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Travel Alberta, All Rights Reserved Written by: Travel Alberta
Alberta's international gateway cities of Calgary and Edmonton throw some wild Western summer parties. Learn how The Greatest Outdoor Show On Earth turns everyone cowboy and why the newest Grand Prix race is revving some Hollywood stars.
The Calgary Exhibition and Stampede is known as The Greatest Outdoor Show On Earth. For some 10 days in July, the entire city celebrates North America's biggest rodeo with chuck wagon racing, bucking broncos, white cowboy hats, polished buckles and arms-wide-open Western hospitality.
The Grand Prix of Edmonton revved up high stakes Champ Car racing in the city for the first time last year. It returns this year during July in the slipstream of a remarkable success. Even Hollywood veteran superstar Paul Newman was there to cheer on his team.
You'll find how you can vacation at both events (one leads toward the other) and how there is much to discover. You can even do some driving and two-steppin' of your own along the way.
The Calgary Exhibition and Stampede, July 7-16
Okay, admit it. Any city where you're trying to make a right-hand turn while a beefy guy in fringed chaps and a red-and-white checkered open-collared shirt juggles a mocha frappucchino in one hand and a corn dog in the other as he clomps his cowboy boots past the yellow light – well, you know you're somewhere interesting. Especially when you realize that he's your company accountant, you just didn't recognize him without his cardigan and grey slacks. What's he doing here? But darn if he don't look smart in that white ten-gallon hat!
Can a giant Western themed costume ball revved up on a crash diet of sugar-powdered mini-donuts and morning flapjacks be anything other than must-see? Many city residents shimmy out of their corporate persona and step into a Mardi Gras-like world of pure fun, going out of their way to show Western hospitality to travellers from the U.S., and visitors from Canadian provinces far to the east, such as Ontario. This more-than-a-week-long holiday provides exceptional talent in all the components you'd expect from a world-class festival. It is, after all, The Greatest Outdoor Show On Earth.
The chuck wagon races are world renowned. Four horses. Four wheels. One big rush. What's not to love? John and Celeste Finnegan, seniors who grew up in the U.S. and who are now living in Ajijic, Mexico, are just one of the couples that are traveling a long way this year to see the Stampede. Calgary is the international gateway to the Canadian Rocky Mountains, just an hour's drive west of the city.
Alberta in the summer is fertile ground for rodeos that reach into every nook and cranny of the province. Some offer a charm not easily found elsewhere, precisely because of their local roots. It's often a community celebrating itself and its history, year after year. So you can get your cowboy mojo going with the Stampede, and you can also discover smaller rodeos that run throughout Alberta during the summer.
Grand Prix of Edmonton, July 21-23
The world's most beautiful hi-tech race cars, wreaking fun on a city centre airport race track: that's what's coming around the bend for summer in Edmonton at the city's City Centre Airport. The Grand Prix of Edmonton brings the Champ Car Series world-class racing to Alberta, building on last year's astounding inaugural success. Fans who knew about racing and new fans who just wanted to catch part of the rising buzz braved rain on one day and were ultimately rewarded with a magnificent, sunny race day.
This year there will be an opportunity for Albertans to race in front of home town fans during the CASCAR race that heats things up before the big one. CASCAR is Canada's version of NASCAR; it's what they call a super series so it competes across Canada. Not sure what that means? Get tickets now and you can learn more right at the track. This entire event absolutely rocks and you don't have to love cars or racing to enjoy it, because there is so much going on.
This specially-built FIA road course is one of the most fan-friendly circuits in the Champ Car series. Eighty per cent of the track can be easily seen from anywhere in the stands. You'll be able to track practice and qualifying, as well as watch multiple duels as race day unfolds. Speeds on the straightaway will exceed 320 km/h and several turns will offer prime overtaking opportunities.
Edmonton is the international gateway to the North, where Alberta's fly-in fishing lodges, wildlife viewing, fishing and hunting offer experiences that combine luxury with raw and rugged beauty. If you start or end your tour in Edmonton, this provincial capital is the home of innovative festivals, as well as the massive shopping complex (eight blocks long!) known as the West Edmonton Mall. Other year-round attractions include the Odyssium, Muttart Conservatory, Royal Alberta Museum, and the Alberta Legislature Building.
Get Capital EX-cited
Another major, family-fun holiday destination is added to Alberta's slate of summer adventures in Edmonton with the new Capital EX. This July 20-29 event offers innovative twists on a festival with a lively, 127-year history. Edmonton's largest summer spectacle – previously known as 'Klondike Days' for the last 44 years - has traditionally drawn more than 800,000 visitors yearly. This year, the festival is renamed 'Capital EX' and there will be a new 9,000-person music venue that adds a major concert venue to the shopping and entertainment and international exhibits.
City Forts Disclose Western Tales
Alberta's two major cities arose in the West and the North from dynamic historical forces that found expression in forts. Fort Calgary, located on the site of an original North West Mounted Police Fort, preserves and interprets Calgary's history between 1875 and the 1940s. In Fort Edmonton Park, you can join the costumed historical interpreters and experience life as an early pioneer. Fort Edmonton is divided into four eras: an 1846 Hudson's Bay Fort, a frontier town, a 1905 city, and Edmonton in the 1920s. Activities include antique vehicle rides, pioneer children's games, playing pool, shooting gallery, and 1920s miniature golf. Steam train and streetcar rides are included with admission.
There are forts in other Alberta communities that provide a lively look at how the West was won and preserved, if you want to take trips away from Edmonton and Calgary.
Drive the Calgary-Edmonton Trail
It started as a wagon trail. Now, it's the royal ribbon that ties Alberta's two international gateway cities together. Renamed as Queen Elizabeth II Highway in honour of Queen Elizabeth's visit to Alberta during the province's Centennial in 2005, this highway can be taken as a three-hour drive or experienced as a more leisurely exploration of the attractions and areas that lie between the two cities.
Just north of Calgary are small farming communities. Innisfail is the site of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Dog Training Centre, the only one in Canada. And you can visit the Innisfail Historical Museum, a pioneer village that features the late 1800s to 1930.
Red Deer is in the middle of the route between the two cities. It's one of Alberta's major centres for conventions and meetings. Oil and gas, grain and cattle farming are among the industries, and you'll find shopping and entertainment and great cycling pathways The greater Red Deer area parks and trail system connects facilities such as Bower Ponds, Conquist House Multicultural Centre, Kerry Wood Nature Centre, Gaetz Lakes Sanctuary, and Waskasoo Park.
The town of Stettler is home to a steam train that can take you through rolling prairies while you enjoy great entertainment. And further north, Wetaskiwin is where the Reynolds-Alberta Museum provides one of North America's largest collections of antique and classic cars, along with many other exhibits.
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Travel Alberta is the destination marketing organization for the Province of Alberta. Guided by the Strategic Tourism Marketing Council, Travel Alberta is the steward for the effective delivery of tourism marketing programs. For information about our organization, please visit our Travel Alberta industry web site at http://www.travelalberta.com
