Diverse events and festivals make Calgary a vibrant place to live and an attractive city to visit. Upcoming improvements to Cowboys Park will create a plug and play location for festivals and events, which will help to support more activations and attract more visitors and businesses to the park year-round. Initial improvements, the park’s first since 1999, will be paid for through the City’s ten-year sponsorship agreement.
In early March, The City will begin work to transform Cowboys Park into a multi-functional event space in Calgary’s downtown. Phase 1 improvements include utilities (stormwater, sanitary and potable water), electrical infrastructure, and two hardened surfaces as outlined in the sponsorship agreement.
Utility upgrades will allow organizers to more quickly set up, tear down and clean after events. The hardened space will better accommodate Calgarians with mobility considerations and host various events, including farmer’s and holiday markets, hard surface sport and other recreational events, food festivals and more.
“With the Olympic Plaza Transformation underway, this work will make Cowboys Park a versatile space for Calgarians to use and enjoy, and will replenish our portfolio of accessible, flexible event spaces downtown,” says Kyle Ripley, Director, Parks & Open Spaces.
“Calgarians will still be able to enjoy the skate park, beach volleyball, and dynamic downtown location of the park. Once these upgrades are complete, we are looking forward to seeing this year-round outdoor event space revitalize the west end of Calgary’s downtown,” says Ward 7 Councillor Terry Wong.
Planning for additional park improvements as part of Phase 2 is underway, which will see further upgrades later this year and beyond. An online engagement opportunity for public feedback in March will allow the community to inform the future programs and activations they’d like to see in Cowboys Park. Further details will be announced as they are confirmed.
We are committed to providing a clean, functional, and safe space to everyone who has booked events in the park this year. Event liaisons from Festivals & Events are working directly with organizers to provide support.
Areas of the park will be closed where construction crews are working while maintaining pedestrian and cycling access through the park. We will share more information about construction milestones and impacts via our web page and other channels to ensure the community and audiences are informed.
For more information, please visit Calgary.ca/cowboyspark.
