Calgary Weekender: July 5 through 7, 2013

Parade Day
The greatest outdoor show on earth kicks off this Friday morning with the Stampede parade. The grand procession will make its way through downtown at 9am with roughly 170 entries. There will be floats, singers, martial artists and equestrian riders to name a few of the parade’s highlights. The Parade Marshall for 2013 is Chris Hatfield, the first Canadian astronaut to walk in space. 

Once you’ve had your fill of the parade, make your way to the Stampede grounds for some wild rodeo, rides, corndogs and the TransAlta grandstand show later in the evening. Yippee! 

For Stampede events and parade information, click here

Badlands Music Festival
The Badlands summer music festival kicks off this Friday at Canada Olympic Park. This electronic festival offers some big names, party people and lots of noise. Prepare for a crazy weekend with Afrojack, Kaskade, Pretty Lights and the always-fabulous DJ extraordinaire Steve Aoki. 

There will be vendors and bars set up inside. Everyone is encouraged to make use of the shuttle service, which is being provided from the Crowfoot C-Train location. 

The Festival runs from July 5th to July 7th. For the full festival line up and tickets, click here.

Saturday

Indo Canadian Stampede Breakfast
Over the next two weeks there will be a slew of flapjack breakfasts being served all over of this great town. Try something a little bit different from the traditional cowboy cuisine and head to the Indo Canadian Centre on Saturday morning for a vegetarian breakfast. Chick peas, samosas and chai tea are on the menu.

After breakfast, you may want to head down to Memorial for a walk along the river. Kensington is a quick ride away with lots of great patios and shops to peruse in the afternoon.

The Indo-Canadian Centre is located at 826 Edmonton Trail NE. Breakfast starts at 9am. 

Blue Rodeo
If you feel like getting out of town this weekend, then consider heading to Banff. Blue Rodeo will be playing an outdoor show at the Shaw Amphitheater. A mainstay in Canada’s music scene, these guys have been making country rock music for well over 20 years.

If you feel like grabbing some late night food after the show, consider checking out the Magpie & Stump, which serves delicious Mexican food until 2am. Try the Mexican Caesar Salad.  

For tickets, click here. Doors at 5:30pm.

Sunday

Shakespeare in the Park
This year, Mount Royal will be hosting the event this year due to recent flooding downtown. Theatre Calgary brings you the greatest love story of all time: Romeo and Juliet. Spend an evening being entertained by some of Shakespeare’s greatest work while supporting some great local talent. Mount Royal has several pubs in proximity. You can check out the 002 Public Tavern (Local 510 and 522’s sister restaurant). The meatloaf is great.

The play runs from July 4th to August 10th. For tickets, click here

A Tribe Called Red
These Canucks are making waves in the electronic scene right now and were named as nominees for the Polaris Music Prize in 2012. ATCR is a First Nations DJ crew straight out of Ottawa who mix traditional pow-wow vocals and drumming into their DJ sets to create a show with a cool blend of sound and thoughtful lyrics that touch on First Nations issues. The group has described their sound as “pow-wow step.” 

On Sunday, ATCR will be playing at the Commonwealth. Show up a bit early to grab some snacks from the Commonwealth Cafeteria or check out Beer Revolution on 8th street for some craft beers and pizza. 

Tickets here. Doors at 9pm.