Every year in July, Calgary comes to life during the Calgary Stampede, with over one million people in 2025 making their way to the festival grounds and many others celebrating throughout the city.
Along with cowboy boots and wagon races, music has become an essential part of the Stampede experience. During the 10-day event, musicians from around the world converge on the Stampede grounds to entertain the festival’s attendees. Like all aspects of the Stampede, these concerts and concert venues have evolved and changed over time.
Since the Stampede's inception, the festival has featured various types of theatrical and musical performances. In 1964, the first Stampede Grandstand Show was held, where local youth danced and sang for attendees. This led to the creation of the Young Canadians School of Performing Arts in 1968, where students from the school perform at the Grandstand Show almost every year since.
As time went on, partaking in festivities off the Stampede grounds became popular; with bars, restaurants and hotels transforming into spaces where individuals could drink and listen to live music. This included venues such as the Dusty’s Saloon, the Silver Slipper and Golden Garter, which were party hotspots in the 70s and 80s. Over time, more spaces designated for concerts and performances were built.
Coca-Cola Stage
Originally built in 1983, the Coca-Cola Stage is one of the most popular Stampede performance spaces. The outdoor stage is where both well-known and up-and-coming artists perform throughout the festival. This year's headliners for the concert include Canadian favourites Our Lady Peace, Alessia Cara and The Beaches. These shows often attract massive crowds because they are all-ages events free with park admission. This allows individuals to enjoy rides and games as well as sing and along to their favorite artist for the same price.
Though attending the Coca-Cola Stage can be an affordable way to make the most of Stampede, certain drawbacks take away from the fun. Because these shows are highly accessible, they often draw a large number of attendees, which causes safety concerns to arise.
In 2025, when popular American rapper Don Toliver’s performance at the venue drew massive numbers to the Coca-Cola Stage, it resulted in reports of attendees experiencing breathing difficulty and feeling trapped within the crowd during the concert. The Stampede organizers addressed these issues by implementing new security and safety measures for this year's festival.
The Stampede Tents
Other popular venues include the festival tents on or around Stampede Park. In 1992, Nashville North first opened, known today as the “Original Party Tent”; it became one of the first major modern Stampede concert spaces. Other tents, such as a Wildhorse Saloon and Badlands also began hosting live shows. As their names suggest, many of the artists who perform at these tents are country musicians from all around the world. Nashville North’s 2026 lineup includes chart-topping acts such as Chris Ashley McBryde, Chris Young, and Parmalee. Certain venues provide more variety in terms of genres, such as the Cowboys Music Festival tent, which often hosts artists from a variety musical backgrounds, with 5 Seconds of Summer, Jason Derulo and Steve Aoki slated to perform this year.
There are many reasons why the tents are seen as premier party spots during Stampede. Along with their lineup of musicians, the venues are often equipped with food and drink stations to enhance attendees' experiences. The tents themselves also provide crowds with protection from the intense summer weather. Though these spaces can be exciting and fun places to enjoy music during Stampede, these venues also have certain drawbacks. Accessibility is limited for many of the major Stampede tents, with several tents limiting access to those who are under 18, and ticket prices for the shows hosted off of festival grounds are priced significantly higher than standard admission for Stampede Park.
Scotiabank Saddledome
The Scotiabank Saddledome also becomes a music hub during Stampede season. As one of Calgary’s largest entertainment venues, the Saddledome often hosts many of the prominent artists who make their way to the city. Major concerts have been hosted at the venue during Stampede since the arena first opened in the 1980s. This year, with two high-profile headliners: Canadian icon Alanis Morissette and hip-hop sensation A$AP Rocky. But similarly to the various festival tents, ticket prices can be a substantial expense that not all individuals can afford.
Altogether, concerts and live music are intertwined with the legacy of the Calgary Stampede and today are a large part of the appeal of the festival for many. Though the venues where these performances are held vary from each other in many ways, they each highlight the ways in which Stampede is an event that both honors Western Canadian culture and is continually transforming to reflect the wants and needs of an ever-changing city.
