The summer spectacular known as Whoop-Up Days has come and gone in Lethbridge.
The annual event kicked off with the parade on Tuesday, August 19, before concluding with the new Whoop-Up Wrap-Up, a bonus festival day on Sunday, August 24.
READ MORE: Whoop-Up Days Parade wows crowd to kick-off annual summer festival
Paul Kingsmith, director of event development at Lethbridge and District Exhibition, says a new modern-day attendance record was set this summer, with 54,865 people attending the festival.
That figure is a 36 per cent increase over the record set in 2024, and explains that the term ‘modern-day’ includes statistics from the mid-1990s to now.
“This community came through in a big way for Whoop-Up Days this year,” Kingsmith states, praising the entire team that put the event together.
He adds that attendance and response to the Lethbridge and District Pro Rodeo were positive.
“Attendance went up 47 per cent over last year,” he notes.
“It’s become one of those events that people are talking about in the community, and they want to be a part of, and they want to be there, and they feel like they’re missing out if they’re not there.”
A total of 9,075 people attended the three-day rodeo and relay racing action, with Saturday’s finale drawing a crowd of 3,582 fans. That surpassed the previous single-day record of 2,671 in 2024.
“We’re super excited to see the growth in the rodeo side, and we know that that is helping to feed the overall attendance numbers as well,” Kingsmith remarks, adding the rodeo, presented by Dennis’ Dirtworx, had three of the four largest single-day crowds in its four-year history at Whoop-Up Days.
“Beyond that, we saw big growth in our stage performers.”
Headliners on the Original 16 Stage, presented by Westco Construction, included Econoline Crush, Trooper, and Chad Brownlee.
“The Trooper concert on Friday night is, I think, one that the city will be talking about for a long time. That stage area was packed – it was super exciting to see that,” Kingsmith notes.
“The growth in our stage entertainment and people coming out for that is super exciting, and then it’s just continuing this trend that we’ve kind of seen over the last three years where people are reengaged with this event.”
The Siksikaitsitapi Princess Pageant and Powwow brought in an estimated 1,000 people. Another driver for the strong attendance figures was the Free ‘Til 3 initiative powered by Gas King, where entrance to Whoop-Up Days was free until 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesda, and Thursday.
He says the positive response is an encouraging sign that more people will continue to enjoy Whoop-Up Days in the years ahead. Kingsmith notes that ideas are already floating around for the planning of next summer’s festival.
“Right now is when we start the evaluation process. We’re going to have meetings here in the next couple of weeks to get 2026 rolling,” he says.
Kingsmith explains that staff will evaluate what went well and areas that could be improved.
“We are taking so much pride in the numbers that we have. When you have 54,000 people come out over the span of one show, you know you’re doing something right, but we don’t take that for granted,” he says.
“We want to make sure that people are going to continue to want to come out because it feels fresh and it feels different and it feels exciting each and every year, and so that’s our challenge as a group, is to make sure that we do that.”
Kingsmith adds this year, the popular Jumbo Ears were replaced by a modified snack, known as Jumbo Bites. He says that change got a big thumbs up from festivalgoers.
READ MORE: Whoop-Up Days to deliver the sweet treats while helping a local cause
“Our sales of Jumbo Bites were actually increased over what Jumbo Ears had done, and anecdotally we heard a lot of really good feedback,” Kingsmith states.
WHOOP-UP WRAP-UP
Sunday’s Whoop-Up Wrap-Up was focused on the midway experience for guests. Kingsmith says the bonus day brought in just over 1,000 people.
“[That’s] probably a little under what we would have expected for a day like that, but it goes back to that taking risks and pushing forward and trying new things,” he remarks.
“It was a good chance to kind of see how a community would react to a sixth day of Whoop-Up Days into the Sunday. So, we’ll kind of take that data back, we’ll look at how we marketed it, we’ll look at the feedback that we get from the people who attended it, we’ll talk to our partners at West Coast Amusements and others as well, and sort of evaluate if Sunday is something we want to continue doing going forward, but I’m so happy that we did it.”
He says it is important for LDE to take advantage of different opportunities to help the annual festival grow. “We want this to be a fair that not only Lethbridge is proud of, but is a leader in the province and in the country when it comes to a summer fair, and I think we’re on the right track.”
Kim Gallucci, acting CEO for LDE, echoes Kingsmith’s statements, saying it was thrilling to see so many people not just from Lethbridge attend, but guests from across the entire region.
“Our attendance now, in the third year in a row, has grown, which has just been fantastic,” he says.
He notes that final monetary figures are still being worked out, but the strong turnout bodes well financially. “We’re expecting a rise in revenue in general around the 33 per cent mark, which will help us and help the community overall,” Gallucci states.
He adds that Whoop-Up Days helps regional organizations, like local food trucks, get their name out to attendees and boost their presence in the community.
Next summer’s Whoop-Up Days is set to take place August 18 to 22, 2026.
