Calgary Stampede Parade kicks off the 2023 event

More than 300,000 people lined the streets of downtown Calgary early Friday morning to kick off the Calgary Stampede with a parade.

Calgarians, their families, and tens of thousands of visitors to the city lined the downtown streets to take in the music, floats, and fun.

Months of planning went into the second largest parade in North America, with more than 200 horses and 4,000 participants.

It started at 9:00 a.m. at 9th Avenue and 3rd Street SE, then went west along 9th, past the Calgary Tower, and went all the way to 10th Street SW

On 10th, the parade turned right and went north to 6th Avenue, where it went east past the Bow Building to end at 6th Avenue and 4th Street SE

The parade was led the entire way by a true space cowboy: Jeremy Hansen, the first Canadian astronaut to travel to the moon as part of the upcoming Artemis mission.

Hansen feels more at home in a lunar module than a live horse, but said he believes the secret to both lies in the preparation.

“In aviation, I’m a pilot, you get checked out on a plane,” Hansen told CTV News. “Well, I checked out on a horse yesterday, so I feel ready today!”

Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen was the 2023 Stampede Parade Marshal

Hansen was also quick to say that his selection by NASA was more reflective of Canada’s contributions to space exploration.

“This is an extraordinary compliment of Canada’s abilities and the genius we have in our country, so it has very little to do with me,” he said. “It has to do with the fact that we add real value to an international collaboration.”

‘IT WAS JUST AMAZING’

One of this year’s parade viewers reminisced when she took part in the event herself.

“In 1970 I got to ride in the parade and it was probably one of the best experiences ever,” said Margaret Henderson. “We wore all white with red bandanas and it was just amazing.”

Henderson has come to the parade every year for the past 50 years and says it hasn’t really changed.

“It kept the important stuff, it always has,” she said.

“It’s gotten a bit busier, but it’s still fun.”

More than two dozen floats were decorated. One of the judges was model, actress and television personality Ashley Callingbull, who was also named Miss Universe in 2015.

“They’re very intricate, very detailed,” Callingbull said of the floats. “I thought, wow, it takes a lot of manual work, a lot of time, a lot of hard work, but seeing people come in with the floats, I’m excited to see the energy they bring.”

Model, actress and television personality Ashley Callingbull was a celebrity judge on Friday at the 2023 Calgary Stampede Parade

CTV Calgary broadcast the event live online and on TV.

With files from Adrianna Zhang