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Shania Twain to serve as 2025 Stampede Parade Marshal - July 4

Tommy · Guru

She’s still the one: Shania Twain named 2025 Calgary Stampede parade marshal

By Mackenzie Rhode | Calgary Herald | March 26, 2025

Canadian country music star Shania Twain has been named as the 2025 Calgary Stampede Parade Marshal.

“With just 100 days until the Parade rolls through the streets of downtown Calgary, there’s no better way to mark the occasion than by welcoming Shania Twain as our 2025 Parade Marshal,” said Stuart O’Connor, President & Chair of the Board at the Calgary Stampede in a news release.

“As a Canadian icon who has captivated audiences worldwide, Shania embodies the grit, passion and celebration that defines the Stampede. We can’t wait to see her lead the Parade and share this unforgettable moment with our community, as well as visitors and viewers from around the world.”

Twain, known for hits such as Man! I Feel Like A Woman and Any Man Of Mine, is a globally-celebrated singer and songwriter, and five-time Grammy winner. The country-music superstar has sold over 100 million records worldwide and is recognized as one of the best-selling music artists in history.

The musician will also be performing at the Saddledome during Stampede, with her show scheduled for Saturday, July 5. She last performed at Stampede in 2014.

“The city of Calgary and the province of Alberta have always held a very special place in my heart,” said Twain in the Calgary Stampede Parade Marshal announcement.

“The Calgary Stampede is an amazing celebration of Western heritage and culture and embodies the true spirit of Calgarians and Canadians. I look forward to being part of it again, not only playing at the Saddledome on the first Saturday of Stampede, but also on horseback riding through the streets of downtown Calgary.”

Each year, the Stampede selects an individual who exemplifies the values of the Stampede to lead the parade. Past marshals have included others in the entertainment industry, as well as Olympians, astronauts, mountain climbers and cancer survivors.

The Calgary Stampede Parade begins at 9 a.m. on Friday, July 4, with the prelude beginning at 7:30 a.m. Following the Parade, guests are invited to visit Stampede Park with free admission from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth runs July 4 to 13, celebrating the people, animals, land, traditions and values of the west.

https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/shania-twain-2025-calgary-stampede-parade-marshal

Tommy · Guru

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Av3E_PkKinE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFnWiMbZqjw

Tommy · Guru

Here's what to know before you saddle up for the 2025 Calgary Stampede Parade

By Cassandra Stefanic | Curiocity | May 14, 2025

There’s only one way to celebrate the return of The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth, and you won’t want to miss it!

This Summer, kick off the year’s biggest event at the Calgary Stampede Parade, a wild western event presented by Suncor and led by Canadian Royalty.

What to expect during the parade

Can’t wait to hit the streets? Neither can we, especially because a country legend will be joining an already epic list of parade marshals.

From Prince Charles to Walt Disney, Calgary’s summertime spectacle has seen some impressive people at the front of the procession, and 2025 will go down in herstory.

This year, you’ll want to get a front-row seat because Stampede performer and musical icon, Shania Twain, will lead a very colourful march into 10 exciting days.

“The city of Calgary and the province of Alberta have always held a very special place in my heart,” Twain said in a press release.

”The Calgary Stampede is an amazing celebration of Western heritage and culture and embodies the true spirit of Calgarians and Canadians. I look forward to being part of it again, not only playing at the Saddledome on the first Saturday of Stampede, but also on horseback riding through the streets of downtown Calgary.”

Behind her, attendees can expect to see horses, bands, performers, and floats, but you’ll have to plan ahead.

Like so many before it, the Parade will begin bright and early.

When is the 2025 Stampede Parade?

Set to rule Calgary’s inner city on July 4, 2025, your fun-filled day will begin at 9 a.m., with the prelude beginning at 7:30 a.m.

If you don’t want the party on Friday to end, you can also head to the grounds and get FREE admission to the midway between 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.

It’s going to be another fantastic Stampede, Calgary, so have fun, be safe, and don’t forget to bring sunscreen.

Things are heating up.

The 2025 Calgary Stampede Parade

When: July 4, 2025, at 9 a.m. (prelude at 7:30 a.m)
Where: See parade route here
Cost: Free

https://curiocity.com/calgary-stampede-parade-2025/

Tommy · Guru

Come On Over! Stampede Starts Here: the 2025 Calgary Stampede Parade Presented by Suncor is Set to Roll

Calgary Stampede News | June 27, 2025

Are you ready, Calgary? The 113th Calgary Stampede Parade presented by Suncor, with its awe-inspiring display of floats, majestic horses and high-energy marching bands, marks the official start of the 2025 edition of The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth, starting at 9 a.m. MDT on Friday, July 4, 2025.

Showcasing new surprises alongside fan favourites, the 2025 Parade promises another captivating lineup that is sure to entertain all ages through creativity and cultural flair. With more than 110 entries in total, the main Parade features 35 colourful floats, over 30 equine entries and nine marching bands, including the iconic Stampede Showband. More than 700 horses are anticipated to walk the five-kilometre route.

“Since 1912, the Stampede Parade has always been about more than just a parade — it’s a vibrant tradition that brings our community together in a celebration of Western heritage, creativity and civic pride,” says Stuart O’Connor, President & Chair of the Board at the Calgary Stampede. “Every year, it offers participants and spectators a one-of-a-kind experience of Calgary’s true spirit.”

The Parade kicks off on 9 Ave. S.E. at 3 St. S.E. and will run for about two hours, starting at 9 a.m. on Parade Day, Friday, July 4. Before the main Parade begins, early Parade-goers will be treated to the music, dance and vivid colours of more than 30 acts that make up the Parade Prelude, starting at 8 a.m.

“The Parade sets the tone for 10 unforgettable days in Calgary, and the more than 200 dedicated volunteers of the Calgary Stampede Parade Committee are proud to deliver an exciting show for everyone to enjoy”, says Blair Barkley, volunteer Chair of the Stampede Parade Committee. “We encourage those coming downtown to arrive early and take in the spectacular Parade Prelude — with its 27 acts featuring more than 1,500 mascots, acrobats, dancers and cultural performers — it’s really a show before the big show.”

Each year the Parade is led by the Parade Marshal, a special individual who exemplifies the values of the Stampede. Leading the 2025 Parade is Parade Marshal and Canadian-born country music superstar, Shania Twain. A five-time GRAMMY Award winner, Twain is one of music and fashion’s most renowned trailblazers. With six albums released and more than 100 million records sold worldwide, Twain remains the top-selling female country pop artist of all time and is set to bring her powerhouse performance as part of the Stampede Concert Series to the Scotiabank Saddledome on Saturday, July 5.

Calgary-born singer-songwriter Devon Cole will serve as the Celebrity Judge for this year’s Parade, selecting her favourite entry from all categories and sharing her experience with fans all over the world through her social media. In 2023, Cole was nominated for Breakthrough Artist of the Year at the Juno Awards and Favorite Breakout Artist at the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards, before winning Amazon Music’s Breakthrough Canada Artist of the Year. Twain, Cole’s musical idol, tapped her to open the show on July 5 at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

Getting to the Parade like a Pro
The best way to experience the Parade is live, in-person along the Parade route. In 2024, the Stampede Parade presented by Suncor attracted over 350,000 spectators, and there is always room for more.

With ‘round the clock service beginning the evening of Thursday, July 3, and ending the morning of Monday, July 14, Calgary Transit is the most efficient means of transportation in and around downtown Calgary both on Parade Day and throughout the Stampede festival. Learn more about bus routes and CTrain services here.

Restrictions to street parking on the roads immediately south of downtown and in East Village come into effect at 6 p.m. on Thursday, July 3, with most roads in and out of the downtown core closing at 7:30 a.m. on Friday, July 4. Vehicle access to these areas will be restored after the Parade concludes and Calgary police determine it is safe to do so, usually around 1 p.m.

Those unable to attend the Stampede Parade presented by Suncor in person can enjoy a special live broadcast presented by Corus Entertainment and Global Calgary. Coverage begins at 8:45 a.m. on Friday, July 4, with the Global News Morning team and Corus Entertainment’s The Morning Show bringing viewers all the highlights from this year’s Parade route. Viewers can tune in to the broadcast on Global Television, the Global TV app, Globalnews.ca, the Global News YouTube channel, and Amazon Prime.

Following the conclusion of the Parade, guests can take advantage of Parade-to-Park presented by Suncor by going straight from the Parade to Stampede Park to receive free admission on Friday, July 4 from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Find additional information about the 2025 Stampede Parade presented by Suncor, including a map of the Parade route, details about the Parade Marshal and the Celebrity Judge, fun and historical facts about the Parade, the Parade lineup, road closure advisories, parking restrictions, and Calgary Transit guidance, in Your Guide to the 2025 Calgary Stampede Parade, available here: calgarystampede.com/parade

https://news.calgarystampede.com/releases/2025-calgary-stampede-parade-presented-by-suncor-set-to-roll

Tommy · Guru

Still the One: Shania Twain arrives in Calgary while in midst of a career reinvention

Twain returns to Calgary this week as both the Stampede Parade marshal on July 4 and headline act at the Saddledome the following night

By Eric Volmers | Calgary Herald | July 2, 2025

In Andrea Warner’s essay Shania Twain: Bad Feelings, Bare Midriffs and Breaking Ground, the music critic writes about the strong feelings she had about Twain when she was a teenage music buff and budding feminist.

Strong and strongly negative.

“As a teenager, I couldn’t stand Twain,” Warner writes in her book of essays, We Outta Know: How Celine, Shania, Alanis and Sarah Ruled the ’90s and Changed Music.

“I vehemently objected to her brand of coy, sexy country-pop that I felt pushed women’s equality back ten or fifteen years. I wrote her off as a construct of male fantasy: A girl who could ride a horse while showing off a perfectly sculpted bare midriff by day and slip into some sort of cleavage-baring c0cktail dress at night, the emphasis always on her sex appeal first, relatability second, and talent third.

Warner updated her book in 2024, but it first came out in 2015. That was 22 years after Twain first “hit the country music industry like a grenade” and became one of the most successful musicians in the cosmos.

It was more than enough time for Warner to realize she had been wrong about Twain.

Now an associate producer with CBC Music, her updated essay on Twain celebrates the artist as a feminist force whose wild success gave value to women, female artists and forever changed the industry. She also offers a detailed appraisal of Twain’s music and suggests that even her earliest work had merit, showcasing her significant chops as a songwriter.

“As a teenager, I had embarrassingly negative feelings,” says Warner, in an interview from her home in Vancouver. “I was . . . coming into my own understanding of feminism and I had this idea that I couldn’t love Alanis Morissette and Sarah McLachlan and also have any space at all and good feelings or goodwill towards Shania Twain and Celine Dion.

“It’s super embarrassing now, in hindsight, but it came from an honest place when I was a teenager. It was very difficult for me to wrap my brain around the songs she was singing and the things that I was taking lyrically from her music, which seemed to me to be all about love, all about getting a man. All of these different things that I thought were antithetical to me as a very young 16-year-old feminist.”

It doesn’t take long into the essay for Warner to admit she was off base. She now sees Twain as an artist who used “skillful manipulation of the surface to push her subversive, secret agenda — an agenda that would change country music, for a little while at least, and give rise to a new generation of women writing their own material.”

It shows that despite the outward positivity of her music, superfluous use of exclamation marks in her song titles and those cheerfully sexy and elaborate videos, Twain could be a surprisingly divisive figure during her rise to fame.

Warner, of course, was not alone in being suspicious or dismissive of Twain, who returns to Calgary this week as both the Stampede Parade marshal on July 4 and headline act at the Saddledome the following night.

In the early 1990s, it wasn’t just fledgling feminists who were cynical about Twain’s bigger-than-Jesus rise to stardom. In the 2022 Netflix documentary Shania Twain: Not Just A Girl, the singer and her supporters talk about some of the misconceptions about the star.

Her relationship with producer Robert John (Mutt) Lange, who Twain was married to from 1993 to 2010, was certainly one of them. Lange co-wrote and produced Twain’s sophomore album, 1995’s The Woman in Me, and its 1997 followup, Come on Over.

Those records turned her into a global phenomenon. The latter became the best-selling country music album of all time, the best-selling studio album by a female artist and the best-selling album of the 1990s.

But Twain was always dogged by the sexist assumptions that Lange was her Svengali, a relationship where “he was the brains and she was the voice and body,” Warner writes.

That assumption persisted throughout those heady years of superstardom, even as the groundbreaking accomplishments continued.

Her 2002 fourth album, Up!, became her third consecutive album to be diamond-certified, meaning it sold more than 10 million units. She is the only female artist to achieve this feat. She won Grammys, sold out stadiums around the world and became one of the biggest ever country-pop crossover successes, paving the way for Taylor Swift and the Chicks, among others.

Yet there was still this idea that she was a puppet, an artist who was constructed by the industry and guided by men like Lange.

“Talentless sex strumpet? Pin-up pop wannabe? Was she saving country or condemning it? Was she a role model or the poster girl for entrenched patriarchy?” Warner writes.

She points to Twain’s song Man! I Feel Like A Woman!” from Come on Over as a key turning point, even if not everyone recognized it as such at the time. Warner calls it a “huge f–k you to the critics and haters” that had Twain playing with “gendered expectations and stereotypes of femininity.”

“Twain was a strong woman with a lot of agency who was frequently asserting that agency in public, but because she is also beautiful and seemingly enjoyed showing off her body, she wasn’t perceived as a feminist threat, even if what she was doing was, in fact, deeply feminist, including exercising her prerogative to look and sound any way she wanted,” Warner writes.

Devon Cole inspired by Shania

For Calgary singer-songwriter Devon Cole, Twain’s feminist bona fides were never in question.

On Saturday, the pop singer will be Twain’s opening act at the Saddledome, the same venue where Cole saw her musical hero perform seven years ago.

Growing up in Calgary, Cole remembers obsessively listening to Twain’s records on her “little CD-ROM” and singing into a hairbrush in front of the mirror to That Don’t Impress Me Much.

“She was so meaningful to me and is so meaningful to me because I think she was the first pop artist I heard who was saying what she wanted, how she wanted,” Cole says.

“She is really a strong woman. You can tell in her songs. She is very up front and a feminist — clearly a feminist. I loved her when I was seven or eight.”

Like Twain, Cole has the ability to write feminist anthems that often sound deceptively breezy on the surface. She first gained traction on social media as a TikTok star after releasing W.I.T.C.H. (Woman in Total Control of Herself). Her most recent EP, 2024’s Two Shades Blonder, included songs such as Sugar Daddy and Play House that turn gender expectations on their head with sly wordplay.

“She has one (song) that says ‘If you wanna touch her, ask’, and it’s a play on ‘If you want to touch her ass,’ obviously.” Cole says. “So that’s a blatant example of a very feminist song. But even That Don’t Impress Me Much and Man! I Feel Like A Woman!, I’m Gonna Getcha Good, it’s all from the perspective of this woman who knows what she wants and is going to stop at nothing to be that way.

“I was obsessed with it. I loved it and it was really meaningful for me as a young woman to step into that persona.”

Twain’s drive for success and self-determination may have sprung from a severely troubled childhood growing up in Timmins, Ont. The first 50 or so pages of her 2011 autobiography, From This Moment On, cover a harrowing litany of horrors: poverty, domestic violence, sexual abuse, her mother’s depression.

She recounts being sent to school with no lunch and sleeping in winter clothes because the family couldn’t afford to heat the house. In one grimly symbolic segment, a seven-year-old Shania decides to pull up the dirty carpet in the family’s new basement apartment only to find the floor covered with squirming maggots

Meanwhile, much of Twain’s post-fame trials have been dutifully covered by the tabloids. That includes her very public divorce from Lange, her battle with Lyme disease, which led to her temporary inability to sing, and a lengthy retreat from the spotlight.

Twain released the album Now in 2017, her first studio album since 2002’s Up!

Since 2012, she’s had three Las Vegas residencies. She took on a dramatic recurring role opposite Don Johnson in the ABC series Doctor Odyssey and is currently a judge on Canada’s Got Talent. In 2023, she released her most recent album, Queen of Me.

Warner said the past decade or so has seen Twain reinvent herself while asserting her place in music history and stressing that it was her, not Lange or industry power brokers, that steered her career. The Netflix documentary is a case in point.

“The bio doc allowed her to set the record straight about things that people hadn’t really known before,” said Warner. “The fact that she was editing her music videos, the fact that she was the architect of all those iconic outfits.

“Obviously there is a team there, but she is having a central role in everything. I think that had largely been missing. She hadn’t taken necessarily public ownership of that information before, for who knows what reason.

“Now she is here telling her own story. I think with her last record, Queen of Me, she really believed in that title and showed up on that album in a way that told us that she feels good about who she is right now. That’s hard to do for any of us, let alone someone who has been extremely famous in the public eye.

“Just because you are beautiful and talented doesn’t always mean you feel good about yourself. It’s really wonderful to see her come into her own.”

Shania Twain’s hockey-inspired outfits, ball gown and 1998 halter top among artifacts at National Music Centre

When Shania Twain leads the the Stampede Parade as this year’s celebrity marshal Friday morning, she will pass by the National Music Centre.

Maybe she will drop in. Jesse Moffatt, NMC’s director of collections and exhibitions, doesn’t believe Twain has ever set foot in the centre, but she is well-represented within its walls, and rightly so.

Twain was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2011, but has not yet been inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame. The National Music Centre is the physical home of both institutions.

“If you think of Canada’s biggest stars, Shania is definitely one of the top ones,” says Moffat. “I think by last count, hasn’t she sold 100 million albums? To put that in perspective, Nickelback is huge and I think they are at 60 million.

“It’s pretty impressive in what she has been able to accomplish.”

Among its hundreds of artifacts, the National Music Centre has both the Toronto Maple Leaf and Ottawa Senator-inspired outfits that Twain wore when hosting the 2003 Juno awards in Ottawa.

The centre also has a signed halter top that Twain wore during her first stadium tour in 1998.

The custom-made ball gown she sported at the 2018 Canadian Country Music Association Awards in Hamilton, Ont., is currently on display in the centre’s Idols and Icons exhibit.

“For someone who grew up in the 1990s, when she came on the scene she just exploded,” Moffat says. “I think she redefined what country music could be.

“That crossover of genres opened up an entirely new global fanbase. I think she made space for the Taylor Swifts of the world.”

Shania Twain performs at the Saddledome on July 5.

https://calgaryherald.com/entertainment/local-arts/still-the-one-shania-twain-arrives-in-calgary-while-in-midst-of-a-career-reinvention

Tommy · Guru

Reminder: Shania will serve as Parade Marshal during the Calgary Stampede Parade tomorrow morning, July 4. The parade starts at 9:00am MT / 11:00am ET. You can watch the parade on the Global News YouTube channel. The live broadcast begins 15 minutes before.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqcqjZcH8I8

Tommy · Guru

Giddy up! Happy Stampede from the Shania Twain Foundation 🤠 #shaniatwainfoundation #SecondHarvest #shaniatwain #CalgaryStampede

Video of Shania - https://www.instagram.com/p/DLsDXFtxIim/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1AW2JnwnS8

More clips
https://www.instagram.com/stories/csparade/3669327662608238568/
https://www.instagram.com/stories/csparade/3669340977174482725/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNUd6hvSvK4

Tommy · Guru

Our Parade Marshal has arrived! #shaniatwain #calgarystampede #shaniatwainfoundation

Video - https://www.instagram.com/p/DLsNh_axQRm/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4blEUmlKbc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5zH3_4FXZU

Tommy · Guru

Country Superstar Shania Twain Receives Parade Marshal Badge

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhzdMA03Dw8

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MAN! I FEEL LIKE A PARADE! We’ve partnered with Cirque du Soleil in Calgary to bring you a great offer and to raise funds for the Shania Twain Foundation. Their latest show, ECHO is coming to Calgary August 30 – October 19.

Video - https://www.instagram.com/p/DLsT5lExRVt/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6fQgD66_XU

Tommy · Guru

“I’d love to get everywhere by horse”: Shania Twain on kicking off the Calgary Stampede

Jeff has an exclusive interview with Canadian country legend Shania Twain as she opens the Calgary Stampede with cowboy boots, big dreams, and heartfelt pride. Shania shares why being Stampede Marshal is a full-circle moment, how she’s giving back through charity work, and what fans can expect from her cross-Canada tour. Plus—her dream of getting everywhere by horse!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWVHK8pgSRU

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oowpJjeK7-g

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gCbzfvXQd0

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJGlwMWV20E

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02VwvZicb8U

Tommy · Guru

Tommy · Guru

Shania Twain: Interview

For Shania Twain, leading the iconic Stampede Parade horseback is a celebration of Western heritage and tradition, and embodies the true spirit of the Calgary Stampede.

In addition to her very special role as Stampede Parade Marshal, Shania will also bring her powerhouse performance as part of the Stampede Concert Series to the Scotiabank Saddledome on Saturday, July 5!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7qht1lNVHw

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LOBj0R4Tfg

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In Photos: Country star Shania Twain kicks off Calgary Stampede with parade

Country music superstar Shania Twain, in a white hat and white fringed jacket, sat on top of a white horse that clip clopped to cheers through the downtown Friday as she kicked off the Calgary Stampede and its signature parade. (July 4, 2025)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFEUeKuRa0I

Tommy · Guru

Shania Twain serves as 2025 Calgary Stampede Parade Marshal - Global News broadcast

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8a7h4RhbP4k