Large parade crowd helps kick off first day of the Calgary Stampede
CBC
Calgary residents took some relief from their water woes Friday, lining up six-deep downtown to watch the parade launching the annual summer Stampede festival.
"I'm saddled up," said Rita Freese, with her grandson beside her.
Freese said she hasn't been curbside to watch the parade since 1989. She watched it on TV last year, but said it wasn't the same.
"I said, 'I'm never not going again, come rain or shine."'
Some savvy parade watchers began preparations Thursday night, roping together camping chairs to ensure a front-row view.
Others arrived as the sun rose, hours before the start, to ensure a good spot to watch the 100 entries, including 21 floats, 11 marching bands and 700 horses.
"My mom took one for the team," said Danielle Oliverio.
"She came around 6:30 this morning to get the spot, then my mother-in-law and I rolled in a couple of hours later just in time for it to start."
Oliverio said she has been going to the parade for the last two years with her children, continuing a tradition that began when her parents took her when she was young.
The highlights for the young ones, she said, were Calgary Flames mascot Harvey the Hound and "the horses and the vehicles that clean up after the horses."
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, donning a navy blue cowboy hat and denim jacket, waved to the crowd from a wagon. Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was on horseback urging the crowd to "axe the tax," referring to his party's campaign against the consumer carbon levy.
Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek, wearing a white hat, also appeared in the parade on a horse.
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