Calgary Stampede selects David Spence as celebrity judge for 2022 parade
Officials with the Calgary Stampede announced on Monday that retired CTV News meteorologist David Spence will be serving as the celebrity judge for the 2022 Calgary Stampede Parade.
He'll be judging the floats while listening to the bands play, the horses neigh and soaking in all of the other highlights the parade has to offer.
Spence retired in November after over five decades in the broadcast industry, including 40 in Calgary.
"For 40 years he judged Mother Nature but this year he’ll be judging and awarding the best of the best during the Calgary Stampede Parade," said a tweet from Stampede officials.
Spence says it will be familiar territory.
"We did so many shows with CTV from the Stampede grounds. We did shows from the top of the ferris wheel, from the midway, when the weather turned bad we kept people aware of thunderstorms and hail storms and when it was hot we even tried to fry an egg on the sidewalk – with mixed results)," Spence said in a video shared to social media.
"Even though I retired from CTV, I'm so happy I can continue my involvement as your celebrity judge for this year's Calgary Stampede Parade."
The parade will be led by Yellowstone actor Kevin Costner this year.
The 2022 Calgary Stampede runs from July 8 – 17, with the parade running serving as the official kickoff to the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth.
It starts at 9 a.m. on July 8.
This year the parade route is three blocks longer than it was in 2019. It starts at Ninth Avenue and Third Street S.E. and ends at Sixth Avenue and Fourth Street S.E. The parade committee says this is to allow more viewing space for spectators.
If you can’t make it to the parade route, tune to CTV News Calgary for our live broadcast.
We will also be livestreaming the parade at CTVNewsCalgary.ca.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Agent: Rushdie off ventilator and talking, day after attack
'The Satanic Verses' author Salman Rushdie was taken off a ventilator and able to talk Saturday, a day after he was stabbed as he prepared to give a lecture in upstate New York.

Arizona parents arrested trying to get in locked-down school
Police arrested three Arizona parents, shocking two of them with stun guns, as they tried to force their way into a school that police locked down Friday after an armed man was seen trying to get on campus, authorities said.
Parent of child with rare form of epilepsy distressed over N.S. ER closures
Kristen Hayes lives close to the hospital in Yarmouth, N.S., but she says that twice in the past month, her son, who has a rare form of epilepsy, has been taken by ambulance to the emergency room there, only to be left waiting.
Feds quietly change rules to allow one-time ArriveCAN exemption at land border crossings
The Canada Border Services Agency is temporarily allowing fully vaccinated travellers a one-time exemption to not be penalized if they were unaware of the health documents required through ArriveCAN.
Fire at Coptic church in Cairo kills 41, hurts 14
A fire ripped through a church in a densely populated neighbourhood of the Egyptian capital of Cairo on Sunday, leaving at least 41 dead and injuring 14, the country's Coptic Church said.
LAPD ends investigation into Anne Heche car crash
The Los Angeles Police Department has ended its investigation into Anne Heche's car accident, when the actor crashed into a Los Angeles home on Aug. 5.
Two-time champion Halep to face Haddad Maia in National Bank Open final
Two-time champion Simona Halep has advanced to the National Bank Open's final. The Romanian beat Jessica Pegula of the United States in the WTA event's first semifinal on Saturday.
Average rent up more than 10% in July from previous year, report says
Average rent in Canada for all properties rose more than 10 per cent year-over-year in July, according to a recent nationwide analysis of listings on Rentals.ca.
More than 10,000 Canadians received a medically-assisted death in 2021: report
More Canadians are ending their lives with a medically-assisted death, says the third federal annual report on medical assistance in dying (MAID). Data shows that 10,064 people died in 2021 with medical aid, an increase of 32 per cent over 2020.