NEWS PHOTO COLLIN GALLANT Stampede Queen Rayell Smith (centre) unviels the poster for the upcoming 2020 Medicine Hat Exhibition and Stampede on Monday morning with the help of Princess Dionne Freimark as Stampede general Manager Jim McArthur looks on. The fair will be held July 22 to 25.
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant
The 2020 edition of the Medicine Hat Stampede is “a work in progress” but that also means there’s “more to come,” teased general manager Jim McArthur at a Monday morning press event detailing the year ahead.
Chief on that list is the main fair that will be held July 22-25 with fairgrounds, rodeo and night show acts that include two hot country acts – Johnny Reid and the Hunter Brothers – as well as Top-40 radio favourites Train.
The theme will be “Local Achievement” and the poster features a hand entering the frame to put the final brushstrokes on a bronc rider that’s stretched out in front of a ferris wheel.
“Those are two things that we’re certainly good at, but the Stampede and Medicine Hat are certainly about a whole lot more,” said McArthur.
Already among the additions announced Monday is a late summer motocross exhibition that will be staged at the grandstand on Aug. 28.
The major event season at the exhibition grounds begins on the April 17 weekend with the Broncs and Honky Tonks indoor spring rodeo, and continues with the WPCA chuckwagon races from June 11-14.
The big announcement on Monday was the lineup of concerts for the July 22-25 show.
The week’s concerts begin on the Wednesday night with Train, then the Swift Current-based Hunter Brothers on Thursday, before Saturday night headliner, Johnny Reid, closes out the weekend.
“It’s not very often that we get a Top-40 entry to the night shows, so it will add a different dynamic,” said Marni Elliott, who put together the entertainment package.
“The Hunter Brothers are super exciting. They opened for us one night last year and people are still raving about it.”
The Hunter Brothers were nominated for two Juno Awards in late January. They will vie for Breakout Artist of the Year and Country Album of the Year when the Canadian music awards show is held March 15 in Saskatoon.
Ticket packages for the grandstand shows are set to go on sale on Tuesday morning. Not included in the three-night package is the motocross event staged by “Octane Addiction” that will be a grandstand show in the late summer. The are being sold separately.
Also on Monday, former Stampede general manager Dann Sodero was named the 2020 honorary parade marshall.
“It’s a family affair,” said Sodero, who began his career on the grounds gathering up pop bottles as a four-year-old to help his parents as volunteers. He now boasts that his daughter and granddaughter were both crowned rodeo queens.
“We’ve just always had terrific volunteers. We’ve been pretty lucky.”
