The Calgary Stampede Parade might be more than five months away but the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth is looking to get community groups involved now in preparations.

The Stampede called for more entries from community, cultural, and performing groups on Jan. 21, ahead of the deadline for parade entries on Feb. 15.

The goal was to ensure even greater community participation in the 2025 parade, said Jason Balasch, Sub-Chair for Entries for the Calgary Stampede Parade Committee.b

“We really just want to encourage everybody in the community to think about participating in the Stampede Parade. It’s an iconic part of Calgary, and everybody’s familiar as a spectator or a consumer of media on the parade, but we really want you to think about entering,” he said.

Over the 113-year parade history, it has annually drawn thousands—and in recent years multiple hundreds of thousands—to line the route through downtown Calgary.

The parade in 2024 drew some 350,000 spectators.

“It obviously gets great exposure for the community groups themselves, but also, we’ve heard over and over again from our entries it’s the journey that they go through, and the bonding and the team building that have,” Balasch said.

“I think for a lot of these groups that have worked in smaller venues, for them to get out on that sunny day in July in front of 350,000 rowdy screaming people early in the morning, it is really something for them. I have the privilege of helping them off the parade route at the end, and after two or three hours in the hot sun, they are still jacked up and ready to go.”

Stampede Parade a chance to get in front of hundreds of thousands

Getting in front of those crowds has been an amazing opportunity to share her organization’s mission and Serbian culture with the wider Calgary community, said Nina Pavlovic with the Serbian Cultural Society Frula.

Frula competitive dancers and singers performed as part of the parade prelude for the first time in 2024.

“It definitely engaged the crowd that was there to watch the parade, maybe even shocked them with some of how much energy we had even before the parade,” she said.

“I think for everybody in this group, we’re all born here, so being able to share something from, where our parents are from, or even grandparents, is really special, and honestly, one of the best ways to kind of keep connected with our culture.”

The Stampede is proud of its promotion of Western heritage, but has also long reflected the broader spectrum of Calgary’s community and culture, said Balasch.

That inclusivity has extended back to the Stampede’s founder Guy Weadick, who invited Indigenous peoples from Southern Alberta to the Stampede, and to participate in the parade—the only place in Canada that they were legally able to do so, because of the pressure that Weadick put on the Canadian government.

Today, the parade boasts a diversity of different cultural groups, something that Balasch said has continued to make the parade special for Calgarians.

Entrants are encouraged to make it a uniquely Calgary cultural experience

One of the groups that has been a part of the Stampede parade for nearly three decades is the Guns of the Golden West, which performs old-west shows and Western theatrical entertainment.

“We’re all Calgarians, and I get such a thrill out of entertaining those that are on the streets, and obviously those through social media and various media outlets around the world,” said Bob Wilson, President of the Guns of the Golden West.

In 2024, that international exposure said the Stampede amounted to over 1.5 million people who viewed content from the parade.

“My group is enthusiasts. We’re re-enactors, sometimes we would say bad actors, but at the same time we enjoy talking and being someone else, somewhere else, for a period of time. It gives us great pleasure to do that in front of the crowds that are both on the street and, of course, in around the world,” Wilson said.

He said that he encouraged any group entering into the parade to consider flexing their skills and developing their entry into a show instead of something that just rolled down the street.

“I would encourage them to take and develop their own performance entries that are in it. I encourage them to take and develop something that is in their culture, but perhaps, maybe they make it a little more say, Calgary-ized, just to show the world how diverse Calgary is.”

That bit of showbiz is exactly what the Stampede is looking for, said Balasch.

A consistent theme in presentation and a positive message is also required to have a successful application, he said.

“Other than marching bands, we typically prefer entries to have either a horse, horse and wagon component, or a float. Something that catches the eye, and a central theme for the parade,” he said.

“There’s a lot of different ways you can hook yourself up with a working horse and wagon. Floats don’t necessarily have to be gigantic and self-propelled. They can be lighter weight and pushed or pushed by some of the entries. You can incorporate walking and music and dancing and other things with a push float entry well.”

Applications for the Calgary Stampede Parade can be made at www.calgarystampede.com/stampede/parade/apply.