Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has given Calgary until Tuesday to change its noise rules for Stampede week concert tents or face possible provincial intervention. However, Mayor Jeromy Farkas says the issue is done.
Farkas, who was asked by reporters on Thursday about the June 30 deadline, said Calgary city councillors debated changing the rules earlier this week and they voted no.
“Our formal response was provided in advance of the June 30 deadline,” he said
Farkas claims the rules the city has on closing times and music shutdowns for off-site outdoor concerts during the Calgary Stampede festival are the same or even more permissive than comparable events in North America.
“We’ve struck the right balance between the needs of the local residents as well as those of industry,” he added.
The city has reduced concert hours and decibel levels for outdoor concerts during this year’s Stampede out of respect for residents who live within earshot of the events.
However, the city will allow an extra 30 minutes of “cool-down” music to be played for longer while patrons exited.
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On Monday, Smith and other cabinet ministers sent a letter to Calgary council urging the noise and sound rules be relaxed, claiming the vibrancy of the Stampede is at risk.
The letter gives council a deadline of Tuesday to rethink the issue or face the province getting involved prior to the start of this year’s Stampede, which runs from July 3 to July 12.
On Thursday, Smith spokesperson Sam Blackett declined to comment directly on the latest comments from Farkas.
The city revised its noise bylaw after it claimed last year’s downtown Stampede concert tents drew 225 complaints, including from residents who lost sleep and whose windows vibrated due to the noise.
More than half of those complaints were related to the Cowboys Music Festival, whose organizers have also been among the most vocal critics of the city’s new noise restrictions.
After earlier accusing Cowboys’ organizers of treating their neighbours like garbage and participating in a smear campaign against the city, on Thursday Farkas posted a photo on social media thanking the operators of the Cowboys and Badlands Stampede concert tents for “a very productive meeting.”
The meeting took place a day after the organizers of the Country Thunder Alberta 2026 music festival, which was supposed to take place this weekend, made a surprise announcement that they were cancelling their festival, in part blaming the city’s new noise bylaw.
Farkas reacted to the cancellation by accusing the event’s organizers of “throwing the city under the bus” and of misrepresenting and misleading Calgarians.
In a statement, the City of Calgary said the noise limits for Country Thunder were actually increased this year.
The dismantled stage of the Country Thunder Alberta 2026 music festival is seen at The Confluence (Fort Calgary) on Thursday, a day after organizers announced it was being cancelled.
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But so far the premier’s office hasn’t taken the option of provincial intervention off the table.
Blackett also deferred to a previous statement in which the premier’s spokesperson said the city and stakeholders should come together to find a solution that works for everyone.
–with files from The Canadian Press.
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