IN PHOTOS: Downtown cattle drive event kicks off Canadian Finals Rodeo’s return to Edmonton

After being held in Red Deer for the last few years, Canadian Finals Rodeo is back in Edmonton this week and the festivities kicked off Wednesday with a cattle drive downtown.

Ranchers and rodeo professionals led cattle from Sir Winston Churchill Square to the Rogers Place Fan Park as curious Edmontonians looked on.

The 50th year of the rodeo event is back in Alberta’s capital in 2024. Edmonton was home to the rodeo event for over four decades before it moved to Red Deer.

Last year, organizers announced they had reached a deal to host the event at Rogers Place in 2024, 2025 and 2026.

The CFR started in 1974 and was held at the old Edmonton Gardens and Northlands Coliseum. When the Coliseum closed in 2017 after Rogers Place opened the year before, the event moved to Red Deer.

The 2024 CFR event runs from Oct. 2 to Oct. 5. More than 100 athletes and 200 animals will take part in rodeo events over the course of the four-day event.

In a news release issued Wednesday afternoon, Arlindo Gomes, the vice-president of business development and venue management at Explore Edmonton, described the Canadian Finals Rodeo as a phenomenon that has been “a cornerstone event in Edmonton’s rich sporting and cultural history for decades.”

“Not only does it bring thrilling rodeo action and western heritage to our city, but it also delivers a significant economic boost, attracting visitors from across the country and beyond.”

Explore Edmonton is a destination management and marketing organization in Alberta’s capital.

View photos from Wednesday’s cattle drive below:

–with files from Karen Bartko, Global News