It’s the biggest draw for families at the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth and it was not ignored as many, many families passed through the turnstiles on Sunday.

The Calgary Stampede has held Family Day, where families are given free admission to the park from 8:00 to 11:00 a.m., for the past three years.

While it was easy to get in, the crowd inside was incredible but some Stampede goers said that that’s to be expected.

“On a day when it’s free, I expected it to be very, very crowded. It’s extremely hard to make it around the grounds today, it’s very crowded,” said Fonda Wiebe.

One woman said that the lineups and crowds were not going to stop them from coming on Sunday.

“Our niece is playing down on the Coca-Cola stage so we were coming down no matter what,” said Lori Jansen.

She says the discounted rate will help her come back another day this week too.

“We actually had tickets to come in and then we realized that it was free until 11 a.m. so we didn’t use them and we can come back another time.”

She adds that she had no idea that the crowds would be this big at Stampede Park and on public transit getting downtown.

“The CTrain was packed. That’s the only way to go though. The traffic is crazy, the parking is crazy.”

There were also a lot of children at the park with their parents for Family Day and those moms and dads say that bringing them along to the Stampede is a great memory for them.

“This is our third Stampede here and they love it. Maybe they will come again next week,” said Rafel Pernia.

Those that work at the Stampede say the numbers of people surprise them too.

“At 8 a.m., there’s already 40,000 people here, you know what I mean? It’s awesome. We have to bring in extra staff and all sorts of stuff,” said Matt Wray, who works at a food booth.

He says the weather has also been a big draw.

“It’s been perfect weather so that contributes to the sales. All the promotions they do, the Family Day with pancakes is awesome.”

The Calgary Stampede has two more discount days during the week; seniors can enjoy free gate admission all day long on Tuesday and Kids’ Day is on Wednesday.

Full details on those discount events can be found on the Calgary Stampede website.

(With files from Ina Sidhu)