Some of the many faces behind the scenes and around the event that made this year’s 100th Anniversary Stampede amongst the biggest in Meadow Lake history. (Facebook/Meadow Lake Stampede)

By Martin Martinson

A Century of Memories

Meadow Lake Stampede celebrates 100th Anniversary

Jun 13, 2023 | 12:40 PM

The crowds were out in droves, and the bulls and broncos were bucking at the Meadow Lake Stampede’s 100th Anniversary event over the weekend.

Taking place June 5-11, the festivities kicked off early last week with the Western Parade featuring “A Century of Memories” theme.

From there, the highlights included a “Bullarama” Thursday featuring 25 of the top bull riders in Western Canada, Chuckwagon Racing Friday-Sunday, and a Stampede Dance Saturday night, in addition to other rodeo staples such as barrel racing, team roping, and steer wrestling, to name a few.

President of the Meadow Lake Stampede, Leighton Wood said the organizing committee couldn’t have asked for a better turnout or better weekend as a whole.

“It was an awesome weekend: the weather was gorgeous, we had large crowds, the show was good, and everything just lined up,” Wood said. “It was a really good weekend.”

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Meadow Lake’s longest-running annual event, this year’s century-mark milestone may have meant a few more tireless days in the weeks leading up to the Stampede to ensure a special weekend, though Wood said the extra preparations paid off in a big way, as they saw one of their most well-attended Stampede events in years.

“It was worth every bit of the work it took,” he said.

“It’s a major event and I think it’s going to start growing again. Everything is cyclical, and it was the biggest show we’ve had in Meadow Lake in probably the last 20 years. We combined the wagons and the rodeo together again and that seemed to go over quite well. I’d like to thank the sponsors and all the volunteers and the community of Meadow Lake for supporting us on this.”

Wood said looking forward, the event also has a chance to continue to grow as next year it is expected to be held at a new location, at the new rodeo and chuckwagon facility being built on the Flying Dust reserve.

“That is kind of exciting where we’re going with that, it’s onward and upward for the second century.”

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Martin.Martinson@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @MartyMartyPxP1