Dalai Lama dons cowboy hat in Calgary

CALGARY, Alberta, Sept. 30 (UPI) -- Tibet's Buddhist spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, arrived Wednesday in Canada's rodeo capital of Calgary, Alberta, and wound up wearing a white cowboy hat.

The Tibetan religious leader arrived from Vancouver, where he spent the last four days. At the Calgary welcoming ceremony, Mayor Dave Bronconnier surprised him by dropping the hat on his head, which elicited a broad grin, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported.

He was also presented with a ceremonial Tibetan white scarf by University of Calgary President Harvey Weingarten, the Calgary Herald reported.

The city traditionally gives visiting dignitaries and celebrities the cowboy hats, but on the Dalai Lama's last visit there in 1980, the then-mayor refused, saying he wasn't an "official" dignitary, the CBC said.

Part of the Buddhist leader's two-day visit includes making a speech at the Pengrowth Saddledome stadium in front of an expected crowd of 15,000, the Herald said.

Also attending the conference is fellow Nobel Peace Prize winner, former South African President F.W. de Klerk, the reports said.