Cowboys, Badlands tents in downtown Calgary violated noise bylaw: city
Posted Jul 9, 2025 10:50 am.
Last Updated Jul 9, 2025 1:23 pm.
Two popular Calgary Stampede music tents in downtown were found to be breaking the city’s noise bylaw earlier this week.
City officials say complaints began rolling in around 3:30 p.m. Monday afternoon about excessive noise coming from the Badlands Music Festival tent at 725 9 Avenue SW and the Cowboys Music Festival tent at 1220 9 Avenue SW.
Bylaw officers paid a visit to the tents and surrounding areas, measuring the sound from various locations. At that time, officers determined the venues were in compliance with the bylaw, as the sound was measured at 66 dB.
Between midnight and 1 a.m., officers found both Cowboys and Badlands were in breach of the sounds levels.
It is unknown at this time how much over the allowance the tents were.
The city adds both tents were educated on the bylaw, and the sound was adjusted to comply.
The venues have noise exemption permits to play music outside of typical quiet hours. Music can be played at 85 dB until 1:30 a.m., after which time it must lower to 60 dB.
City officials say music needs to be completely off or over by 2 a.m.
Between Monday, July 7 and Tuesday, July 8 the Cowboys Music Festival was the subject of 23 noise complaints, while there were seven complaints about Badlands in the same time period.
A city official said a DJ played at the tents Tuesday night, which may have been a factor in the decibel levels increasing.
Violations of the noise bylaw carry a $250 fine.
