Divorce rate rises after Calgary Stampede

CALGARY, Alberta, July 3 (UPI) -- Canada's annual Calgary Stampede got under way Friday as divorce consultants prepared for their own surge in unhappy couples after the 10-day event.

Billed as the world's biggest outdoor rodeo event, the Alberta city goes into party mode, which Karen Stewart, founder of Fairway Divorce Solutions, told Sun Media leads to a lot of infidelity.

"It's the sexual undertones, the alcohol, the letting loose," she said. "Thousands of beautiful men and women come out of the woodwork at Stampede and people look incredibly sexy when you put them in a cowboy hat."

She said she sees as much as a 40 percent jump in the number of people filing for divorce in the weeks after the stampede.

Artist Shaun Doiron told the news service there's a saying in the city "it's not cheatin', it's Stampedin'."

"Stampede is like a Las Vegas for a lot of people," he said. "It's not the rodeo anymore, it's a big party."