Labour Day Classic – Stamps vs Elks

🎟️ Event Review:

 📍Quick Facts
•Venue & Location: 1817 Crowchild Trail NW, Calgary
•Event Type: CFL Football Game
•Admission Cost: $25-$100+ We paid $70 pp
•Duration: 3 Hours

This past weekend, we headed out to the iconic Labour Day Classic for our very first CFL game — and our first time at McMahon Stadium.

Getting there was easy, and parking was surprisingly hassle-free, which is always a good start to any event.

As first-timers, we didn’t quite know what to expect, but before we even made it inside, we were struck by the atmosphere. The tailgaters were out in full force, and there was a real sense of community spirit buzzing around the outside of the stadium before the game even started. It was fun to wander around and take it all in before heading into the stadium.

Once inside, we explored a little before grabbing a couple of non-alcoholic beers and making our way up what seemed like a lot of stairs to our seats. It was a very overcast day, and the seats were wet from the earlier rain — but we were prepared for the weather, so it didn’t dampen our excitement one little bit.

The opening ceremony was absolutely spectacular. It started with a hype video to get everyone keyed up and ready to cheer. CO2 cannons suddenly blasted with a massive, explosive cloud of white smoke to completely obscure the tunnel as ‘The Outriders’, the Stamps cheerleading team, took to the field, followed by union members, workers, and local volunteers who brought out the flags and then unfurled them.

 The Outriders then formed a high-energy ‘hype tunnel’ on the sidelines, waving pom-poms and rallying the crowd while the music continued to build. 

As the crowd roared, Chris Stapleton’s guitar-heavy track ‘White Horse’ began blasting through the speakers—building up even more crowd energy in the stadium until the very end, when it repeats the phrase, ‘until I ride off on a white horse’…

…and right at that moment, the Stampeders’ famous trademark white stallion, Quick Six, came charging out onto the field and rocketed down the sidelines with fireworks blazing overhead. 

For any long-term Stamps fans, this may have been a regular moment, but for us newbies, it knocked our socks off. Spectacular! 

Finally, the Stampeders players, looking incredibly sharp in their legendary alternate black jerseys, explode out through the remaining smoke in a massive pack.  

 The black jerseys made their Labour Day debut in 1994. Since then, the call has gone out to fans to dress in black, creating a ‘Blackout’ — an intimidating, unified wall of black throughout the stadium.

The stadium announcer called the crowd to attention for Canadian Armed Forces Appreciation Day. We were asked to rise as the formal Guard of Honour marched out to midfield, standing rigidly at attention. The stadium fell silent as Master Sailor Brandi Sidoryk began singing O Canada. 

As we stood and sang along, the military personnel snapped into a formal salute, and right on cue, as she hit the very last note of the anthem, ‘O Canada, we stand on guard for thee,’ two CF-18 Hornet fighter jets screamed directly over the open-air roof of McMahon Stadium from the north, completely rattling the concrete stands and bringing the entire crowd to a deafening roar!

Once the field was cleared, it was time for the kickoff of ‘The Battle of Alberta’, a fierce, decades-long rivalry match between the Calgary Stampeders and the Edmonton Elks. 

For the first three quarters of the game, it looked like a dream debut for us at McMahon Stadium. The Stampeders dominated early, building up a commanding 18-point lead. But as the skies opened up and the heavy rain began to fall, we newcomers fell to the cold and wet and retreated to find a steaming cup of something to warm us up. 

It seems our leaving jinxed the game, and in the fourth quarter, the Edmonton Elks mounted a furious comeback and sealed the 38-28 victory with a final rushing touchdown with just 19 seconds left on the clock. 

Despite being rained out, it was an absolute classic introduction to Canadian football! I used to enjoy football in my younger years, although most of what I watched back then was the National Football League. I wasn’t sure how different the CFL would feel, but there wasn’t nearly as much difference as I expected. Once the game got going, we were completely into it.

For our first CFL game, we couldn’t have asked for a better introduction — from the tailgating outside, a packed stadium, a spectacular opening ceremony, a little rain, and a lot of excitement.

And perhaps the biggest endorsement of all?

Geoff enjoyed it far more than he thought he would.

Well Played!