Cowboys Park drawing criticism from Calgary mayor and residents

Calgarians living near Cowboys Park are asking for more transparency regarding public spaces and their sale to private companies.

As concert tents and other amenities go up in Cowboys Park ahead of this year’s Calgary Stampede, some residents are bracing for 10 long days of blaring music and crowded streets.

“You really lose out on a lot during that little bit of summer because you can’t get around,” nearby resident Carol Anne Martin told CTV News. “You also have everybody flooding the streets, going to wherever they’re coming from.”

“You don’t really get quiet until five, six in the morning.”

Martin isn’t the only one who had trouble sleeping.

Several noise complaints were filed last year as sound levels from the Cowboys Music Festival were we above the allowed decibels, according to the city.

With little more than two weeks until Calgary Stampede kicks off, Cowboys Park is now facing criticism from the mayor over its deal with the city.

In 2024, the City of Calgary and Penny Lane entertainment — the company behind the Cowboys Music Festival — signed a 10-year deal for naming and partnership rights. Mayor Jeromy Farkas says the details of the 2024 deal are so highly confidential that even his staff are kept in the dark.

“I’m actually prohibited from even sharing the text of the deal with my staff,” Farkas said. “Even in the mayor’s office, my staff do not have access to reading through the terms and what was provided to us.”

Farkas says Calgarians need to know about the deals public spaces make with private companies, including the talks between Penny Lane Entertainment and the city.

“It makes good sense for our private partners to be more forthcoming with those details. So there might be some way, based on mutual agreement, that we provide more details on the terms of the agreement to be provided transparently for Calgarians.”

CTV News asked Penny Lane Entertainment for comment but did not get a response.

As for Martin, she has her plan in place for Stampede.

“Being mindful about, okay, you have to get to bed earlier (in) the night so that you can actually, like possibly get some sleep.”