Editing Calgary Stampede (section)

===Parade===
[[File:Mounties at the Calgary Stampede Parade 2011.jpg|thumb|RCMP members in the Stampede Parade]]
The parade serves as the official opening of the Stampede and begins shortly before 9 a.m. on the first Friday of the event.<ref name="CTVParade">{{citation |url=https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/2009-calgary-stampede-parade-1.413401 |title=2009 Stampede parade |publisher=CTV News |date=2009-07-03 |access-date=2010-05-28 |archive-date=2013-10-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029210357/http://calgary.ctvnews.ca/2009-calgary-stampede-parade-1.413401 |url-status=live }}</ref> Each year features a different parade marshal, chosen to reflect the public's interests at that time. Politicians, athletes, actors and other dignitaries have all served as marshals.<ref>{{harvnb|Dixon|Read|2005|p=14}}</ref> The event features dozens of marching bands, over 150 floats and hundreds of horses with entrants from around the world,<ref name="CTVParade" /><ref>{{citation |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/hot-sunny-parade-kicks-off-calgary-stampede-1.872918 |title=Hot, sunny parade kicks off Calgary Stampede |publisher=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]] |date=2010-07-09 |access-date=2011-07-08 |archive-date=2012-11-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121109222531/http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/story/2010/07/09/calgary-stampede-parade.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and combines western themes with modern ones. Cowboys, First Nations dancers and members of the [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police]] in their red serges are joined by clowns, bands, politicians and business leaders.<ref name="Foran74">{{harvnb|Foran|2008|p=74}}</ref> The first Stampede parade, held in 1912, was attended by 75,000 people, greater than the city's population at the time.<ref>{{harvnb|Dixon|Read|2005|p=11}}</ref> As many as 350,000 people attended the parade in 2009,<ref name="CTVParade" /> while the presence of [[Prince William, Duke of Cambridge|Prince William]] and [[Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge|Catherine]], Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, at the 2011 parade as part of their [[2011 royal tour of Canada|tour of Canada]] increased attendance to a record estimate of 425,000.<ref>{{citation |last=Schneider |first=Katie |url=http://www.calgarysun.com/2011/07/09/tourism-officials-tally-royal-boost |title=Tourism officials tally royal boost |work=Calgary Sun |date=2011-07-09 |access-date=2011-07-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110813230356/http://www.calgarysun.com/2011/07/09/tourism-officials-tally-royal-boost |archive-date=2011-08-13 }}</ref>

The parade was downsized and closed to the public in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.<ref name=":5" />