Carnival & Fair News

It may have taken a dozen years, but the Calgary Stampede finally shattered its previously held attendance record.

A reported 1,477,953 attended the 2024 Calgary Stampede, beating the 2023 event by 93,321 – or 6 percent – and the 5-year average by 16 percent. But even more remarkable was that 2024 surpassed the 2012 event of 1,409,371 by 5 percent, the previous all-time attendance record for this 112-year-old event.

Optimum weather helped enormously. The buzz surrounding the long-anticipated debuts of Stampede Park venues, including the SAM Centre, Stampede Station and an expanded BMO Centre generated new regional interest. Certainly combining to maximize attendance, the NAME (North American Midway Entertainment) 52-ride midway boasted a new X-Drive, Outlaw Roller Coaster and Video Funhouse and the event's headline entertainment was particularly star-studded with crowd-pleasing shows by the Jonas Brothers, Miranda Lambert, Nickelback, Shakey Graves and Ne-Yo.

Recording-Breaking Factors

But perhaps the ultimate truth behind the record breaking attendance is a little more nuanced, for not only has the stampede conducted community outreach for years, steadily diversifying and expanding its customer base, but popular culture has rediscovered Western-themed entertainment, further fueling interest in the event.

In 2024, the Calgary Stampede achieved a truly unique accomplishment of being both a timely and timeless summer destination.

“The 2024 Calgary Stampede was one for the history books, with record-breaking attendance, incredible weather and the opening of some exciting Stampede Park development projects just before our annual celebration, which allowed us to bring new experiences and spaces to our guests,” said Christine Thompson, Corporate Communications Manager, Calgary Stampede.

In addition to the overflowing overall turnout, two key record days occurred: The Tim Horton's Family Day (Sunday, July 7) reached 201,260 (+16,777 from previous record set in 2012) – the highest all-time attendance record at the Calgary Stampede in one day; and the TC Energy Community Day (Tuesday, July 9) - 141,053 (+8,098 from previous record set in 2023). “As a not-for-profit, a successful Stampede and year-round events empower the Calgary Stampede to significantly invest in youth, support agricultural programs and celebrate Western culture,” she said. “The revenue generated during Stampede sustains these initiatives, contributes to the vibrancy of the city and creates lasting economic benefit for Calgary.”

 

Cowboy Cool

What's notable is that the 2012 Calgary Stampede was its centennial, marking it as one of the longest running rodeos in the world. The 2024 record breaker had no such milestone to tout. Instead, this year was one where “Cowboy Cool” – as the trend of rising popularity of Western movies, streaming series and novels as well as western-themed country music and fashions has been christened – created a new generation of fans for this Canadian tradition.

“The Calgary Stampede has been celebrating Western heritage and cultures for more than 112 years, but we are definitely seeing the trend and how much fun people have been having with it,” said Thompson. “There seems to be a movement to making ‘Cowboy' and ‘Country' more inclusive and accessible through fashion, film and music, with artists such as Beyoncé and Post Malone (to name a few), TV Shows such as Yellowstone and fashion brands, such as Louis Vuitton, putting their stamp on Western.”

While Thompson points out that the Stampede's goal has always been an event that in addition to upholding traditions – “our goal is to create a Stampede that's reflective of our community” – the reality is that community has expanded rapidly in recent years. “Calgary has also experienced continued population growth and saw the highest growth rate among Canada's largest cities between 2022 and 2023, surpassing 1.6 million people. Outside of the pandemic years (2020 & 2021), we have seen a steady, sustained year-over-year increase in attendance.”

She added, “We also noticed that following the pandemic, people had the desire to connect and celebrate, and the Calgary Stampede being an annual celebration of Western culture and community spirit provided the perfect avenue for that connection and reason to celebrate. We saw so many different expressions and interpretations of Western through the outfits our guests were wearing on the Midway, and it was very cool to see. In an early guest experience survey, upwards of 90 per cent of our guests had a positive view of how we portray ‘Western.”

In addition, few things garner more public interest than facility reinvestment. “We opened the expanded BMO Centre at Stampede Park on June 5, prior to Stampede 2024. Stampede would have been the first time many Calgarians would have experienced this new space. There was a noticeable sense of intrigue about this new space. In addition to the intrigue, the BMO Centre also provided ample additional space for our guests to explore. The expanded BMO Centre was also jam-packed with exciting, new programming, including Cirque de la Nuit's Starslingers modern circus and acrobatics show on the Stage of Wonders; the Stampede Cellar Champions Wine Experience in the Champions Ballroom; the expanded Market featuring local and international vendors; and Fleur de Villes Country, 22 life-size floral mannequins, meticulously crafted by local florists and inspired by superstars of Country Music, which were sprinkled throughout the public spaces of the BMO Centre.”


 

You're The Greatest!

Weather-wise, Stampede 2024 was nearly absent of precipitation. “The weather was near perfect,” said Thompson. “Outside of a little bit of rain on Sneak-a-Peek (July 4), we had a rain-free Stampede. Temperatures ranged from 21-34 degrees Celsius across Stampede 2024. On the hotter days, we had plenty of space and programming indoors to explore for those who didn't want to be out in the heat.”

While inflation – although lower in Canada than the U.S. – “did impact the cost to put the show on,” Thompson said. But, “Advance ticket sales tracked ahead of 2023 with daily spending on-par with 2023. Our guests came out to celebrate in a big way. We did see an increased participation in our value days and deals programs.”

The Calgary Stampede repeated it's bold and boastful invective of a tagline used last year – “You're The Greatest.”
The “You're The Greatest” theme is “a celebration of our community,” said Thompson. “Our budget was similar year-over-year as we strategically decided to continue with the platform “You're the Greatest.” This allowed us to utilize existing assets, while adding in additional new personas to reach broader audiences.”

It also personalizes the fairgoer experiences. “Each guest embraces Stampede in a unique way, “ she explained. “Whether they “Roar for the Encore” at concerts, “Flip out for Flapjacks” at a pancake breakfast, or “Parade like a Pro” at the Calgary Stampede Parade presented by Suncor.

On social media, the Calgary Stampede further elaborated on the personal experience motif by curating a series of behind-the-scenes video clips. “This year we put a big emphasis on reels/video and behind-the-scenes experiential content that really focused on sharing the feeling behind the iconic and new experiences we had to offer, while also giving our audience a deeper look at some of the people behind the different elements of our annual celebration,” she said. “Building on that deeper look, we also collaborated with our sponsors and partners on shared content that highlighted their activations and partnerships with the Stampede, such as McDonald's and Haribo.“

The most effective 2024 social media promotion? “We had a reel that highlighted the winning World Champion Six Horse Hitch driving by the crowd in GMC Stadium. It was our highest performing post during our annual celebration this year and was a prime example of the behind-the-scenes, experiential video content we were aiming to create more of this year.”

 

NAME Midway

The record attendance also resulted in a record midway for NAME, according to Lynda Franc, Corporate Marketing Director, NAME. “Yes, the Midway achieved a new revenue record, marking a milestone for NAME at the Calgary Stampede,” she said. “While local Calgary residents seemed slightly more conservative in their spending due to economic factors, we really felt like tourist spending reached an all-time high. Overall, the crowds were still upbeat and engaged.”

Franc noted that in 2024, The Calgary Stampede are “doing just about everything right. As an example, their new BMO Centre building might be the nicest building in Western Canada.”

However, NAME added fuel to the fire by giving the midway a Cowboy Cool makeover. The carnival company incorporated “Stampede-themed elements into its offerings, such as flags, banners, and cowboy hats for frontline staff with Stampede branding. They also ran successful promotions like the Gift Card Advance Sales Program and the Costco Bucks Program, and themed the Outlaw Roller Coaster to align with the Stampede's Western vibe.”

It seems that 2024 was the year for a Western Vibe. Fairs can plan for good years, but record-breaking years require an alignment of several factors, more than a little luck, and a cooperative mother nature. Accolades are nice to achieve, but for the Calgary Stampede success has been the result of years of a focus on the guest-experience. “2024 absolutely exceeded our expectations,” said Thompson. “Though breaking the all-time overall attendance record and two daily attendance records was the cherry on top of a fantastic Stampede 2024, our most meaningful indicator of a successful Stampede are our guests' experiences.”

She explained, “our guest experience surveys indicate that 88 per cent of those who came to Stampede Park said that attending this year's Stampede was an easy decision. Upwards of 90 per cent of guests stated that the Calgary Stampede is an important part of Calgary's identity. More than 25 per cent of guests also indicated that this was their first Stampede, and more than 40 per cent of guests shared that they visited Stampede more than once in 2024. Overall, there was an undeniable energy surrounding Stampede 2024, and we are incredibly proud of the Stampede we put on together, alongside our volunteers, employees, sponsors and partners.”