The 2026 Calgary Stampede wrapped up after drawing large crowds to Stampede Park, while the City of Calgary reported receiving 275 noise complaints connected to festival events and venues across the city.The annual celebration drew over 1.4 million visitors to Stampede Park this year, with visitors taking in rodeo events, concerts, agricultural showcases and other western activities.As of Sunday, the city had received 275 noise complaints related to Stampede events and festival activities.Cowboys Music Festival accounted for the highest number of complaints with 165, followed by Badlands Music Festival with 43.Other complaints included Afro Switch with 15, Stampede Mela with 14, Whiskey Rose with six, National Saloon with one and 18 complaints associated with other events.As well, the City of Calgary rescinded a noise ticket issued to organizers of the Badlands Music Festival following an internal review.The reversal came days after city officials announced that Badlands had received multiple warnings after noise readings exceeded the maximum decibel level permitted under the festival’s Noise Exemption Permit..Despite the noise concerns, the Calgary Stampede continued to draw visitors from across Alberta, Canada and around the world.Attendance surpassed 1.4 million visitors by the final weekend of the 2026 Calgary Stampede. The event’s attendance record was set in 2024, when nearly 1.5 million people attended. The 2025 Stampede also drew nearly 1.5 million visitors, coming just short of the previous record.The Stampede Parade drew 315,000 spectators, while major Stampede Park days included 155,518 visitors on opening day and 163,550 visitors on Family Day. By the seventh day of the festival, total attendance had surpassed 1 million visitors.The final day of Stampede delivered championship performances across the rodeo, chuckwagon races and agricultural competitions.Bradlee Miller of Huntsville, Texas became the first Stampede rodeo champion after capturing the bareback riding title. Miller entered Championship Sunday after leading his Pool B competition and secured the win with an 88.5-point ride aboard Calgary’s Forgetful Nelly..The ENMAX Relay Races also crowned a champion, with Crazy Cree taking first place in the Championship Relay Race with a winning time of 3:01.11. White Lightning Express finished second, followed by Poitras Relay in third.Agricultural competitions also wrapped up Sunday at the Nutrien Western Event Centre.The Rangeland Derby Chuckwagon Races featured 27 drivers competing over 10 nights of racing at GMC Stadium, with Jaimie Laboucane claiming the 2026 championship title. Laboucane finished with the fastest overall time of 11:57.12, while Jason Glass placed second and Chanse Vigen finished third.Annie Chance and horse Black Gun Face won the Cowboy Up Challenge championship, earning the $10,000 prize.The Heavy Horse Pull, presented by BURNCO, saw Terry Yoder and teamster Chris Hatfield claim the heavyweight division with horses Doc and Roy after pulling 13,000 pounds in front of a packed crowd.In the Western Elite Bred Heifer Invitational, Reid Hunter of Waskatenau, Alberta and KAYR Winnie 2529 were named Grand Champions, earning Hunter a $12,000 scholarship and $5,000 in prize money..Alberta Premier Danielle Smith also celebrated the conclusion of Stampede week, calling it “another historic year” in a social media post.Smith highlighted her own Stampede schedule, saying she attended 102 events, walked 82,616 steps, shook hands with thousands of people and flipped hundreds of pancakes.The premier also touted what she described as $51.8 billion in new investments for Alberta and four major project announcements during the Stampede period. Smith highlighted several major investment initiatives, including Meta’s proposed $13-billion AI data centre in Sturgeon County, a proposed Alberta-to-B.C. oil pipeline project, and a broader slate of energy, infrastructure and technology developments included in the province’s major projects inventory.As the midway closes, the city says it will continue reviewing Stampede-related noise complaints while organizers look ahead to another year of one of Alberta’s most iconic traditions.
