Aggie Days this year will run April 4 – 5, 2020 at the Nutrien Western Event Centre and the agricultural barns which are located on the Stampede grounds here in Calgary. The event runs from 10am -4pm on both days.
Aggie days is a free event geared towards children and families with many hands on exhibits and animals to visit with. It is a great way for children to learn about where our food comes from and learn about the farm culture here in Alberta.
There are two competitions that run during this event which you can watch. Saturday is the Stock Dog Competition and Sunday is the Extreme Cowboy Races. Last year we attended the Extreme Cowboy Races and my kids really enjoyed watching the cowboys and cowgirls run through the obstacle course on their horses.
One thing we love is that they wrist band all children entering the event with a parents phone number, so if you do get separated they can find you.
My youngest has always wanted to be a farmer when he grows up and so he looks forward to this event every year. He loves being able to talk to cowboys, see the tractors and farm equipment and spend some time with the animals. He is so excited for this event that he plans his outfit out a week in advance to make sure it is all clean and ready to go. He wants to make sure he looks like a real cowboy!
The First Nations community also perform some of their dances and play music as well as have some artifacts on display. My daughter loves seeing these presentations and meeting the First Nations Princess.
If you plan to go, I would recommend being there just before they open the doors so you can get through some of the areas before the lineups get too long for some of the activities. Also make sure to take snacks and plan to be there for the better part of the day, if these are things your children really enjoy. The concessions stands are open during the event as well as a couple food trucks, but the lineups can be quite long.
For more information check out the Calgary Stampede where all of the days events and important information will be posted a couple weeks before the event. Parking is available on the Stampede grounds for $15, this is also accessible via Calgary Transit.
Have you been to Aggie days? For us this is how we experience the Stampede since our children are still fairly young for the main event in July and the crowds aren’t quite so big at this event.
