Calgary is the third fastest developing city in the world, it is hosting the 2008 Juno Music Awards this April, it hosted the 1988 Winter Olympics and is home to the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede since 1886. Calgary is a safe, clean and productive city, known for its rugged beauty and Wild West appeal. So, get in the saddle cowpokes, and get ready for an exciting ride!

 By: Kindah Mardam Bey

Once thought of as Cowtown, Calgary's cowboys, wranglers, and pioneers forged a trail for a bountiful city of present day mass development, growth and innovation. Even though this city known for the annual Stampede has cowboy's laidback sensibilities, it also has the high-spirited rush of a bullfighter's edge to it. Whether you are taking in Calgary on its own or extending your visit to include the Rocky Mountain villages of Banff, Kananaskis, Lake Louise, or even the Badlands, you are sure to connect with a powerful force of nature.

Calgary is the third fastest developing city in the world, it is hosting the 2008 Juno Music Awards this April, it hosted the 1988 Winter Olympics and is home to the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede since 1886. Calgary is a safe, clean and productive city. It is known for its rugged beauty and Wild West appeal. So, get in the saddle cowpokes, and get ready for an exciting ride!

In Calgary:

Calgary Stampede (http://calgarystampede.com/) Every July for ten days, Calgary turns into its purest form. As people traditionally stereotype Calgarians as cowboy hat, cowboy boot wearing friendly Wild West types, the duration of the Stampede is the only time this city actually adheres, en masse. The Calgary Stampede has everything to offer those in dire need of over-stimulation; it has huge exhibition centres where you can be sold anything from the new ‘slicer and dicer variety' to stocks of farm animals of all pedigree and variety. The Stampede has concerts, and the Grandstand Show is a night full of entertaining events which starts each evening with barrel races and chuck wagon races and ends with fireworks. You can go and watch the bull riders or the rodeo, the Coca Cola stage hosts big names for free as you enter through the gates, you can spend all day in the Casino burning a hole in your empty pockets, or go on so many rides on the midway your head will spin for a full week afterwards. Of course you can go to some big name concerts at the Pengrowth Saddledome (which will also be hosting the 2008 Juno Awards this year) during the Stampede, or visit the Indian Village which is an elaborate event area. My only recommendation when going to the Calgary Stampede is finding the place that makes ‘little donuts' on the Midway (it's easy to find; it always has line-ups!) as the donuts are made on the spot and are piping hot!

Heritage Park (http://www.heritagepark.ca/home.htm) Are you more of a history buff? Perhaps Heritage Park is more to your liking; an actual theme park village where everything is within walking distance (although the old locomotive that circles the Park is well worth your time). You can walk down the main street and buy homemade bread, pick up candies from the old fashioned candy shop, peak in windows and see wax figured people doing typical work in the 1910 village. Go to hear about the haunted house, take a ride on the Ferris wheel at the Antique Midway, take a horse and cart tour of the grounds, or stroll through the Hudson Bay Company Fort. Simply the best aspect of Heritage Park, if you are lucky enough, is to see the actors they have perform mini-skits down the main street regarding such events as a Fort Wedding or a Women's Temperance Rally, along with the drunken man just emerging from the pub!

Fish Creek Park (http://www.tprc.alberta.ca/parks/fishcreek/default.asp) For the outdoors people, Fish Creek Park is a fabulous way to get around the city by footpath or bike. You can literally hike the length of the city on a Park that interweaves itself among the concrete jungle. It is a great way to get from wherever you are located to the Calgary Zoo. Understand that Calgary is a large and sprawling city, so when venturing out into Fish Creek Park, take plenty of water for your journey.

 Spruce Meadows (http://www.sprucemeadows.com) For the equestrian set, Spruce Meadows is a well known name as the 360 sprawling acres, just outside the south of Calgary hosts many show jumping tournaments including the September CSIO Spruce Meadows 'Masters' Tournament, which can be seen on most Sports Channels across North America. Spruce Meadows, twice named the number one show jumping facility in the world, was one of my favourite places to visit in Calgary for many years as entrance will allow the visitors up close contact with some of the greatest Show Jumpers in the world and their magnificent horses. Spruce Meadows also has multiple exhibitions taking place at once, and a wonderful element to Spruce Meadows is its internationally inclusive centres where each country attending the event has a tent to display its history, culture and culinary delights. Truly an enjoyable day out, Spruce Meadows is considered a must see when visiting Calgary. 

Glenbow Museum Mavericks Exhibit (http://www.glenbow.org/mavericks/) Setup in 2006, this exhibit of Alberta's Pioneers, history, and gusto for growth, showcases a strong and vibrant culture as fully actualized as any other culture found elsewhere. Plus the website is a great way to do an armchair version of the exhibit!

Ranchman's (http://www.ranchmans.com/) Not quite the hub of the international night club scene, Calgary still has its own vibe for music and its love of cowboys also hits a note with country and western music. Ranchman's is the best example of a Country and Western bar, this side of the border. It is a rugged, ranch-style, watering hole with energy bouncing off the walls. The dance floor takes centre stage and if you are brave enough to head out onto it, the two-step turns into an Olympic sport with the likes of these talented dancers. Ladies are guaranteed to be asked onto the dance floor by a cowboy across the room, and during the Stampede all of Ranchman's is wall to wall with all the pros of the rodeo scene. Ranchman's was a big turning point for me growing up as I had visited England at the age of 16 and managed to get inside a 21+ night club, but when I went to Ranchman's at the same age, the bouncer took one look at me and sent me home! Two years later I managed to two-step my way around the dance floor...legally.

Shakespeare In The Park/Eau Claire Market (http://www.mtroyal.ab.ca/shakespeare-in-the-park/ and http://www.eauclairemarket.com/) Who doesn't love Shakespeare in The Park? Not many people as you will more often than not find one in every cultured city, and Calgary is no exception. Eau Claire Market, a European style indoor market set just off Prince's Island Park in downtown Calgary is a great place to shop, or even gather food for a picnic and go watch the Mount Royal College Drama students put on a play from the Bard underneath a shady spot of the Park. 2008 heralds twenty years of Shakespeare in The Park in Calgary and it is known for professional productions and a prepping ground for some well-known future actors of Canada.

Kensington: For the most trendy place in Calgary, Kensington with its French style coffee shops, convergence of multiple ethnic restaurants, hip clothing shops, and bohemian tattoo parlours is a mix of fun and fabulous. Wandering around the streets of Kensington and window shopping is a delightful day all on its own in downtown Calgary.

Surrounding Area:

All within a few hours drive, or less, the Rocky Mountains has much to offer, as does the Badlands, its visitors.

Banff (http://www.banff.ca/home.htm) Nothing says skiing like Banff. The Banff Springs Hotel, an almost castle like oasis set among a backdrop of snow-capped mountains is an ideal location to relax in style. Banff has a sprawling national park that you can walk around or bike around in. The town of Banff is full of little shops and delightful restaurants (Try the Grizzly House for its Fondue, or sample buffalo, rattlesnake or shark instead), which welcomes you in, as does the whole atmosphere of the town.

Lake Louise (http://www.lakelouise.com/) Very similar to Banff, Lake Louise has skiing, and a gorgeous hotel set amidst a mountainous region. However, Lake Louise is perhaps the nearest place of perfect beauty found on earth. Imagine sitting in front of a lake with snow-capped mountains on either side and the water glistening a reflection so clear that one would wander if the mountains were in the water as well as on either side. Poetry is wrote about such places, postcards are made of such places, and the essence of Mother Nature's greatness is nowhere else so beautifully captured.

Kananaskis (http://www.kananaskis.com/) As part of a three-way community of mountains and beauty, the village of Kananaskis is directly at the bottom of a valley of mountains. Wherever you look in Kananaskis you see towering mountains. This is hiking country, and if you are looking for a good stretch of your legs, this is the best place to be at one with nature. Using only one word to describe Kananaskis is easy as the place is complete serenity.

Drumheller (http://www.traveldrumheller.com/) North America's greatest preservation of dinosaur history is found in Drumheller as the Badlands are ideal conditions for forming fossils. Archaeologists have spent decades unearthing entire creatures of the past and reconstructing a history from bones. My Uncle goes canoeing down the river into the badlands for a camping trip most years and his stories about seeing fossils along the way, some easily exposed, has always fascinated me. The Tyrell Museum is where all the Dinosaur skeletons are reconstructed and painstakingly restored. It is a beautiful museum full of dinosaur skeletons where a land before time meets present day caveman. Standing on the cliffs edge of Drumheller and looking down into the valley is like looking into the ancient past, which gives you an overwhelming sense of the magnitude of history and nature. Going to the Badlands is well worth the drive out of Calgary.

The Food of Calgary: Perhaps one of the little known facts about Calgary is its diverse array of fantastic food. You can dine at La Chaumiere and experience a Parisian dinner, or set foot in the Taj Mahal and have perfect Indian cuisine, or perhaps Moroccan, or Mongolian, or Ethiopian food is more to your liking? All the flavours of the world can be discovered in Calgary. However if you are simply looking for a drive through, visit Canada's oldest Drive-In called Pete's Drive-In on 16^th Avenue. Pete's brings back memories of the 1950s with its easy style burgers, fries, onion rings and milkshakes.

Films Shot in Calgary & Surrounding Area: Brokeback Mountain, Legends of The Fall, Superman II, Unforgiven, Cool Runnings, Dr.Zhviago (scenes), Dances With Wolves (scenes)

Famous People from Calgary, and surrounding area: Feist (singer), Sarah & Tegan (singers), George Fox C&W singer), Paul Brandt (C&W singer), Jann Arden (singer), Melissa O'Neil (Canadian Idol winner), Paul Gross (actor), Mark Tewksbury (Olympic medalist), Heather Marks (Super Model), Bret and Owen Hart (wrestlers), Todd McFarlane (creator of Spawn comics), Chris Jericho (wrestler)