Canada’s largest gay rodeo is happening this weekend near Strathmore and organizers hope visitors from throughout the region, including Cochrane, enjoy the party but keep the bullriding and calf roping in mind as well.
“A lot people assume they know what a rodeo’s like and think it’s going to be boring,” said Janie Van Santen, rodeo director for the Canadian Rockies International Rodeo & Music Festival.
Van Santen has noticed that while the party festivities have expanded, a lot of attendees might not check out the more traditional events.
“A lot of people come year after year and never actually walk in to watch the rodeo, but at nine o’clock at night, they’re lining up to get in for our dances.”
Van Santen said that along with activities like bullriding, they offer some more beginner events, such as goat dressing, which has teams race to put underwear on the ungulate.
“We provide something for everyone.”
Van Santen said the growing popularity of the festival scene is a part of that attitude. “We’ve really stepped it up with our evening entertainment. We’re trying to compete with anyone, we’re just trying to broaden our horizons and give people a good bang for their buck. You can’t buy just a concert ticket. The (ticket) automatically includes the rodeo.”
And this year’s event includes a number of high profile acts, such as LeAnn Rimes, George Canyon and the Village People. The concert side will run every day of the festival and during the nights the Tornado Nightclub will provide a cowboy-themed party spot.
Van Santen has noticed that the cultural climate the rodeo operates in has changed considerably.
“Boys are bringing boys to the prom. It’s a more accepting world that this generation’s living in.”
And the while the rodeo is an LGBTQ event, orientation and gender are not the focus, according to the event’s website. (Men and women both compete against each other in the rodeo activities).
Full rodeo and single day passes can be purchased at argra.org/tickets/. For more information, visit argra.org. The rodeo runs Friday to Sunday (June 26-28).
