[twitter]The Calgary Stampede is not just a 10 day spectacle known as The Greatest Outdoor Show On Earth. It’s a yearlong effort from thousands of volunteers to support and sponsor events and maintain the Stampede grounds in downtown Calgary.

One of the off-season efforts of the Calgary Stampede Society is Aggie Days, a couple of days for school kids to tour on field trips and then a weekend of families crashing the BMO Centre to explore all there is to know about animals and agriculture in Alberta.

After Zacharie came home from a field trip on Friday, he was all excited about egg farming, baby chicks, and getting his own lasso.  Charlie was disappointed to not have been on the field trip, so I took the boys out for a few hours of free fun at Aggie Days. Yes, I said free. It’ll cost you $15 to park on the Stampede grounds, but that’s it.

Aggie Days goes across 2 halls of the BMO Centre and each section has fun, unique, interactive activities. We sat in a chuckwagon, Charlie entered the rodeo chutes like a real cowboy, and Zacharie tried his hand at calf roping.

There was cow milking, rope making, horse tail braiding, and a chance to pull on the reins like they were draft horses.

From Alberta’s Egg Farmers to Alberta’s Pork Producers, from seed banks to slow food. From Alberta Milk to Alberta Chickens to Alberta Beef to Alberta Wheat, and Barley. It was all there.  The fun and education went up and down the aisle.

The skeleton horse was a big hit with the boys.

Learn the, “inside” and out about horses at #AggieDays! pic.twitter.com/BL9KzGUoYY

— Aggie Days (@CSAggieDays) April 12, 2014

This is the best of The Calgary Stampede in one easy to see spot. It’s busy, there are crowds, but it’s not crazy.

I half wished this was a permanent display, like the Calgary Zoo, Fort Calgary, Telus Spark, or Heritage Park. It would be a wonderful escape on any cold, snowy, or windy prairie day and would be a great way to underline our western heritage and culture (not to mention another excuse to break out the cowboy hats like we did).

Sure we have Butterfield Acres as a place to go out and learn about farm culture, but to have all of the industries and producers under one roof so perfectly explaining our food chain, where our food comes from, and how we need to look after the land is just excellent.

Aggie Days is an annual event in Mid April, is always free, and is always a great way to spend the day with kids in Calgary.