Canada’s oldest professional rodeo is back in Raymond as the 124th annual Raymond Stampede gets ready for two days of action on June 30 and July 1, 2026. It’s the third year at the new grounds on the northeast corner of town, and organizers are still pushing to raise $250,000 for a covered grandstand to anchor the future of the event.
The Raymond Stampede and Race Meet Society has lined up Duane Kesler Championship Rodeo Stock as the main contractor for classic rodeo events. Duane Kesler is a Raymond local and a third-generation stock contractor, with his son now carrying the family legacy into a fourth generation. Fans can also take in Wild Pony Races and a 50/50 raffle. Tickets are $25 for adults, $10 for youth aged 9 to 17, and free for kids 8 and under. A two-day pass goes for $40.
The Stampede started way back in 1902, launched by rancher Raymond Knight on a vacant lot as part of the town’s Canada Day fun. That makes it a full decade older than the Calgary Stampede. For over 120 years, it ran at the same Victoria Park grounds, until that land was cleared in fall 2023 to make room for a new school to ease overcrowded classrooms. The move hit hard for a community that calls itself the Home of the First Stampede in Canada, but the society saw it as a chance to rebuild.
Now on land donated by the Ron Heggie Family, the non-profit, volunteer-run group says the full rebuild will cost close to a million dollars. Right now, they’re focused on a covered grandstand with a $250,000 target—something that’s a nod to the old covered stands from the historic venue. Robert Heggie, the society’s president and arena director, is part of a fifth-generation family that’s kept the Stampede alive.
The Stampede has been an almost uninterrupted fixture in southern Alberta. It has only been paused four times: during the Spanish Flu in 1917 and 1918, a severe drought in 1937, and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. This year’s rodeo kicks off on Tuesday, June 30 at 6 p.m. and continues on Canada Day, July 1, at 3 p.m.
