McMahon Stadium is owned by the University of Calgary and is where I've attended various Canadian…read moreFootball League (CFL) games and cheered on the Stampeders. My most recent game featured a 44-3 blowout victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. It was a fun crowd, but no where near the stated capacity of 35,650. The CFL Grey Cup game was held at McMahon Stadium in 1975, 1993, 2000, and 2009. In addition, McMahon Stadium served as the open-air venue (as an ice rink) for the 2011 National Hockey League Heritage Classic match between the Calgary Flames and the Montreal Canadiens. The Stadium was also the location used for the 1988 Winter Olympics for the opening and closing ceremonies. The Stadium is named after Calgary residents Frank McMahon and his brother, George, who gave $$$ to both the University and towards the construction of this stadium. My friend Jim has season tickets and their 2nd Row/20 Yard Line seats have been wonderful place to watch the Football, Outriders, and Fellow Fan action. I even snagged one of those small footballs that they throw into the stands the last time I was here. And he has a parking pass to the parking lot just outside the Stadium. That's just the ticket for some serious tailgating.

Ah the CFL....it's the NFL's smaller brother...it's farm system. They make it Canadian though:…read more only 3-downs, 110 yards endzone to endzone, 12 players on the field, etc. It's alright though. At this stadium, you could tell it was more of a family feel to it....well we were in the "family zone". They do all kinds of things to keep the crowd at bay: fireworks after scores, shooting mini-footballs into the crowd, 50/50 raffle, etc. Basically it felt like a high school game in the states, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. My only annoyance was the freakin' brat kids sitting behind us. I know this is the "family zone", but dang! Why don't these dang parents keep their kids under control. Man, I was about ready to start throwing kids after a few quarters of it!! But alas, the Stamps won, and everyone walked away happy.

I've been to a lot of different sports arenas, so it was a fun experience to check out a Canadian…read morehockey arena. One interesting part is that when you approach the building, you walk right past the structure of what will clearly be the team's next arena, which looks like a huge and impressive project. The current arena definitely feels older and a bit dated. The food options try to keep things modern, but the building itself has a classic "old barn" feel with simple seating and no cup holders. That said, you can really feel the history inside. The seating is built steeply upward rather than flat, so there really isn't a bad view in the place. It will be sad to see it go, but I'm glad I got to catch a game here before the new arena opens. If you're in the area before it's replaced, it's worth checking out.

This was my first experience for a concert! Before it was only for hockey games. The place is a…read morevery good venue for concert and in terms of sound and the rest of the experience, it was great! We had a great time there and enjoyed our experience. I have a feeling this building will be gone soon! :(

Late review, was meant to write and post on July 30/31…read more Max Bell offered their location for a 2 day spectacular outdoor music festival for the EDM community of Calgary (which also invites attendees from outside of Calgary from Edmonton, Vancouver, Toronto, and Seattle to name a few). Chasing Summer Music Festival hosted by INK Promotions and now joined Live Nations Alberta (previously Union Events/Union Electronic) was on its 4th year strong with first time being at Max Bell brought many people together to rave under the electric sky. Although the weekend did had a few hail storms, the event still went through and wasn't postponed! Comparing the previous venue, Fort Calgary, and the new venue, Max Bell, both locations were easy accessible by public transit and had some spaces to park around the venue - I think that this year's choice of location was better. The only downside was the 11pm curfew versus the 12am/1am curfew from the previous year. I would talk about Chasing Summer a lot more but you'll have to experience it yourself in order to get a better understanding. All in all Max Bell is a great venue (even though the insides were used for the event staff and medicinal station) and the event that took place in the location was pretty great!

It felt a bit like stepping into a wild western dream. From the high energy chuckwagon races to the…read moreincredible traditional Native American horse race, it was exciting and eyeopening all at once. The grandstand show after the races was amazing, with a huge stage, live music, dancing, a bike show acrobatics and so much energy. And just when you think it's over, the fireworks light up the sky with music playing in the background. It was perfect. Definitely one of the best ways to spend time with family and soak in something truly unique.

On the website, we purchased a three day package with good grandstand seats to see chuckwagon races…read moreas well as the evening grandstand show portions of the Stampede. The Stampede Grandstand was renamed GMC Stadium in 2022. It seats 17,000 with space for 8,000 standing room. It annually hosts the rodeo. There were lines to get into this grandstand and lines to purchase food. There were vendors serving beer and food at our seats. Lammie's has a western shop that we walked through on our way inside. We found our seats easily in the grand stand. There were big screens showing the televised events. The seats were narrow & very close together without much legroom. We stood for the national anthem. Chuck wagon race events were explained. We watched the Chuck wagons pulled by 4 horses race around the track to cheers. I learned that Chuckwagon racing is an equestrian rodeo sport where drivers of a chuckwagon are lead by a team of Thoroughbred horses that race around the track. This sport is popular in the Prairie Provinces of Canada, where the World Professional Chuckwagon Association & the Canadian Professional Chuckwagon Association are the 2 major racing circuits. The most famous chuckwagon race in the world is held annually here at the Calgary Stampede, with a total prize money for the 10 day event toping C$2 million. Major construction, oil, energy, aeronautics ... companies sponsor wagons with advertising rights. The best Indigenous Relay Racing teams take to the track each night at the Calgary Stampede after the Cowboys Rangeland Derby Chuckwagon Races. Ten teams show off their incredible skills, with riders mounted bareback. They race the track at fast speed, then leap off to swap horses before taking off on another lap. There was a children's chuckwagon race, and all kinds of entertainment. Each evening show ended with fireworks.

At 10 o'clock it was still light out, but the park began to light up. The crowd was primarily in…read moretheir 20s and the music got louder. The young adults moved quickly in packs around the park. Everyone was nicely dressed & behaved. The fireworks begin around 11ish. The carnival rides, games and food vendors were busy.

Ok so we caved and went to stampede this year "post-pandemic" and you know what? It was actually…read morepretty good!! Maybe it was the fact that not as many people went as in years past or maybe it was all the extra sanitizers and cleaners around, but it felt pretty safe, clean, and fun! We didn't do rides this time since we had gone to Calaway Park the day before but we did eat some of the carnival food including cotton candy, mini donuts, corn on the cob and lemonade. The food selection was pretty standard carnival food, nothing too out of the ordinary. The animals area was fun for kids, they got to pet some animals there too. The indoor market was majorly lacking. There weren't many vendors as in years past. I did run into Ashley Callingbull and took a selfie with her! :) the food court area indoors where they had the kitchen stadium had fun coloured seating and these giant seesaws for the kid's to enjoy. I also wanted to check out the new Indigenous village they have which was really cool. They had a bunch of vendors and so many big teepees. Unfortunately when I got to this part of the park the teepees were already closed and there were no people to interact with or learn from so that was a bit disappointing. The Northern tent had the vaccinated only party going on in there. To get in you needed to put your name on the wait list, show proof of your full vaccinations, and take a rapid test. We didn't go to this area since we were with the kids but I like the idea of them testing this methodology out. They reported later that only 18 people out of the 20,000 per day tested positive for the virus and were told to leave the ground and go isolate immediately. Overall Stampede 2021 was a decent comeback to this timeless event. I'm sure we will return again next year or in future years. Great event!

Brand new facility located off the highway between Okotoks and High River. Clean and nice enough…read morefacility, however very limited parking for 3 turf fields and a hard court. Indoor fields definitely assists with limited field space elsewhere that ice rinks limit floor time. Good for soccer, lacrosse, volleyball, football, basketball, rugby, and tennis. Have also seen slo-pitch basebal practicing here. Also has a 800 foot elevated walking / running track, training areas, large change rooms, spectator viewing areas, concession? (currently only see sets of vending machines with tables unless that is still to come...) There is no lighting from the turnoff along the winding road to the facility, and there is a dropoff along the road in the ditch. Cars park beside this road, or anywhere in the dirt and mud beside the building to compensate for lack of parking. There is no signage to indicate if roadways or one way only or two lane around the island in front of the facility and there was a near-miss accident the other day because of this. Hopefully the parking issues will be better improved and rating would improve

Roller sports on running track definitely not allowed. Totally sucks that they don't want to think…read moreout of the box.

On a beautiful summer night, there is nothing better than a beer and a hot dog at a ball park…read more Optimist Park is a decently run City of Calgary complex. It has a hockey arena that is very utilized, it has TONS of park and green space (being sandwiched in between two schools) and gives a home to baseball, slo pitch, field hockey and soccer games. But there are some basic amenities that this bad boy is missing. First off, the washroom situation is limited. They boys baseball diamond has washrooms (that are often out of order) attached to their concession stand, which I am not even sure is run by the city. In the main quad, they have porta potties which they thankfully moved away from right behind one of the fields benches. It also has an abandoned concession stand (most likely for underage kids to meet up and drink at night) so make sure you eat before the game. As well - why is the parking lot in long ball distance of the outfields? You have to arrive early to make sure you get a parking spot far enough away from the fields so your car isn't a sitting target for the nightly bomb squad. It's in a nice neighbourhood, easily accessible and most importantly, the fields are somewhat well maintained.

Great city facility! Clean clean clean! The park is very pretty and well maintained. Lots of family…read moreactivities!

I've been playing shinny at Don Hartman once or twice a week for about 5 years now. The rink…read moremanagement is top notch, always professional, they keep the rink organized and clean. The ice in the mornings is always good.

From the owner: test out our facility Cavanaghread more