The Calgary Stampede is just weeks away, but a new noise bylaw is sparking debate over live music, with a festival owner’s grievances attracting the attention of Alberta’s premier and Canada’s Conservative leader.
A change from the city will lower allowable noise levels and require weekday concerts to end earlier. According to a memo from the chief of Calgary Community Standards, weeknight concerts during the Stampede must end at midnight, with cool-down music continuing until 12:30 a.m. Weekends remain unchanged, concluding at 1 a.m. with cool-down music until 1:30 am.
The city received over 220 noise complaints from a pair of music festivals in 2025, with 125 coming from Cowboys Music Festival. The city also found it broke noise bylaws from midnight to 1 a.m. after complying before that time.
Penny Lane Entertainment president Paul Vickers wrote an opinion piece for Postmedia voicing concern with the new bylaw, saying the Cowboys Music Festival would have to operate at sound levels “far below what audiences would reasonably expect from a live concert experience.”
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, citing the opinion piece and adding a link for her followers to read on X, says the “fun police have struck again in Calgary.”
She claims the bylaw changes would negatively affect hundreds of workers at the Calgary Stampede because live music shows would end earlier on weeknights, and public safety and crowd management problems would arise due to guests leaving earlier.
“By reducing allowable noise levels and shutting shows down early on weeknights, the city will negatively affect hundreds of workers and create additional public safety and crowd-management problems due to guests leaving in a shorter timeframe,” she said.
Saying that many major festivals and entertainment districts across North America carry no such restrictions, Smith says Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas and city council should work with bylaw and festival operators to reconsider “these restrictions.”
Looks like the fun police have struck again in Calgary, this time targeting the Calgary Stampede music scene.By reducing allowable noise levels and shutting shows down early on weeknights, the city will negatively affect hundreds of workers and create additional public safety… pic.twitter.com/dx1PcYvziF
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre also chimed in, saying city hall “gatekeepers are making a big mistake,” echoing the premier’s comments that the changes would lead to cutbacks at the Calgary Stampede through jobs, performances, and they would dwindle country music culture.
“Millions flock to the Stampede because IT IS FUN to stay up late and listen to loud music. That brings nearly a billion dollars in tourism and excitement for the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth,” his post reads.
A report from MNP LLP says the Calgary Stampede generated $721 million in economic output across Alberta in 2025, up 33 per cent since the last analysis in 2019. The report also said nationally, the Stampede created $872 million in economic output.
City Hall gatekeepers are making a big mistake killing jobs, smothering country music culture, and cutting back performances at the world-famous Cowboys celebration during the Calgary Stampede. Millions flock to the Stampede because IT IS FUN to stay up late and listen to loud… https://t.co/w4dshtfkT2
Many others, including MP Michelle Rempel Garner, also entered the conversation on X. Mayor Jeromy Farkas clapped back, however, saying on X that operators who ran past midnight in 2025 were told in February about the updated bylaw, including Cowboys, which he says was told again in May.
“The exemption was conditional. It depended on operators managing noise, safety, and impacts on nearby residents. They (Cowboys) did not meet that standard,” Farkas said.
He says several hundred people complained of property damage, windows shaking, items falling from shelves, music until 2 a.m., disorder, and “excessive intoxication spilling into nearby neighbourhoods.”
Michelle, that is false.The City did not change the rules days before Stampede. Operators who ran past midnight last year were told in February that updated conditions would apply. Cowboys was told again in May.The exemption was conditional. It depended on operators managing… https://t.co/ebeR8GDIfq
According to the memo, there is a five-decibel drop on weekdays and weekends. The change would go from 75 A-weighted decibels (dBA), which is the perceived loudness of everyday sounds, and 85 C-weighted decibels, which is the perceived loudness of heavy sounds, to 70 dBA and 80 dBC before midnight.
After midnight, it then shifts from 65 dBA and 85 dBC to 60 dBA and 80 dBC. For perspective, according to the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, an employee can safely work for eight hours at 85 dBA, but that’s cut in half whenever the dBA increases by three.
While critics say it could hurt one of Calgary’s biggest summer events, supporters say it’s about protecting nearby residents.
“It’s tough for the people that have to live around here and the nine-to-fivers who work Monday to Friday, or these days, I guess it’s seven days a week,” one man told CityNews. “So being a light sleeper myself, I’d be pretty miffed if I had to listen to music till three in the morning.”
Myke Atkinson, the councillor for Ward 7, which includes Cowboys Park, says the city is trying to balance Stampede celebrations with the needs of people living nearby.
“Rules are there to make sure that we are protecting the rights of citizens while also allowing businesses to thrive,” he said. “Those two things have to go hand-in-hand to make sure that we actually have a thriving industry and we don’t have pushback that makes these kinds of things flounder.”
Ward 1 councillor Kim Tyers is against the changes, arguing Calgary should be making it easier, not harder, for major music and cultural events to operate.
“We need to do whatever it takes to support these festivals and encourage these artists and these organizations so that we can keep supporting artists in the area,” she said.
The 2026 Calgary Stampede runs from July 3-12, with this year marking the second Cowboys Music Festival to be held at the new Cowboys Park.
The 10-year sponsorship agreement, signed two years ago under former mayor Jyoti Gondek and the previous council, forced out several long‑standing festivals and led to plans to pave over much of the former Shaw Millennium Park’s existing greenspace.
Farkas recently said he “hates the deal” but is obligated to uphold it. He told reporters he has seen the contract but is bound by confidentiality so strict that even he cannot share it with his staff for analysis.
Public access to the skatepark has been heavily affected by the annual Cowboys Music Festival. Last summer, most of the park was closed for all of July and skaters were vocal about their frustration.
With files from Andrea Montgomery