The Calgary Stampede, World's Largest Western Rodeo in Calgary

The Calgary Stampede, stepping back in time to the wild, wild west

The territory of Alberta, Canada is a modern take on the old wild west. Its cities, Calgary and Edmonton, are hospitable and friendly, surrounded by vast stretches of lush, unspoiled prairies and grassy cattle-rich ranges from Montana to the south, the Rocky Mountains to the west and Saskatchewan in the east. Calgary is home to a quarter of the population, but it remains a friendly, convivial town, known largely for some of the finest mountainous scenery in Canada. This is where the breathtaking vistas from the film Brokeback Mountain were filmed.

Calgary has the largest, rowdiest and most prestigious annual rodeo in North America, The Calgary Stampede. Every year, at Stampede Park, locals and fans from around the globe don their best cowboy gear and whoop it up at this outrageously riotous occasion. Not just a rodeo, this event has everything you can imagine to keep your boots moving and your spurs jingling. There are petting zoos, handicrafts, a casino, a food fair, dancers, clowns, live bands and other organized activities.

Aspiring cowboys try their hand at the top attraction, the rodeo events. Here there are competitions for riding bucking broncos and bulls, calf roping and steer wrestling. The Chuckwagon race, one of the event's highlights, is where old western cook wagons thunder around the track, covered in dust, as the wagons tilt precariously as they round the corners.

Come on up to Calgary and step back in time to the wild, wild west!