June 28th to 30th marks the 20th anniversary of the Canadian Rockies International Rodeo and Music Festival. In April, I spoke with ARGRA Communications Director Drew Davidson about the music festival side of the event; we recently reconnected to see what else they’ve got in store.

First, the Midway layout is undergoing a substantial change. With the Tornado nightclub dances being moved from the distant curling rink into the newly renovated barn right beside the rodeo entrance gates, the big push this year is the convenience of the layout, Drew said. You could be dancing your ass off, get hungry and instead of hiking halfway back to Calgary, the food trucks will be "not even ten feet away."

The festival stage is being rotated closer to where the Community Carnival was last year, and the carnival will be moved closer to the grandstand entrance. "Now that we’re not using it (the curling rink) we don’t have to string everything out so much...everything is going to be a real short distance." Overall, the "look" of the new arrangement of the Midway grounds should be appealing.

As for the Tornado nightclub in its new location, "we are expanding it a little bit...we think that we’re going to have a large amount of people, so we’re moving the bars outside the hall (under tents)." The hall will be strictly for dancing and mingling. Acts booked in the Tornado nightclub include both local talent and beyond. Look for Adam Dready, DJ Kid V, DJ Daina Tribble, DJ John Landry, DJ Nico, DJ Phon3hom3, and DJ Goldstar to generate the beats, with April Storm doing performance segments throughout the night. The local burlesque group "The Garter Girls" will be on both the Tornado and festival stages.

Food and other facilities will be conveniently located right outside the door of the dancehall in the rodeo midway. "Vendors are contacting us to set up...the Red Light District is still a go and there will be six vendors for that," Drew explained. The Quonset hut will have the anniversary displays showing 20 years of ARGRA. Furthermore, in the back of the hut will be drag performances and they may put the underwear auction in there as well, but as of press time the exact location of this last item was yet to be confirmed. Food vendors will be different this year as well; while many may not be finalized until the week of the event, there are several known new food vendors onsite, and ARGRA is looking into getting some of the local Calgary food trucks to come out to the rodeo.

The GayCalgary Magazine Country Carnival is back again and still accepting submissions. As much fun as the rodeo, the dances or the music acts are, the carnival, for me, has always been a fantastic social event – you can buy an item that catches your eye, find out about local community events, or support a community group with games or the infamous dunk tank. Drew confirmed the tank will be running all three days instead of just the one – the drag queens of the Imperial Courts will split the time with another group.

Speaking of community groups, to highlight their importance, during the Grand Entry at the rodeo on Saturday, representatives of community groups from around Alberta are coming to march under the flags of provinces and territories, along with a piping band and dignitaries who will also take part for the 20th anniversary event.

If the dances, music, and games don’t provide you with enough excitement, there are still openings for the rodeo school on the morning of Friday June 28th. This is your chance to participate in the rodeo by learning how to do calf roping on foot, chute dogging or steer riding (among others).

Finally, ARGRA is doing a few things to recognize the two decades this event has been in existence. As mentioned earlier, they will have a Memorabilia display of past posters, programs, pictures (etc.). They’re still accepting items, but they are specifically looking for programs from 1996, 1997, 1999, and 2002; along with posters from 2002 and 2008. If you have these items, or even other ARGRA / CRIR memorabilia from past years, please contact Janie at trustee@argra.org

ARGRA is also selling a special keepsake. "We have our souvenir buckle on sale...people can order online, and it’s about six weeks (for delivery)." It’s selling for $150 for ARGRA members, $165 for non-members. Pictures and the order form will soon be available on their website.

If you’ve never been to the Canadian Rockies International Rodeo, this is your year to go. Grab a friend, make plans with a group, join with other friends who always go, and get your ass out to Strathmore on the July long weekend. For information on the GayCalgary Country Carnival, Rodeo School, the Souvenir Buckle, tickets, musicians and the rodeo itself, visit the ARGRA website.