CALGARY: Stampede breakfast

This is my first summer in Calgary so I had no idea what happens to the city when STAMPEDE hits. Ostensibly, the Calgary Stampede is a simple festival. A celebration of frontier days gone by. Rodeos for show, rides for kids, and deep-fried things on sticks.

There is all of the above – and more. Everyone I see is suddenly wearing a cowboy hat and cowboy boots. Classy restaurants are adorned with straw bales and fake wooden fences. Local TV anchors report war and devastation in denim vests and bolo ties. I’m bewildered.

Then there’s the tradition known as Stampede breakfast. Local groups offer free pancakes – and depending on where you go – sausages, hash browns, eggs, doughnuts, toast, juice or coffee.

I like this tradition. Especially since I either burn or woefully undercook the pancakes I try to make at home. I’m amazed at the community spirit that motivates volunteers (even the politicians) to stand behind hot grills for hours and make flapjacks for strangers.

And just as amazing, how long people are willing to stand in line for those free pancakes.

You’ll find dozens of breakfasts every day of the Stampede, sponsored by corporations downtown to churches on the weekend. These pictures are from the one at the CBC which drew more than 2,500 people. This year, they served up pancakes and Alberta beef sausage patties. Yum.

There’s a roundup of listings here.