BANFF – The Mounties always get their man, and now the Town of Banff is going after the Mounties.
The municipality plans to apply to host the RCMP Musical Ride in 2025 – the next year Alberta is on the schedule for the famed troop of police riders and their horses performing intricate formations and drills to music.
“I will absolutely support this. I think it’s a wonderful event and it’s been great for the community,” said Coun. Grant Canning during a recent service review meeting.
Banff hosted the RCMP Musical Ride in 2003, 2010 and 2017 – the latter was part of the Canada 150 celebrations.
The Musical Ride performs in up to 50 communities across Canada each year between May and October. It travels to each province once every four years to ensure as many Canadians as possible can experience this spectacle.
Alberta is next on the schedule in 2025, along with Quebec and NWT.
Town of Banff officials say a date in October would be requested.
“The reason for the October date is to push it as much out of that peak season as possible,” said Town Manager Kelly Gibson.
“That complies with how we deal with special events at the Town of Banff.”
The RCMP requires an investment and securing space, which includes stables for all horses and opening access to the public from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily for multi-days.
“It’s not just a place to house the horses; it’s where people come and experience the Mounties in their red serge and so forth,” said Jason Darrah, director of communications and marketing for the Town of Banff.
As in past events, Darrah said the municipality would look to sponsorship, partners such as Banff and Lake Louise Tourism (BLLT), and tickets to help offset costs.
“We’d also enter discussions with BLLT to see what our different roles are,” he said.
“There’s pretty set requirements in hosting … and there’s a lot of requirements for the safety of the horses and for the public.”
In the 2017 Musical Ride in Banff for the Canada 150 celebrations, 32 riders performed three shows at the field at Banff Community High School, with an approved council budget of $64,500 for the event.
Darrah said ticket sales – $16 per ticket and $48 per family – covered a portion of the cost.
He said in-kind support came from Banff Trail Riders, Mountain FM and Discover Banff Tours.
“We would seek that again but we’re not sure if we would be able to secure sponsorship… it’s early days,” he said.
Mayor Corrie DiManno was supportive of applying to host the Musical Ride in 2025, saying she liked the idea of cost-sharing and in-kind support.
“I know it really brings an animation to the town that is novel and exciting to both residents and visitors,” she said.
“I am open to exploring what this looks like after we’ve applied.”
The history of the Musical Ride goes back to the North-West Mounted Police, who would commonly compete amongst themselves and perform tricks on horseback to break the monotony of endless riding drills.
In 1876, some of these tricks and exercises were performed at Fort Macleod in Alberta. This is believed to be the first public performance of what would eventually evolve into the Musical Ride.
