For the first time since 2019, a full slate of programming and events is set to take over the Lethbridge Exhibition grounds as Whoop-Up Days returns this August.
Included in the attractions will be the return of the rodeo to the event, with the Get back in the Saddle at the Lethbridge & District Pro Rodeo. Chief Executive Officer, Lethbridge & District Exhibition, Mike Warkentin says the return of a professionally sanctioned CPRA and PRCA rodeo to Lethbridge commemorates the agricultural roots of the region and will help celebrate the 125-year connection with the ranching community’s rodeo culture.
Warkentin says after several years with either no, or smaller-scale events taking place, he’s thrilled to be able to see a more fulsome week of activities come to fruition.
“It’s been a tough couple of years, we haven’t been able to do a full Whoop-Up Days, and even this year’s event still isn’t fully back [as] we’ve got construction going on,” he says.
“But, we are excited to welcome a nearly full event and reimagined event as we look towards the future and the next 125 years of it’s history in this community.”
Warkentin says in addition to the rodeo and parade, a partnership with the Blackfoot Confederacy will see several events spotlighting Indigenous culture also added to the schedule.
“We are obviously in Blackfoot Territory, and we wanted to find an appropriate way to celebrate that culture,” he says.
“We wanted to make sure we were celebrating every culture that exists here, so we do have the three Chiefs’ from the Three Canadian Nations in the Blackfoot Confederacy as our parade marshals. We introduced the Whoop-Up Days powwow, which will happen inside, and there will be more programming announcements to come out and more specifics about that in the coming weeks.”
You can find more information about Whoop-Up Days here.