Although the Calgary Stampede grounds are still mostly submerged, the Stampede's CEO says organizers will try their "very best" to make sure the show goes on.
The annual rodeo and outdoor exhibition, which brings in more than one million visitors a year, is scheduled to start two weeks from Friday.
The floodwater, which had swamped the Stampede grounds Friday, appeared to have receded Saturday morning, according to a tweet from CTV reporter Amanda Anderson, but most of the grounds are still underwater.
Stampede organizers remained positive that the water would recede and cleanup completed in time for the event on July 5.
"As soon as flood conditions subside, our volunteer and employee teams will be working hard to create and deliver the Calgary Stampede on July 5-14 as scheduled", read a statement on the Stampede's website.
Stampede CEO Vern Kimball said that volunteers are working on clean-up and staff are forming plans to make the event still happen.
“We’re going to do our very best to put on a great Stampede,” he told the Calgary Herald.
The 19,000 seat Saddledome was reportedly flooded up to the 10th row of the stadium Friday, and residents tweeted photos of the damage.
Calgarians came out on Twitter to express the sentiment that the "show must go on" and to ask how they can volunteer to clean up.
Even Mayor Naheed Nenshi said he "wants his new boots" for the Stampede, according to a tweet from the Calgary Journal.
"It may look different but the show will go on" he told CTV.
Calgary Flooding: Stampede Grounds Flooded, But 'Show Must Go On'
Calgary Herald columnist Don Braid said he thinks Calgary would come out and "swamp" the Stampede, regardless of what form the event ended up taking.
"This year’s Stampede will have tremendous symbolic value. It can be the city’s defiance of the odds, the sign that we’ll pull ourselves up and get going again, the signal that nothing’s going to stop Calgary", he said in a column.