About the park
Cowboys Park, nestled in the lively Downtown West neighborhood, is Calgary's largest and most dynamic community space, perfect for special events and music festivals. It boasts Canada's largest outdoor skatepark, basketball courts, beach volleyball courts, and climbing boulders.
Starting in early March, The City began transforming Cowboys Park into a modern, multi-functional event space. These upgrades will make it a prime location for festivals and events, enhancing The City's collection of accessible and flexible event spaces. Funded by a ten-year sponsorship agreement with Penny Lane Entertainment, these improvements will help to make Cowboys Park the home of the popular Cowboys Music Festival starting in 2025, along with many other festivals and events by various organizations.
What is changing within the park?
The existing function of this park will not change in terms of the skatepark, climbing boulders, beach volleyball, and sport court along with providing space for various festivals and events. Cowboys Park remains a vibrant public park, open to the community and visitors.
Current improvements at Cowboys Park include upgrading utilities (stormwater, sanitary, and potable water), electrical infrastructure, and adding a hardened surface to the event space + increase existing court space to add functional secondary space for events as needed (sport court usage will remain primary purpose of this area).
These upgrades at Cowboys Park offer several benefits:
- Improved Accessibility: Hardened surfaces will better accommodate people with mobility needs.
- Enhanced Event Setup: Upgraded utilities and electrical infrastructure will make it easier for organizers to set up, tear down, and clean up after events.
- Versatile Event Space: The park will be able to host a wider variety of events, including markets, sports, recreational activities, and festivals.
Overall, these upgrades will make Cowboys Park a more modern, functional, and inclusive space for everyone to enjoy.
*note the basketball courts shown are an expansion of existing court surface (not newly created)
What are the construction impacts?
The park space outlined above will be fenced off and closed from March through to end of May for construction.
The skate park, beach volleyball courts, and climbing boulders will remain open for use - *please note access to these areas may be altered in conjunction with construction fencing.
Trees will be removed in this process, this will be done following the the Tree Protection Bylaw where we aim to keep as many trees as possible and will replant new where we can in alignment with park designs.
The initial phase of work will be completed by June to allow for spring and summer events to occur. There will be some finishing work in the fall, at end of the events season, to complete some landscaping items.
How are we approaching these changes?
The ability to move ahead with needed upgrades to the park space was made possible through the Sponsorship of City Assets Policy. Below is a quick outline, and timeline, of that process.
- Agreements like this are a creative funding source that enable improvements to a park that will benefit all users without requiring additional public funds.
- The previous agreement between The City and Shaw Media ended in 2019.
- A public Request for Information (RFI) was issued in April 2023 and advertised on The City’s website for two months in accordance with The City’s Sponsorship of City Assets Policy. Cowboys was the sole applicant through this process as it closed in June 2023.
- Cowboys signed a ten-year sponsorship agreement with The City that will include events in this park starting in Summer 2025. The agreement was approved by City Council on June 18, 2024.
The current work changes aligns with the sponsorship agreement to meet the needs of Cowboys Music Festival while allowing for some needed utility upgrades and continue to provide space for events and festivals for other community and cultural groups within the newly designed space throughout the year.
Construction started March 2025. Crews are onsite, installing safety fencing and signage, and will begin concrete demolition soon.
Some park sidewalks and green spaces will be closed for safety. Please follow the signs and fencing. The basketball courts will be closed during construction, but the beach volleyball courts, skatepark, and climbing boulders will remain open.
Initial Phase 1 work will finish in June for spring and summer events.
Ongoing construction work will resume in the fall to complete landscaping items such as laying of sod, planting of trees and rebuilding the irrigation system.
We will hold a workshop with 6-10 experienced event organizers to discuss opportunities and challenges of hosting events at the redesigned Cowboys Park. This workshop is not about the actual coordination of any events, as that is done as a separate and existing process, but rather to hear from those in the industry within our City.
The main goals of the workshop are:
- Discuss opportunities and challenges of hosting events at the redesigned Cowboys Park.
- Explore design functions beyond the initial construction phase.
- Consider new types of events that can be held within the design changes.
- Gather insights from experienced event organizers in the city.
- Establish priorities and opportunities for efficient use of the park with its new design and equipment.
By providing us with your input you can help us imagine new opportunities for this park in alignment with new designs as outlined on this page. Possible examples could include: markets, other/new event and festivals, activities on the plaza space etc. Provide your ideas on this page by answering the questions below!
We want to hear from you
As a park visitor, whether you're attending a specific event or visiting casually, what aspects could improve your experience? What would make your time at the park more enjoyable and convenient? Please consider your responses in alignment with the design work that is being completed, think about things like amenities, accessibility, safety, and experiences and possible activity options - not large infrastructure or design changes to the current plan.
Next Steps
We will be gathering your ideas along with feedback from event organizers to consider options for future improvements and opportunities in hosting events and activities in this park. We will provide a WWH (What We Heard) report following the engagement period. Thank you.
