‘Looks like the fun police have struck again in Calgary’: Alberta premier weighs in on Cowboys Park controversy

Controversy erupted over a Calgary music festival Saturday.

Calgarians who want to do some Stampede boot-scootin’ at the new Cowboys Park will run into noise restrictions this July and the company hosting the party says that’s not fair.

Penny Lane Entertainment is busy putting up a massive tent at the former Millennium Park, now known as Cowboys Park.

Last year the city received 126 complaints about noise and reduced access to the skate park.

This year, the city says weekday concerts must end by midnight and sound level must come down.

Penny Lane disagrees, but the ward councillor says the company should not receive special treatment.

“Its not about one particular space or one particular festival,” said Ward 7 Coun. Myke Atkinson. “It’s making sure that the entire ecosystem thrives.”

“The comments I’m making are around the sponsorship, (and) use of public space,” Atkinson added, “whether corporate sponsorship is the right way to be funding public park space and making sure that we have public accountability when it comes to the use of public amenities.”

The City and Penny Lane have a 10-year sponsorship agreement for Cowboys Park, the details of which are not publicly available.

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.”

‘Fun police have struck again in Calgary’: Danielle Smith

Saturday morning, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith weighed in on the controversy on social media.

“Looks like the fun police have struck again in Calgary, this time targeting the Calgary Stampede music scene.

“By reducing allowable noise levels and shutting shows down early on weeknights, the city will negatively affect hundreds of workers and create additional public safety and crowd-management problems due to guests leaving in a shorter timeframe,” Smith wrote.

“Many major festivals and entertainment districts across North America successfully operate without these types of restrictions.

“Stampede is one of Calgary’s signature events, attracting hundreds of thousands of residents and visitors who come to enjoy the attractions, live music, and the unique energy of our city,” said Smith, who is the MLA for Brooks-Medicine Hat.

“The Mayor and Council should work with bylaw to reconsider these restrictions and work with festival operators to find a solution that balances community concerns with the economic and cultural benefits these events bring to Calgary,” added Smith.

Noise concerns for residents

Last July, local resident Brian Owens, who lives across the street from Cowboys Park, told CTV News he’s not anti-fun, just a guy with a job who has to get up in the morning.

“I don’t mind festivals being here; what I mind is it being that loud all the way till 2 a.m.,” he said.

“Especially on weeknights when most of us have to work the next day.”

Owens filed a noise complaint with 311 at 1:45 a.m. on Friday while live music was still playing.

“A concert at the Saddledome doesn’t go until 2 a.m.,” Owens added. “I see no reason that [a concert] that takes place in a park across the street from a building that houses nearly 1,000 people has to go that late.”.

Owens says city officials told him his complaint will be grouped in with many others already filed.

He told CTV News he found the noise level to be the loudest on Saturday, keeping him awake until 2 a.m.

“Keep in mind, this is with earbuds in, trying to play some relaxing music to override what I’m hearing,” Owens said.

Conservative MP Michelle Rempel-Garner and former Alberta MP Rona Ambrose also weighed in on social media.

“This whole debate is about one week and some noise ?!” Ambrose wrote on social media. “The Cowboys tent used be not far from our house and yes, I could hear it for a few hours past midnight - but it only lasted for those Stampede nights and then it was done.”

It wasn’t clear whether Ambrose was referring to where the Cowboys tent used to be, on the Stampede grounds, or whether she was referring to Cowboys Park, which was launched in 2025 in a different location on the west end of downtown Calgary.

Michelle Rempel Garner echoed Ambrose’s comments.

“Rona is right,” she said. “If the City of Calgary wants to keep building a world class city, it can’t change the rules on major music festival operators like Cowboys Festival days before their event. Great acts won’t come here with that uncertainty. I hope @JeromyYYC understands that.”

Farkas responds

Rempel Garner’s comments prompted a social media response from Farkas Saturday morning.

“Michelle, that is false,” Farkas said.

“The City did not change the rules days before Stampede. Operators who ran past midnight last year were told in February that updated conditions would apply. Cowboys was told again in May,” Farkas wrote. “The exemption was conditional. It depended on operators managing noise, safety, and impacts on nearby residents. They did not meet that standard.”

“We are taking public safety in our downtown seriously. Last year several hundred people brought complaints,” Farkas wrote. “People reported property damage, windows shaking, items falling from shelves, music until 2 a.m., disorder, and excessive intoxication spilling into nearby neighbourhoods.

“The City still permits concerts until midnight on weeknights, with cool-down music past midnight. Weekend concerts run until 1:30 a.m., with cool-down music until 2 a.m.

“No gets a free pass to disturb residents or create unsafe conditions,” he added. “A great city backs major events and holds operators accountable.”

Saturday morning at Neighbour Day festivities in Brentwood, Farkas reiterated that the city has to strike a balance between festivals and the needs of the community.

He also had a message for out-of-towners weighing in on city business.

“I’m not going to let politicians in Ottawa and Edmonton try to dictate how we run things downtown,” he said. “Stay in your lane.”

CTV News has reached out to Penny Lane Entertainment’s Paul Vickers for comment.

With files from CTV News’ Moses Waldu and Tyler Barrow