what he likes about the parade, Hamzah Rrza said, “Stampede is important to the Calgarian identity “It's the one thing that separates us from the rest ofCanada.” He wore an olive-green hoodie with its hood up. Bright blue sweatpants. All the while the people around him were in shorts.

As the day went on, my once cold camera strap began to ever so slightly get warmer and warmer,  which made it harder to place around my neck until defeat came. I had to take it off. A lone mother, right to me, pleaded with their young son, five or so, to wear some sunscreen. Another family to the left of me started to douse themselves with bug repellent.

A pair of two young girls in front of me began to hustle their way back to their mothers, clinching their noses with their thumbs and index finger. As the street was being cleaned after the horses left.

As the day moved on to 11 a.m. yelling and screaming could be heard darting around. Withparents trying to soothe and solve the problem at hand. Some parents were more successful in solving their child's problems than others.

Councillor Andre Chabot could sum up how most people felt with noon approaching. Riding in the back of an old bright cheery red pickup truck he gave a tight pull on his shirt fanning it. He tried to make his cowboy hat as big as possible and, with a drooping strawberry red face, gave his best attempt at looking okay.

Music was played from black load speakers. Music ranged from hip hop, country or traditional depending on which group was up. And while 99 per cent of all the music played came from a crisp sounding box one expectation was made from the Falun Gong. There was this constant tatic playing with the music, The one you get from turning on a channel with no reception on late at night, that made it unbearable to listen to.

And certainly of course the main theme was played up to full max. Plenty of cowboy costumes and early pioneers were present although out.

With properly the most stampede-ey thing on display. A cool white, brown leather seats, adorned with old lever action rifles on the left and right, and two Dirty Harry style revolvers on the front hood, 1950 Cadillac rode on through. And while the bygone era made its way done the road, a group of red fez wears drove on by.

Giving on a show on cars too small for them for comedic relief, give the crowd the unexpected. While trying to do a burn out with the other riders a sudden pop embargoed the air. Silence rushed in, then “that sucks”, from a person behind me. The man on the car was forced to park on the side of the rode. He frowned slightly and told the rest of his group to continue.

But while many people flock to the city of Calgary for the week, embracing the cowboy theme and having fun with friends. Not all see the occasion as one to celebrate. A short slender built man with an anime-esque haircut, Chris Chan proved to be an outlier to thenorm. “I’ve never been to Stampede or watched the parade,” Chan told me. He said he was simply passing by just to meet up with some friends.

As the cleaning crew began its work the crowd gave a clap. And again, the same old men came walking by. He was sunkissed, his strides were shorter and his limp more apparent. He gave out a faint “Have a nice day.”