First Flip gets Calgary revved up for Stampede
Posted Jul 7, 2016 11:13 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It’s the unofficial start to Calgary Stampede for many.
The First Flip pancake breakfast on Stephen Avenue brought out hundreds Thursday morning.
Both Calgarians and visitors to our city were getting in the Stampede spirit, with help from line dancing and musical entertainment.
Some line dancing to get #yyc in the spirit #FirstFlip #Stampede2016 pic.twitter.com/Kd4D1ssh6A
— Kaitlin Lee (@Kaitlin_Lee) July 7, 2016
Mayor Naheed Nenshi helped kickstart the yahoos.
He said while we’ve had an extraordinary amount of bad things happening in the world lately, Stampede is about something else.
“It’s all about all of us coming together for pancakes and line dancing and awesome outfits and looking really good in a cowboy hat,” he said. “But it’s deeper than that. It’s about coming together as neighbours as well.”
That’s the reason Colleen lined up for hotcakes.
“Just all the great spirit of all the Calgarians, and the free food, just the atmosphere,” she said.
It’s been a while since Yulya got to enjoy the ‘Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth’.
“This time, I’m on vacation. My mom came from Kazakhstan to visit me,” she said. “We’ll go check out the Sneak-a-Peek show. (The last time) we went to TransAlta show. It was spectacular,” she said.
Organizers said lines were some of the longest they remember seeing, but no one seemed to mind.
“You’re used to it if you’ve been here a long time,” Dave said, adding pancake breakfasts were his favourite part of this time of year. “I try to get out to as many as I can. It’s sometimes tough with work, but they’re a joy to go to.”
