After four full days of horse hooves, cowboy boots, and chuckwagons wheels, the dust is finally starting to settle at the Strathmore Stampede Grounds. 
According to CEO of the Strathmore and District Agricultural Society, Ryan Schmidt, this year broke records with over 45,000 people coming through the gates of the Strathmore Stampede.
After waiting almost two years to have people on the grounds once again, the crew at the Strathmore Stampede wanted to shake a few things up.
“We changed the layout of the grounds to just make it more open. We tried to put all the vendors and activities in a horseshoe when you came in so that really made the whole grounds more accessible.”
“The other really exciting thing was, of course, the Gord Bamford GlobalFest Friday Night Lights concert. That was a new addition that was a great success and people had a really good time at it. Gord Bamford was excellent and the fireworks were excellent and we had nothing but positive feedback about that,” Schmidt continued.
There were over 350 volunteers that helped put the stampede on this year. After a long and tiring year apart, Schmidt said that he really saw the smiles on the volunteer's faces as they welcomed people through the gates.
“They are those types of people that look at something and say, how can I help? What can I give? Our volunteers really gave the community everything they had that weekend to 45,000 people.”
Now that the last of the stampede fans have left the grounds, the team behind the scenes is slowly starting to plan next year’s event.
Schmidt was quite tight-lipped about the rest of their plans for next year though as he said that there always needs to be a surprise each year!
"I also want to say a big heartfelt thank you from me to the sponsors and volunteers. Without them we wouldn't have a Stampede so we sure appreciate them,” he concluded.
Thu, Apr 25, 4:30 PM
