Thunderstorms kept people away from the Calgary Stampede, prompting drastic measures to try and boost flagging attendance.
The Stampede dropped prices for two hours on Thursday and Friday, and offered a morning of free admission on Sunday. Add a few hours of sunshine here and there, and it made a difference.
“They had those two $5 entries and then on the last day have free until noon was just the best they could have done, and you know, overall it really wasn’t a terrible Stampede for us,” said Suzanne Poudrier, food vendor.
But not everyone echoed that feeling.
“15 years, yes, and this is the worst year I've ever had here,” said Bob Harrison, jewelry vendor.
“It was tough one this year compared to last year, I guess the numbers were down at the gate,” said Lorne Lillemo, food vendor.
Even inside the BMO Centre, where people took shelter from the rain, was slower than usual.
Here is how the Stampede did compared to other years:
- One million 88 thousand people came to the fair, a drop of seven percent from last year.
- The five year average is 1.4 million visitors. This year was 13% down from that.
- The best year was 2012, when a record 1.4 million people visited the Stampede.
Stampede brass say they did everything they could to help, but don’t expect to find those discounts in next year’s fair.
“Obviously we are not going to talk about a value promotion based on 9 days of rain when we are hoping for 10 days of sunshine next year,” said Warren Connell, Stampede CEO.
Connell was pleased with how the Chuckwagon races turned out. Rule changes this year meant the 10 day Rangeland Derby finished with no people or animals injured.
