The beautiful landscapes, the innocent country life and festivals, the romance of ivory white snow covered lands, the enchanting rockies and the luke warm chinook winds in Calgary offer enough imagery for Wordsworthian poetry.
Calgary, popularly known as “the Stampede City”, is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. Calgary, located in southern Alberta and south of Edmonton, at the confluence of the Bow and Elbow rivers, is the largest city in the province. It is also called ‘Gateway to the Rockies’ for being situated in a region of foothills and high plains, approximately 80 km east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies.
Calgary was named by Colonel James Macleod after Calgary, the finest sand beach on the Isle of Mull, Scotland. A resident of Calgary is known as a Calgarian.
It is also dubbed as ‘Cowtown’ as it hosts the annual Calgary Stampede, a famous rodeo dating since 1912.
Located within the relatively densely populated ‘Calgary-Edmonton Corridor’— Calgary is the largest Canadian metropolitan area west of Toronto and east of Vancouver. It is the third largest city, by population, in Canada. Its estimated metropolitan population (CMA) in 2016 was 1,239,220.
The Heart of the New West— Calgary is the most coveted tourist spot and a perfect destination for winter sports, having a number of Major Mountain resorts near the city and metropolitan area. It hosted the Winter Olympics in 1988.
Climate of Calgary
Calgary is very chilly in winters:
• The Environment Canada ranks it as the city having the 3rd most temperate climate in the country after Victoria and Vancouver.
• Chinook winds routinely blow into the city from the Pacific Ocean during the winter months and raise the winter temperature by up to 20°C and may last several days.
• The chinook wind is a common feature of all the winter months, except January in Calgary.
Calgary is climatically extrema:
• The murcury was recorded at its extreme low at ?45°C in 1893 and at its extreme high at +36°C in 1919.
• Normally the summer temperature in Calgary usually goes +30°s and it rarely falls below ?30°C even in the peak months of winter.
• The average temperature: minimum ?15°C in January and maximum of 23°C in July and August.
Calgary is a dry city; Gets very little rain or snow fall:
• Average relative humidity in the winter is 65%.
• Experiences thunder and hail storms in the summer and blizzards in the other three seasons.
• Gets most of the precipitation May to August.
• The average annual precipitation is 400mm (15.7in) with 301mm (11.8in) of that as rain, and the remainder as snow.
Seasons:
• Winter: November to mid-March.
• Spring: mid-March to May
• Summer: June to August
• Autumn: September to November
Other climate periods:
• Heavy snowfall season: March to early May
• Heavy rainfall month: June (known to some locals as the "monsoon month")
• Thunderstorm/hail season: late May to early September
• Chinook season: late October to early April (its effect is most pronounced in the cooler months, though Chinooks can occur at any time.)
The Stampede
The city hosts the famous Calgary Stampede and thus widely known as 'the Stapede City'. The Stampede, the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth, is a great agricultural fair and rodeo organized every July. An internationally recognized rodeo competition, a midway, stage shows, agricultural competitions, chuckwagon races, First Nations exhibitions, pancake breakfasts around the city are the main attractions of the festival.
The Stampede is one of the most famous festivals in Canada. The people dress up in country attire, and the shopkeepers decorate their shops, stores and offices in this western style, during the stampede week. The stampede parade is the second largest parade in the North America.
The fetival was statrted by Guy Weadick (1885-1953), an American trick roper in 1912. The first Stampede was a world-class rodeo event and Wild West show with prize money totaling $20,000. The best cowboys from all over North America took part in the competetion. It attracted more than 100,000 spectators.
The Calgary Exhibition and the chuckwagon races were added to the gala event in 1923. The rodeo prize money was doubled to $1 million in 2004. The 10-day rodeo and exhibition attracted 1,242,928 spectators, and set a new record in 2005. The Stampede 2006 is scheduled to take place in July.
Other Annual Events
Festival plaza in Eau ClaireWinter Festival (February), Rodeo Royal (March), Calgary Independent Film Festival (March), Visaki Mela (Punjabi Spring Harvest Festival) (May), International Children's Festival (May), 4th Street Lilac Festival (May), Carifest (June), Banff World Television Festival (June), International Jazz Festival (June), Greek Festival (June), Chariot Festival of India (July), Folk Music Festival (July), Heritage Day (August), Dragonboat Festival (August), Afrikadey! (August), International Reggae Festival (August), GlobalFest - One World Festival and International Fireworks Competition (August), Expo Latino (August), Barbecue on the Bow (September), Artcity - Festival of Art, Design and Architecture (September), Calgary International Film Festival (September / October), Banff Festival of Mountain Films (October), and Twelve Days of Christmas (December).
Local Attractions
The University of Calgary, located in the north-western part of Calgary, The Calgary Zoo: The second largest zoo in the country is home to more than 900 animals of over 260 different.species, The Glenbow Museum is the largest museum of Western Canada, McMahon Stadium - Home of Calgary Stampeders, Calaway Park is the only amusement park near Calgary, Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, Telus World of Science Calgary, Calgary Stampede Grounds, Canada Olympic Park and Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame, The Calgary Tower—A 190 metre free standing tower in downtown Calgary, Alberta, Canada, The Petro-Canada Centre: the 215m high is the tallest building in Canada, Fort Calgary Historic Site, City Hall and Olympic Plaza, Chinook Centre is the largest mall in Calgary, Heritage Park Historical Village is a theme park in Calgary, Spruce Meadows is a major equestrian facility located in Calgary, Pengrowth Saddledome, situated on the east end of the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede grounds, Race City Speedway, The Glenmore Reservoir is a large manmade reservoir on the Elbow River in the southwest quadrant of Calgary, and The Fairmont Palliser, erstwhile known as the Palliser Hotel is one of the city's oldest and most luxurious hotels.
Major Parks In Calgary And Adjoining Areas
Fish Creek Provincial Park, Canada's only provincial park located in Calgary, Nose Hill Park, the largest municipal park in Canada, located in the northwest quadrant of Calgary, Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, Stanley Park, Prince's Island Park, Prairie Winds Park, Bowness Park, Prince's Island Park, Edworthy Park, Confederation Park, Kananaskis Country Provincial Improvement District, approximately 60 km to the west and southwest, Banff National Park, approximately 130 km to the west, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Jasper National Park, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Yoho National Park, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Kootenay National Park, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Dinosaur Provincial Park, UNESCO World Heritage Site, and Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park.
Traveling To Calgary
Calgary is a cargo hub and a major transportation centre in Canada. It is situated at the junction between the Canamex highway system and the Trans-Canada Highway.
Calgary International Airport serves the city as well as the international traffic for Alberta and Saskatchewan. Calgary/Springbank Airport, located in the western suburb of Springbank is the second airport of the city.
The city doesn’t have intercity rail service. Its mass transit system is operated by Calgary Transit. Calgary Transit’s light rail transit (LRT) system, known as the C-Train, consists of 42.1 km of track connecting 36 stations. Calgary Transit’s effective system of buses consists of over 160 bus routes stretching over 4,500 km. The system covers the whole city.
Calgary has an extensive, efficient, and well-maintained road network. The City has an impressive network of paved bicycle paths. The city also has the most extensive system of elevated walkways or skyways.
