MY EXPERIENCE AT PACKWOOD GRAND 2017

On July 29th I was lucky enough to attend Packwood Grand, the social event of the summer in Calgary. Me and almost 2000 other people enjoyed a beautiful summer day at the Century Downs Casino and Racetrack. I'm going to try and convey how wonderful Packwood Grand was through this blog post but it was more of a you-had-to-be-there kind of event (so make sure you come next year).

First of all, I just want you guys to know that I had so much fun, maybe too much fun. Summer isn't quite over but I'm pretty sure this will have been my favourite event of the summer (and possibly my favourite this year).

We started the day at National on 10th where we registered, had breakfast at the buffet and may have had a few drinks. From there, buses picked us up and took us to Century Downs Casino and Racetrack.

When we arrived at the event we walked the red carpet and had photos taken in front of the fabulous flower wall. Then we moved on to the outdoor area which was covered in white tents, chairs for lounging, flowers and the most beautiful people!

They created the perfect space to hang out, watch the horse races, and enjoy food and drinks. The food was provided by Executive Chef Robert Jewell from Double Zero and the vegan salad was so good!

There was so much food and Veuve Cliquot had the champagne flowing all day long.

My favourite part of the event were the outfits! It was so nice to see everyone dressed up. Everywhere you looked there was another amazing outfit. There's something about beautiful accessories like a fascinator or a big fancy hat that brings this elegant old-time feel to the event and makes any outfit extra special. They also had a competition for best-dressed female and male who won $1000 to Crossiron Mills!!!

Is it crazy that I'm already thinking of next years outfit...

(See my Packwood Grand Style Guide here)

The VIP area was located in the infield and they had a beautiful area to sit and drink and my favourite part was the cotton candy. You could also find cigars, Calgary Jewellery, Belvedere Vodka, and other amazing sponsors hanging out there.

But the DJ on the main concourse was so good I had to keep going back to get some dancing in.

I will admit, I wasn't sure if I should go to the event because of the horse racing. I don't know much about the horse racing industry and being vegan and a cruelty-free advocate I did have some doubts. In the end, I decided that because I was going as an ambassador my money wasn't going towards the horse racing and I was going to the event mainly for the social aspect and I'm really glad I did. I had the best time hanging out with old friends and also making new ones.

After the racing was done the buses took us to National on 8th to keep the party going on their rooftop patio which was the perfect way to end the evening!

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A huge thank you to Mirissa Kampf, Cory Edwards, and Tyler Rygus for having me as an ambassador and for creating such an amazing event! I can't wait for next year!