Calgary, the largest city in the province of Alberta in Canada, lies at the edge of the Rocky Mountains and the Canadian prairie. Named after Calgary in Scotland, the similarities end there. Calgary, unlike Scotland, is known for cowboys and oil, hockey and railroads, the Olympics, and beef.
If you’ve ever wondered what is Calgary famous for, this article is for you!
Calgary is famous for the Calgary Stampede, Berta beef, and the 1988 Winter Olympics. Calgary is known as Cowtown, the Gateway to the Rocky Mountains, and the cleanest city in the world. Calgary is known for Fort Calgary, the Calgary Flames, and the “Texas of Canada.”
Calgary, one of the most famous cities in Canada, lies near the world-famous Banff National Park, has other beautiful provincial parks, and is also known for its corn, “’ Berta beef,” and its oil and gas production. A city that is commonly known around the world for its Stampede, a giant rodeo, is also a city full of culture and history.
I know you want more! So, here are 19 things Calgary is known and famous for.
Table of Contents
1. Cowtown
If Cowtown brings to mind visions of the Wild West, cowboys riding the range, ranches, and rounding up cattle, well, you aren’t alone.
Calgary gets the nickname “Cowtown” as it’s in the middle of Canada’s largest beef cattle-producing area. Alberta as a whole has the largest cattle herd in Canada.
Although Calgary is now a large, cosmopolitan city, it still retains a solid core of cowboy culture. This cowboy culture is highlighted every year at an event that also gave Calgary the nickname Cowtown: the Calgary Stampede.
2. The Calgary Stampede
For ten days every summer, the Calgary Stampede takes over the city of Calgary.
Known as “The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth,” the Calgary Stampede hosts one of the biggest rodeos in the world, in addition to a parade, stage shows, dog contests, chuckwagon racing, concerts, agricultural competitions, and First Nations exhibits.
Around one million people attend this event celebrating Calgary’s western roots every year.
3. Canadian Pacific Railway headquarters
The Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) was established in 1881 and was instrumental in uniting the provinces of Canada from coast to coast. The transcontinental railway connected Toronto and Montreal to the far reaches of British Columbia, and eventually to cities in the United States.
There are currently over 12,000 miles of tracks operated by the CPR, from Chicago to New York, from Toronto to Vancouver.
4. Heritage Park
Heritage Park Historical Village is Canada’s largest Living History Museum, and lies on the shores of Glenmore Reservoir in Calgary.
Heritage Park has over 100 exhibits, with original donated artifacts or recreations of historical items like a streetcar from the Calgary Street Railway, a First Nations encampment, a Hudson’s Bay Company trading fort, antique cars, and even historical amusement park rides.
5. Calgary Flames
Calgary is known for its professional ice hockey team, the Calgary Flames.
The Calgary Flames are not named after the famous Calgary fire of 1886, but rather, the Flames originated in Atlanta, in the United States. They were traded with Calgary in 1980 and have made the city proud ever since.
Alberta’s other pro hockey team is the Oilers from the capital, Edmonton. The Edmonton Oilers and the Calgary Flames have an intense rivalry that is famously known as the “Battle of Alberta.”
6. 1988 Winter Olympics
Calgary was the first Canadian city to host the Winter Olympics in 1988.
No Canadians took home a medal that year, but it’s remembered as the debut of the Jamaican bobsled team (made famous by the film “Cool Runnings”) and for being the last time the Soviet Union would compete in the Olympics.
7. Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame
Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame is located in Calgary at the Canada Olympic Park, part of the infrastructure built for, you guessed it, the 1988 Winter Olympics.
The Sports Hall of Fame currently has over six hundred inductees, both athletes and “builders of the sport,” or otherwise people who helped shape a certain sport.
Sports that have been inducted include ice hockey, several types of skiing, rowing, baseball, golf, rodeo, swimming, boxing, and even wheelchair racing.
8. Calgary Tower
Originally built in 1968 as part of Canada’s centennial celebrations, and as part of the Calgary urban renewal program, the Calgary Tower is an icon of Calgary and a much-loved part of the skyline.
Although it’s no longer the tallest building in Calgary, the top still offers stunning vistas of mountains, foothills, prairies, and Calgary itself.
In addition to the views, Calgary Tower has several exhibits, several restaurants, and a gift shop full of unique Canadian souvenirs.
9. Gateway to the Rocky Mountains
Calgary serves as a jumping-off point for several iconic natural parks in the nearby Rocky Mountains: Banff National Park, Jasper National Park, and even to the further (yet still only around a three-hour drive) Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. This has gained it the nickname “Gateway to the Rocky Mountains.”
Banff, as Canada’s first national park, is especially famous, with its turquoise mountain lakes, extensive flora and fauna, impressive mountain ranges, and cute towns.
10. Saskatoon berries
Saskatoon berries are native to Alberta and were a sacred plant for the Blackfoot tribes of the area. They were essential to their diet, and were often used in ceremonies.
The Blackfoot also used Saskatoon berries in medicine, the bark was used to make arrow shafts, and the berries were dried and used in their dietary staple, pemmican.
Saskatoon berries were so prized by the First Nations tribes, and the Native Americans, that they were used as a trade item.
Saskatoon berries are still prized for their fruit, which has a sweet, nutty flavor. You can pick them for yourself on various farms in and near Calgary, or sample them as restaurant fare.
11. First Nations
The First Nations in Alberta are recognized Indigenous groups living in and around Calgary (and the province as a whole).
There are currently nine tribes (a designation usually decided by ancestral languages) in Alberta, with around 17,000 First Nations people living in Calgary. Among these tribes are the Plains Cree, Blackfoot, Stoney Nakoda, and Woodland Cree.
Calgary is unique for the indigenous and First Nations culture you can experience, both in Calgary and right outside.
For a taste of First Nations customs and life, visit Blackfoot Crossing Historical Park, Fort Calgary, and Heritage Park Historical Village, as well as galleries, relics, ruins, artisan markets, and interpretive centers.
12. ‘Berta beef
You better believe it’s ‘Berta beef! (Name that quote).
Cowtown, a.k.a. Calgary, is famous for its beef production, which is known colloquially as ‘Berta (from Alberta) beef. Some even claim ‘Berta beef has better flavor than Japanese wagyu. I’m not here to start any fights! Sample it for yourself at one of the incredible steakhouses scattered through Calgary.
13. Oil & gas
Calgary is known as an energy city, and the center of Canada’s largest oil and gas production area. Natural gas was (accidentally) discovered near Calgary by men building the transcontinental railroad, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Calgary’s oil and gas production is so large, it’s known as the “Texas of Canada.” In fact, oil production in Alberta broke records in the first half of 2022.
14. Cleanest city in the world
It seems counterintuitive, perhaps, that Canada’s oil capital has also been voted “cleanest city in the world” more than once, and regularly makes the list of top cleanest cities in the world.
Calgary’s various green initiatives, like Green Calgary, Too Good To Waste, large fines for littering, and an impressive recycling rate—75%!—all contribute to making Calgary squeaky clean.
15. Peace Bridge
The Peace Bridge that crosses the Bow River in Calgary is a unique addition to Calgary, with its modern metal and red construction. The Peace Bridge, completed in 2012, is a pedestrian and cycling bridge designed to provide accessible and safe commutes across the river.
16. The Bloody Caesar
Move over, Bloody Mary! There’s a better brunch drink out there: The Bloody Caesar, or the Caesar, a Canadian specialty made right in Calgary. The Bloody Caesar is quite similar to a Bloody Mary, except it has a mix of clam and tomato juices rather than just tomato.
Created at a bar in Calgary in 1969, the Bloody Caesar is considered Canada’s national cocktail. In fact, Canada even has its own cocktail mix thanks to the Caesar, available all over the country: Clamato juice (clam + tomato, obvs).
The best place to try one, of course, is in the place of its inception: Calgary!
Even better, you can still get a Caesar at the very bar they first were served, now the Westin Hotel. The OG ingredients of a Caesar are vodka, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, celery stalk & salt, a lime wedge, ice cubes, and of course, Clamato juice.
17. Chinook winds
Chinook winds, or Chinooks, are considered “nature’s gift to Calgary.” Chinooks are warm, dry winds that occur on the downward slope of a mountain after the air has lost its cold moisture.
In Calgary, these winds originate from the Pacific coast and the Columbia River. The name comes from a local tribe that makes its home on the Columbia, the Chinook.
As they blow over the Rocky Mountains, these winds are very cold and wet, but warm significantly as they head back towards the prairie. Occurring mainly in winter, these warm winds give this northern city a welcome break from the icy grip of wintry weather.
The Chinooks famously flummoxed Leonardo DiCaprio, who was filming his movie “the Revenant” near Calgary. Confused to see eight feet of snow, followed by a startlingly warm wind, DiCaprio assumed this was a product of climate change.
I’m not one to deny climate change, but in this specific incidence, this is quite normal weather for Calgary, thanks to those Chinooks!
18. Fish Creek Provincial Park
A city with the nicknames of “Cowtown” and the “Texas of Canada” doesn’t necessarily evoke images of green spaces and nature. But, Calgary is full of nature, both inside and outside the city.
There’s the spectacular Banff and Jasper National Parks, but even closer to town, you’ll find Fish Creek, Provincial Park.
This forested hunk of land is bordered on three sides by Calgary and is situated in the steep ravine created by Fish Creek before it empties into the Bow River, which runs through Calgary. In Fish Creek PP, you can find miles of trails, incredible forests, and tons of wildlife, all within minutes of the center of Calgary.
19. The Calgary Central Library
The Calgary Central Library, opened in 2018, is a stunning architectural marvel found in downtown Calgary. The new, large space was necessary, as Calgary’s public library system is one of the most used in North America. Over half of Calgary’s residents have a library card.
The dynamic façade is designed to mirror the Chinook clouds and mountains that grace Calgary, and the inside is organized on a spectrum from “Fun” to “Serious,” with the upper floors reserved for quiet study.
Conclusion
Cities often get described as “a city of contrast” but this is most especially true when it comes to Calgary. What other city is simultaneously known as the site of a world-famous rodeo, a major producer of oil and gas, the gateway to nearby national parks, and also as one of the cleanest cities in the world?
Just Calgary, of course.
Have you been to Calgary? Did you go for the mountains or the cowboys? If you haven’t been, what makes you want to visit the most: ice hockey or the world-class beef?
Are you intrigued by Alberta and left wanting more? See what Alberta’s capital is all about and read what Edmonton is famous for, too!
