Stampede parade day!
Posted Jul 9, 2010 7:53 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The Stampede parade kicks off 10 days the greatest outdoor show on earth.
Fireworks signalled the start of the parade just before 9:00 a.m. and the light show was set off with help from Prime Minister Stephan Harper .
Cord and Jet McCoy from The Amazing Race are parade marshals and led the bands, floats and other cowpokes through down town Calgary.
Some people arrived before 4:00 a.m. Friday to claim their own piece of pavement to view the spectacle. As many as 350,000 lined the streets to catch a peek.
Parade watcher, Daisy says she came prepared with 60 lawn chairs and granola bars for her big group.
Others planned to wait for the road barricades to go up, so they could claim a spot in one of crosswalks downtown.
The parade lasted about two hours but traffic will be a mess downtown for much longer than that.
There are several road closures for the parade and the clean-up.
6th and 9th Avenues SW are roped off from 10th Street SW to 3rd Street SE until about 1:00 p.m.
660News will keep you up to speed on the tie-ups in our traffic reports.
Check out the parade route here.
