The Calgary Stampede revealed the 2027 Stampede Poster on October 5, 2026. Titled Best Seat in the House, it was created by 23-year-old Keagan George of Barrhead, Alberta, and shows a bull rider on a bucking bull.
Key facts
- The Calgary Stampede revealed the 2027 Stampede Poster, Best Seat in the House, by Keagan George, 23, of Barrhead, Alberta, on October 5, 2026, according to the Stampede newsroom.
- The artwork depicts bull rider Hayes Weight of Goshen, Utah, aboard Judge and Jury at the 2025 Calgary Stampede Rodeo, according to the Calgary Stampede.
- George is the ninth Alberta youth to have artwork on the official poster since the Youth Poster Competition began in 2018, according to the Calgary Stampede.
- The Dustin Peers Memorial Scholarship awards $20,000 a year in educational scholarships to the competition’s top eight finalists, including $10,000 to the first-place winner, according to the Calgary Stampede.
- The 2027 Calgary Stampede runs July 9 to 18, 2027, and ticket sales for the Rodeo and Evening Show opened October 5, 2026, according to the Calgary Stampede.
The poster shows a 2025 ride on Judge and Jury
The Stampede says the poster depicts Hayes Weight of Goshen, Utah, aboard the bull Judge and Jury at the 2025 Calgary Stampede Rodeo. Weight won the final day of Pool A with the ride shown, which earned him a place on Championship Sunday.
George says she wanted the bull’s head to take up a large part of the poster so viewers feel close to the action, and she made the fringe on the chaps red because it catches the eye and ties the piece to the Stampede. The crowd behind the rider is there to show the scale of the rodeo.
Confirmed by the release: the subject, the rider, the bull and the year of the ride. Not stated in it: the medium of the original, its size, or where it will hang.
George entered five times before the poster went to her
The 2027 Youth Poster Competition was her fifth. The release says she reached the Top 30 twice and the Top 8 twice across those years before being named the 2027 Stampede Poster Artist.
She is a self-taught animal artist raised on a homestead near Barrhead. She first drew animals from images on feed store calendars, then began photographing calves and other animals at her family’s homestead for better reference material. Her work still centres on animals, particularly cattle.
The competition pays $20,000 a year to its top eight
Since 2018 the Dustin Peers Memorial Scholarship, funded by the Brandon Flock Foundation, has paid $20,000 in educational scholarships each year to the top eight finalists. First place receives $10,000. The Stampede describes it as one of the largest art scholarships in Canada. The competition is supported by Michaels Canada, which provided materials for participants.
Tickets are on sale and the 2028 competition is open
Tickets for the Rodeo and Evening Show went on sale the day of the reveal. The 2027 Stampede opens on July 9, 277 days after October 5, 2026 by simple count.
Applications for the 2028 Youth Poster Competition are open to Alberta artists aged 15 to 24 and close on December 4, 2026.
The Stampede’s Youth Poster Competition page explains how the program works. For more Stampede history, read about A.E. Cross and the Big Four, the ranchers who bankrolled the first exhibition.
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