Stampede Roundup: Olde Tyme Christmas Fair to spread joy – and support – to broader community this year
By Ryan McCracken on December 1, 2023.
The Medicine Hat Exhibition & Stampede is aiming to brighten up the Holiday Season in a new way at Thursday’s Connect First Credit Union Olde Tyme Christmas Fair and Market. While the Stampede’s annual yuletide festival in Co-op Pioneer Village has ended with a fireworks display in previous years, Thursday’s event will forego the pyrotechnics in favour of something people will be far more delighted to see – donations to five groups that need it more in our community, especially during the Holiday Season. Olde Tyme Christmas will still feature all the festive fixings of the season – free hot chocolate and hot dogs provided by South Country Co-op, free photos with Santa, free sleigh rides and more – only now the community at large will stand to benefit even further with modest but impactful donations of $500 to the Medicine Hat Women’s Shelter Society, Big Brothers and Big Sisters Medicine Hat, HALO Air Ambulance, the Root Cellar and a local elementary school nutrition program. This is an opportunity for the Stampede to give back to a community that has been the backbone of our success for more than a century. It is our hope that it will be used to help assist our community’s vulnerable groups by providing food, shelter, safety, health, wellbeing and belonging to families and individuals across Medicine Hat. Much better than a short-lived pyrotechnic display. The Christmas Farmers Market opens at 4 p.m. on Thursday in the Cypress Centre Auditorium, followed by the Olde Tyme Christmas Fair at 5 p.m. in Co-op Pioneer Village. We ho-ho-hope to see you there! The festive season continues at the Stampede grounds the following week with the 25th annual Beef Pen Show and Cowboy Christmas Trade Show. Ranchers from across the region will have their cattle on hand to celebrate a quarter-century of Western tradition on Friday, Dec. 15 and Saturday, Dec. 16. The Pen Show is slated to feature several classes for purebred breeders, two for commercial breeders, 4-H Heifer and steer shows, the 4-H Grooming Competition and more. Friday’s events get underway at 2 p.m. with the opening of the Cowboy Christmas Trade Show in the Cypress Centre Auditorium. Cattle viewing begins at 4 p.m. in the fieldhouse, followed by the Sweet Pro Feeds Steak Sampling at 6 p.m. in the auditorium. Heifer shows take over the fieldhouse at 7:30 p.m. for the rest of Friday evening. Things get back underway at 8 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 16, with the C&H Irrigation Pancake Breakfast, followed by the opening of the trade show in the Cypress Centre and 4-H shows in the fieldhouse at 9 a.m. Both the Beef Pen Show and Cowboy Christmas Trade Show run until 5 p.m. on Saturday evening. Come out and celebrate the season with us at the Medicine Hat Exhibition & Stampede! Ryan McCracken is the sponsorship and marketing co-ordinator with the Medicine Hat Exhibition & Stampede 12-11
