Cowboys festival disruption ‘not doing right’ by community, Calgary councillor says | CBC News
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A Calgary city councillor is voicing his concerns about the impact of an upcoming music festival at Cowboys Park.
Ward 7 Coun. Myke Atkinson says Cowboys Music Festival, “which last year was quite disruptive to the overall park and the surrounding community,” is poised to once again potentially inconvenience people.
“It’s not how we should be treating our public spaces and our public parks,” Atkinson said during a media conference Friday afternoon.
He pointed to the city once again deciding to close off a significant portion of Cowboys Park’s famed skate park — a highly contentious issue among skaters last year.
“To be taking away this kind of space from the public over the best months of the summer is not doing right by our youth [or] by our communities,” Atkinson said.
Atkinson’s comments come about two and a half months before Cowboys Music Festival kicks off at the grounds, bringing world-famous musical performers and thousands of concertgoers to the west end of downtown.
Formerly Millennium Park, the large space at 1220 Ninth Ave. S.W. became Cowboys Park when the city struck a new naming and sponsorship deal with the owners of Cowboys Dance Hall and Cowboys Music Festival in 2024, with the long-running music festival being hosted there for the first time last year.
Cowboys Music Festival and parent company Penny Lane Entertainment did not respond to requests for comment.
The skate park partial closure is poised to take effect before, during and after Cowboys Music Festival, which runs from July 2 to 12 this year.
Skateboarders and bikers in Calgary are frustrated after finding out a beloved local hub is closed for a big chunk of their season. Some of Cowboys Park is currently fenced off as crews set up for the Cowboys Music Festival.
New adjustments to noise exemptions
Peter Oliver with the Beltline Neighbourhoods Association said “the social disorder that this tent creates” has been a major problem for the community.
“Everyone was extremely upset and caught by surprise about this last summer when it happened,” Oliver said.
“It’s a nightmare. No one would want to live next to a beer tent where people urinate on the side of your home for 10 days a year,” he said.
Atkinson’s Ward 7 office said in a release that “more than half of all Stampede-related outdoor event noise complaints citywide” made to the city’s non-emergency line last year were regarding Cowboys Music Festival.
The city said it wouldn’t be able to confirm the number of complaints ahead of publication, but Doug Morgan, the city’s general manager of operational services, said the city is “responding to public feedback around noise” by introducing new adjustments to noise exemption hours to make festival season more bearable for others in the area.
Noise exemptions will end at 12 a.m. for concerts from Sunday to Thursday, and 1:30 a.m. Friday and Saturday, “after which amplified music exceeding the outdoor concert limits must stop,” Morgan said.
The city currently requires music to be off by 2 a.m. during the Calgary Stampede.
City making adjustments ‘based on lessons learned’
The City of Calgary says it is “planning to complete additional construction at Cowboys Park in spring and fall 2026,” with the next phase of improvements “informed by community feedback shared through public engagement.”
According to the city, there were 688 submissions to an online portal calling for feedback from the public last spring.
Morgan said the city is making some changes with the gift of hindsight.
“This year’s event footprint was adjusted based on lessons learned from 2025, with the goal of balancing the needs of festival‑goers and skateboarders,” he said.
That includes keeping the beginner bowl and part of the advanced bowl open, as well as reducing the overall closure period.
“Looking ahead, the city and the event organizer will use what we’ve learned this year to plan earlier for 2027 and identify more ways to reduce disruptions to skatepark users while continuing to support major downtown events,” Morgan said.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of Cowboys Music Festival, which is set to be headlined by artists including Macklemore, Ella Langley and BigXthaPlug.