Stampede breakfast tradition alive — even without pancakes
Whether it be the traditional pancakes or a diverse array of cultural flavours, such as those served by the Filipino community Sunday, there is a common theme to Stampede breakfasts — building community.
Longanisa is a sweet and spicy sausage paired with eggs, garlic rice and pandesal, otherwise known as a bread roll.
“Eating this takes me back to my childhood,” says Will Tigley as he chows down at the third annual Agahan Filipino Stampede breakfast Sunday morning. “It is so delicious.”
With nary a pancake in sight, it’s certainly not your traditional Stampede breakfast fare on this first weekend of the 10-day festival. Still, Tigley, a well-known name in the city’s Filipino community and one of the breakfast’s organizers, makes no apologies.
“It’s our way to bring the food that our community knows and loves into the Stampede, and invite the rest of the city to learn about us and our culture,” says Tigley, noting that there are an estimated 75,000 people of Filipino origin living in our city.
“Besides, aren’t there enough pancakes out there right now?”
The Agahan breakfast also eschews the country tunes, opting instead for an ear-splitting Filipino rock band, which even the old gals seem to be rocking to as the crowd begins to swell to its usual 5,000 or souls. Over the course of the morning, they’ll also hear a few balladeers and cover tunes of pop songs, a favourite tradition in the Philippines.
“Our breakfast is also a preview of our September long weekend festival,” says Tigley (for more info, go to fiestafilipinoyyc.com). “For us, Stampede is all about celebrating community,” he says. “But we do wear cowboy hats.”
In other words, if you’re looking for a common thread in the city’s many Stampede breakfasts running right up to and including Sunday you won’t find it in the big stainless-steel food trays.
As Tigley says, it’s really about community, whether that’s a likeminded group of political types, multicultural groups, neighbours or church-going folk.
On Sunday, my second stop of the morning couldn’t be more different than the Filipino community’s makeshift outdoor disco.
On an expansive grass lawn at Heritage Park, a gaggle of Liberal-leaning politicians of every governmental level and some of the city’s most recognizable movers and shakers have their heads tilted upward as Second World War fighter planes fly over.
It’s the usual auspicious start to the 68th annual Hays Breakfast, an invite-only affair where the crowd hobnobs with everyone from the Stampede Queen to an assortment of dignitaries.
On hand is Mayor Naheed Nenshi, who by this time has likely already lost track of the number of breakfasts he’s attended since pre-Stampede events began.
“The thing I love most about Stampede is I get to be in all four corners of the city, with lots of different groups that adapt to change, traditions,” he says. “This one really is the bastion of a certain traditional part of Calgary,” he says, adding with a laugh, “I call it the politician petting zoo.”
The mayor and I share a favourite Stampede Breakfast, the Best of the East (internationalavenue.ca) in Forest Lawn, another event open to all.
“This is a great year to come out to International Avenue, because you can see some of the changes happening there,” he says of the breakfast scheduled for Thursday.
“I grew up on that street, my parents had a laundromat on 17th Avenue,” adds the mayor. “When it’s done later this year, it’ll be a showpiece for the city.”
Like so many other places of worship, St. Stephens Anglican Church in Calgary’s Beltline district holds its annual Stampede breakfast on a Sunday, which includes a short Eucharist service on the lawn.
“It’s just another way for us to reach out to the community,” says church warden Todd Hirsch, standing in front of a large rainbow banner hanging on the building. Hirsch, also a well-known economist, says the annual event only feeds about 300, but thinks big when it comes to offering a welcoming space for all.
“We tore down our hedge this year because it was just another barrier,” he says as he greets guests in line. “We really want everyone to feel they can come here and be a part of the community.”
Over the course of the morning, the crowd size at the Agahan Filipino Stampede Breakfast looks like it’ll hit its usual 5,000 mark, a number that pleases organizers like Will Tigley.
“We’ve only been around for three years,” he says of the event, which on this day even has Premier Rachel Notley on hand to serve up a pancake-free but carbheavy breakfast. “But word has gotten out that this is the place to be during the Calgary Stampede.”