Mardis Gras & Jazz Fest and Stampede
I was surprised at how many similarities there are between Calgary’s Stampede and New Orleans’ two mega festivals.
For example, parades are the key element of Mardi Gras with 80 parades over the six week festival (most in the last 10 days), while the Stampede kicks off with one of the largest parades in North America, plus daily parades along Stephen Avenue.
Families and adult revelers alike enjoy the many Mardi Gras parades with their playful floats full of people in colourful costumes throwing out beads to the people watching. The parades happen during the day and early evening and not just downtown, but in the surrounding neighbourhoods also.
The Calgary Stampede Parade is just as colourful, with 35+ floats, several world class marching bands and 700 horses along its 5-km route through downtown.
In the evening, New Orleans’ Burbon Street is where thousands of party goers stroll – many in costumes, wearing the beads they collect from the parade floats earlier in the day or from people throwing them from the balconies along the street. The Stampede midway in the evening is similar with party goers hooting and hollering in their western wear strolling from ride to ride or lining up for Nashville North.
The Stampede’s music program, combined with concerts at the Saddledome, Fort Calgary and Cowboy Park has many similarities with New Orlean’s iconic Jazz and Heritage Festival. Their Jazz festival has 14 different stages located at the Fair Ground Race Course featuring headliners and up-and-coming performers.
Mardi Gras has its own iconic cake – Kings Cake. The name “king cake” comes from the Biblical story of the three kings who bring gifts to Baby Jesus. A blend of coffee cake and cinnamon roll, king cake is iced in yellow, green and purple (the colors of Mardi Gras) and is frequently packed with fruit fillings and cream cheeses. Hidden inside is a plastic baby symbolizing Baby Jesus.
The Stampede equivalent is its “pancake breakfast.” The first pancake breakfasts were held in 1923 along Eighth Avenue. During the 10 days of Stampede, over 200,000 pancakes are served at hundreds of free breakfast events city-wide.