Olympic Plaza

I still consider myself as a newb to Calgary. I had walked by Olympic Plaza in the summer and never thought about it in the winter.
This year I bought skates and decided to give it a go.
Skating here is great. It’s easy to get to by train and if you get downtown by car go early on Sunday to find parking.
The best part is it’s free. You can rent skates. There is also a coffee shop nearby serving up hot cocoa.
It’s officially on my list of great outdoor ice.
I enjoyed watching the zamboni do it’s job. I enjoyed the smooth ice it left behind.

A great place to go ice skating during the day, or get stabbed at night. It’s also an excellent spot for people watching… if you enjoy watching people smoke crack. There are festivals held here periodically, which offer a fantastic opportunity to become a victim of pickpockets.
PRO-​TIP: Bring a loaf of bread to feed the birds/​bums

There aren’t medal ceremonies being held here anymore, but at the heart of the core you can find some interesting events taking place, summer or winter!
Music festivals, Calgary Corporate Challenge, art installations, or go for a skate on the only outdoor ice with Zamboni maintenance!
If you are in for some solitary time, grab a book (the library is just around the corner) and have a read. Olympic Plaza also offers a great outdoor venue to eat your lunch.
My only complaint is since it’s in the centre of things, there is a high vagrant presence and when it rains the grass here gets super soupy and the concrete basin doesn’t really drain.

A great spot, especially during Stampede time. We have loved coming here for Stampede breakfasts over the years, nothing better than having REAL bacon placed inside of the pancakes. Also have seen a few events here, numerous festivals, and some concerts for free here. Beautiful spot downtown, and close to many other great spots around town.

Love coming to Olympic Plaza. In the Winter time you can skate on the ice with the beautiful back drop of our city. It’s breathtaking & romantic (if on a date)! It’s also cool to know this plaza has the only refrigerated outdoor ice surface in the city. There are no skate rentals here so you have to bring your own but at least be rest assured no hockey sticks allowed making it safe for young kids learning to skate. And bring snacks to eat since the closet restaurant is a short hike pending what you are hungry for.
During nicer weather you can bring your lunch to the Plaza and again enjoy the view of the city while you chow down.
Throughout the year they hosts many special events & festivals. The Forzani Mother’s Day Walk & Run used to end at the plaza… the Children’s Festival each year has events going on… Maple Festival des Sucres is held here. Lots of different things going on all the time!
A great venue for many reasons with a little history thrown in since it was built in 1988 for the Olympic Winter Games and features the Famous Five Sculptures amongst other things. Fun!

Winter time, free skating 7 days a week (unless it’s booked for an event of some kind). On warm days you’ll often see people out skating on their lunch hours… a few of us descended upon it last Saturday in fact! It’s real ice out there folks, and there’s even a dedicated zamboni to keep that ice from getting to torn up. Note though, no hockey games or shenaniganisms allowed. Just happy times with your kids, friends, sweethearts or otherwise.
The area all around Olympic Plaza is particularly pretty in the night time hours too. It’s one of my fave winter spots to wander through on my way back home.
I’m happy camping season is over, that made the park a much less pleasant place to just head out and enjoy, but sometimes people just gotta camp.
At any rate, one of its down falls is if it’s roped off for an outdoor summer event and it’s pissing rain outside. Since it’s designed to be a fountain/​spray park kind of thing, all of the water will stay in there with you. Thought you might like to know just in case you were thinking about planning your event there. Have a water backup plan. Or bring rubber boots… I’ve never been to a puddle jumping party where people didn’t have a good time.

Olympic Plaza is a super fun place where events go on throughout the year. I’ve been here for a Stampede 100^th Year Kickoff event, the Sweet City Lip Dub, Calgary Corporate Challenge Urban Orienteering event, Nuit Blanche, a music festival, to take photos with a photography group… need I say more? Plus they hold Snowblower and various huge events at this venue from January to December.
It’s this central place with so much going for it… a stage, tonnes of seating, several cafes nearby, right across from City Hall, kitty corner to the central library, next door to the c-​train, down the street from the Telus Convention Centre and right next to the Jack Singer. In the summer, people come down to sit during their travels of downtown, skateboard, read, chat… in the winter, a little quieter but still pretty lively when something is going on.
Never been? Drop by!
Review #20 of Unilocal’s 30 Day Challenge 2012

I love Olympic Plaza. Mostly because it reminds me that the Olympics took place here at one point, which then warmly reminds me of one of my favorite «I need some cheering up» movies:
Cool Runnings!
Events happen here throughout the year, but Olympic Plaza is great during the summer for cooling off hot feet, or ice skating with homies when Calgary turns in to Winterfell. There’s also a hot dog truck that’s here, rain or shine that serves generous amounts of delicious food (with a veggie option!) for a mere $ 5 or less.
Feel the rhythm! Feel the rhyme! Get on up…

Skating rink in the winter, fountain and host to some wonderful performances in the summer, my get away during breaks at work. The plaza is a wonderful oasis of relaxation in the city. From the flowers that hang down in the table and chairs area of the park to watching the people (beautiful and scary) walk by, it is a great spot to get away from work for 15 mins. Before you know it those 15 mins become half an hour!
I will miss Olympic Plaza!

While originally built for the ’89 Olympics (obviously) for the medal presentations the plaza has since become a space for some great events and weekend festivals. In the winter it’s a public skating rink and in the summer, when there isn’t an event going on, they fill it with water where you can cool your feet from your walk down Stephan Ave.
During Stampede there’s breakfasts, shows, and all sorts of entertainment throughout the days. During the rest of the summer you can find all sorts of different events going on, some protests, or just people enjoying the park on their lunch break.
My family bought one of the bricks that were originally sold to help fund the cost of the plaza. No one seems to remember exactly where it is though. If you happen to see it let me know. I’d appreciate it.

Olympic Plaza in my opinion, is one of the best open air facilities around! It holds Stampede Breakfasts, Festivals such as ExpoLatino & The Children’s Festival to dance parties like the SnowBlower event headlining Kid Koala. The best part of it, is that most of these offer free entry.
When not being used in such a mannor, in the winter they flood the plaza for ice skating. I went for the first time in ages at night, and its absolutely beautiful. The ice had just been smoothed over, music was playing and they have gorgeous lights around the rink. It felt a little like being in a movie :)
In summer, there are an influx of people just hanging out on the grass. Some homeless, some you think are homeless, but arent. Drum circles, hakey sack and the odd whiff of weed is not uncommon. None the less, Ive never felt unsafe in the area day or night.
Unilocal KickButt Challenge ³⁄₁₀

I have lived in downtown, Calgary for a few years now, so the Olympic Plaza is a place I frequent on occasion.
One of the best things about it is that it almost always has one interesting event or another going on there. Rob & I have been to a variety of cultural events there, like Latino days, and a Reggae festival… those are days when it’s fun to splash around in the water while listening to the live bands. In the winter, the water doubles as a skating pond for those of you who enjoy ice-​skating ;)
The Olympic Plaza really comes alive during Stampede week too, as they have free pancake breakfasts and even line-​dancing going all up Stephen Avenue.
Oh, and did I mention this is also where we got engaged? If you can, come check out the New Year’s Eve events here, as they are child-​friendly as well. Dress warmly though :)

Olympic Plaza is a beautiful addition to our city. Having originally been built as the venue for the medal ceremonies at the 1988 Winter Olympic Games, it feels like we’ve come full circle after having celebrated the cross-​country Olympic Torch Relay here last week.
I swear to you, every single person who lives in Calgary was jam packed in the plaza and the excitement and pride of our fellow Calgarians was unmistakable.
In the summer, The Olympic Plaza hosts concerts and festivals and in the winter, it’s used as a public skating rink.
We are very lucky to have such a beautiful area right downtown Calgary and we’re even more lucky that it is accessible via the C-​Train (Via both the Olympic Plaza stop and the City Hall stop).
I’m definitely one proud Calgarian, and it’s places like these that really seal the deal for me.

The Olympic Plaza was built for the 1988 Winter Olympics that took place in Calgary years ago.
Located in the downtown Cultural District, it’s the venue for many big events in Calgary — the first Night Festival on New Year’s Eve, the International Children’s Festivals, and other special events that include athletes and famous people.
It has an area in the middle of it that functions as a water fountain in the summer and a skating rink in the winter. In the summer there’s a ton of flowers blossoming and obviously no cost is spared to make the area look nice.
…you’ll still see the odd street person zonked out on the lawn though, and when that happens, just look at those beautiful flowers…