We all know the country (and beyond) knows about the iconic Calgary Stampede because of the endless music festivals and concerts, line-ups like no other, outfits that would put a cowboy to shame, and so many activities to explore throughout the 10 days of programming.
Possibly the best part about it? The food! Each year, the edible Midway food creations at Calgary Stampede get more and more impressive in creativity, size, and taste (in most cases).
Check out all the hilariously fun and must-try midway foods available at Stampede this year!
Big Coco’s Korean Squid Ink Corndog
While this looks crazy, apparently they taste similar to traditional corndogs, except with more of a crunch and a bit of sweetness. It’s half mozzarella, half hot dog, dipped in a black batter. Would you try it?
The Dumpling Hero’s Pig-ckle Sandwich
This Kero-friendly sandwich has deep fried pork belly and slaw, in-between a giant pickle slices in half. Might be messy to eat in front of your date, but if you’re a pickle lover we say it’s so worth it!
Summerland Soft Serve’s Mac & Cheese Flavour
Now this is a wacky treat. If you’re a real KD lover, then you’ll love the taste of yellow cheese powder anywhere, right? This is exactly what it looks like: the familiar taste of macaroni and cheese combined with a creamy coolness of soft serve ice cream. Only for the adventurous!
SaltSpring Noodle Bar’s Cotton Candy Noodles
This is taking ‘mixing savoury with sweet’ to a whole other level. SaltSpring noodle bar invented a brand new sauce to compliment a fluffy cloud of pink cotton candy on top of noodles filled with chicken & vegetables or vegetarian.
Would you mix cotton candy and spice? Ask them to make it spicy!
Melt Town’s Glazed Donut Grilled Cheese
If you think this unique food pairing stopped at a sweet donut and cheese, you’d be mistaken. This sandwich consists of a signature four cheese blend sandwiched between a glazed donut, with the choice of protein. Imagine this: a fried chicken glazed donut grilled cheese sandwich. Whoa.
Happy Fish’s Unagi Sushi Taco
This is definitely a taste-better-than-it-looks situation and we promise it’s not a tongue! The taco is made from a Tempura nori taco shell with BBQ unagi eel, sushi rice, crab meat mixture, and julienned cucumber, drizzled with signature BBQ eel sauce. Pretty good if you ask us!
Happy Fish’s Octopus Rangoon
Do you love trying out new, International options? This crispy wonton shell is filled with warm crab meat, cream cheese, mozzarella cheese filling, and diced octopus, served with sweet & sour sauce.
Bad Breath Lemonade
While we wouldn’t necessarily recommend this for a date.. if you’re committed to trying all the most unique food (and drinks) at Stampede this year, you’ll have to conquer this. Think tangy lemonade, with a savoury twist. They’ve added garlic and caramelized onion to the mix so this taste will definitely linger.
Samosa Poutine
A true flavour fusion, these potato samosas are covered in hot Indian butter sauce, melted cheese curds, crispy onions, sour cream drizzle, and topped with cilantro. That sounds… actually really delicious.
Fry Guys’ Flamin’ Hot Cheeto’s Fries
Does looking at this photo hurt your stomach? If you’re up for the challenge, or just a really big fan of Flamin’ Hot Cheeto’s, you’ll love this mountain of cut French fries, jalapeño cheese sauce and crunchy Flamin’ Cheeto’s.
Foot Long Freak Fries
These look delicious AND fun to eat, you can’t really go wrong with delicious long fries stopped with seasonings and sauces as you like! The perfect date food, maybe you can split a fry and meet in the middle. 😉
Sisig (Pig Face & Pig Ears)
This daring dish is diced tender pig face and pig ears topped with lemongrass and ginger. Does that not scare you off? Then head over to booth 258 to try this out at Hungry Beast Food Truck!
Pop Rocks Popcorn Chicken
If you need a little razzle dazzle in your chicken-eating experience, find Chiky’s Chicken for these unique popcorn chicken dish that will cause fireworks (literally, kind of).
Check out our guide to the Calgary Stampede so you don’t miss any of the fun, music, or food!
Need breakfast? These are all the FREE pancake breakfasts happening during Stampede.
