Sad Day for Calgary Stampede as 80 Percent of Workers Let Go

Clif Cooper leaps off his horse while chasing down a calf during the tie-down roping competition in the rodeo at the Calgary Stampede in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, on July 11, 2011. Mario Tama/Getty Images

The future of the 2020 ’Greatest Show on Earth’ is up in the air after the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede temporarily laid off 80 percent of its staff on March 17 as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Stampede CEO Warren Connell said the organization had laid off a total of 890 workers—608 were casual part-time and the other 282 that were regular part-time and full time.