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How relevant is the Calgary Stampede?

There’s an image of a calf being roped at the Calgary Stampede, jerking its eyes in fear as a plaid-clad and denim-sporting cowboy reaches towards it.

In essence, it’s a simple image, there’s really no question what’s happening. It’s calf-roping, a popular rodeo sport and staple of the nine-day event which draws a million plus visitors to the stampede grounds in Calgary, the beating heart of Alberta’s cowboy culture.

But it’s an image that evokes an adverse response dependent on where you are in Canada. For many Calgarians that response is tradition.

“It’s a local celebration and a local concern but I see that in a positive way,” says Aritha van Herk, author of Mavericks: An Incorrigible History Of Alberta. “It matters to us and we understand the sport in visceral ways that I don’t think… I mean visitors come and they either think it’s exciting or awful but they don’t understand its long history.”

She says that whether or not the Stampede is relevant in this day and age is a simple question that doesn’t do justice to the complicated connections between agriculture, history and life in Alberta that the event highlights for attendees.

“It’s not relevant if you think that your meat comes in packages in Safeway and that no animal ever had anything to do with it, that horses are toys that should just be lounging around in a pasture or if you think that we’re living in a kind of post-agricultural world without any cereal crops or any of the many issues that affect our food,” says van Herk. “(Unless) you are completely blind to the effect of all of that – it seems to me that it is indeed very relevant.”

But Van Herk’s opinion is in direct contrast to the Vancouver Humane Society’s appeal earlier this week, urging CBC Sports to stop covering “rodeo cruelty”.

“Rodeo promoters will say that calf-roping and other rodeo events are part of the culture of the old west,” said the humane society in a post about the myth of rodeo’s old west heritage. “But when real cowboys roped calves on the range there was no pressure from a stopwatch or big prize money – it was done as gently as possible to ensure the animal was not injured.”

The VHS posted a petition online, to date it has 10,795 signatures, spurred partially by the publicity surrounding the four horses that died at the stampede this year.

Although, CBC declined interview requests with Yahoo Canada, Trevor Pilling, head of programming for CBC Sports told radio show As It Happens: “Regarding our coverage and camera assignments, CBC covers rodeo to the same industry standards that all broadcasters who cover rodeo do.”

But Vijay Setlur a sports marketing professor at the Schulich School of Business says that broadcasting an event doesn’t necessarily make it relevant.

“I don’t doubt that it’s relevant or that it’s a Canadian institution, it’s an intrinsic part of Alberta and Western Canada’s culture but as far as central Canadian and in Ontario and Quebec I just don’t think it resonates,” he says. “It’s about a type of sporting or cultural activity that is so foreign to what we in Toronto experience on a daily basis.”

Although the overarching theme of the stampede is to show off those good ol’ western traditions, it has been making strides to appeal to wider audiences.

“The event has developed over the years and has something to offer everyone,” says Jennifer Booth, spokesperson for the Calgary Stampede. “In addition to the traditional rodeo and chuckwagon races, the event is also considered one of Canada’s largest music festivals offering a variety of music genres.”

She points out that although attendance was down from 1.26 million last year to 1.1 million this year, the event continues to evolve and grow.

“In 2016 the Stampede will officially open ENMAX Park, a lush park that will be a year-round gathering place for the community,” she says.

During the Stampede event, the park will be the home of the Indian Village, an exhibition of First Nation cultures.

“Other developments include a number of new facilities aimed at youth development via the arts,” says Booth. “The Calgary Opera and the Calgary Arts Academy are two of the organizations who will call Stampede Park home in the near future.”

It’s a step in the right direction for staying relevant with younger generations adds Setlur; one that closely parallels horse racing events like what the Breeder’s Cup or the Kentucky Derby have done.

“They’ve incorporated things like fashion and food and celebrity into their events to make them bigger than they are to go beyond just the elderly horse racing crowd,” he says. “A lot of these one dimensional types of activities are trying to broaden their appeal by using other types of popular culture – pop culture seems to be a tonic for some of these organizations trying to stay relevant.”

And not just relevant but appealing to those with only a passing interest in the agricultural exhibits and rodeos.

“If they focus on diversifying their product and making it more relevant to consumers through popular culture, that could help drown out some of the negative press surrounding the treatment of animals,” says Setlur.