Critics often characterise Calgary as an oil-driven cowboy town, inferior to Edmonton (its provincial rival) in matters of high culture such as theatre or literature. But cowboy culture is culture nonetheless and in Calgary its roots run deep. The Calgary Stampede dates back as far as 1912 and the event continues to attract thousand of visitors to this most emphatic celebration of all things cowboy. So Western is the flavour of Calgary that the city and its surroundings have also been used in the filming of numerous Western movies, including Dustin Hoffman's Little Big Man (1970) and Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven (1992).

Having said that, Calgary also offers a great deal in the way of highbrow culture as well. It has over 10 professional theatre companies, staging shows that range from the traditional to the experimental. Both the Alberta Ballet Company and the Calgary Opera find their home at the Southern Jubilee Auditorium, 1415 14th Avenue NW (tel: (403) 297 8000; website: www.jubileeauditorium.com). The Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra plays at the Epcor Centre for the Performing Arts, 205 Eighth Avenue SE (tel: (403) 294 7455; website: www.epcorcentre.org) - a modern arts complex (built in 1985) with five performance spaces at the heart of Calgary's cultural district. The complex is also home to Theatre Calgary, as well as a variety of cultural festivals and competitions.

Tickets for most cultural attractions can be purchased through Ticketmaster Canada (tel: (403) 777 0000; website: www.ticketmaster.ca). Events listings can be found in the Friday edition of the Calgary Herald (website: www.calgaryherald.com), in WHERE magazine (website: www.wherecalgary.com) and in the free FFWD Weekly (website: www.ffwdweekly.com).

Music: The Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra (tel: (403) 571 0270; website: www.cpo-live.com) (offering classical music, popular symphonic music and a children's programme) performs at the Epcor Centre for the Performing Arts (see above). Between September and April, classical, jazz and contemporary music concerts are held at noon at the Calgary Public Library, 616 Macleod Trail SE (tel: (403) 260 2780; website: www.calgarypubliclibrary.com), while in summer, outdoor concerts take place at noon in Olympic Plaza, Eighth Avenue and MacLeod Trail SE. During winter Olympic Plaza becomes a public ice skating rink. The Calgary Opera (tel: (403) 262 7286; website: www.calgaryopera.com) performs at the Southern Jubilee Auditorium (see above).

Theatre: The Epcor Centre for the Performing Arts (see above) plays an equally important role in theatre. It is home to Theatre Calgary (tel: (403) 294 7447; website: www.theatrecalgary.com), which offers musical, comic and serious theatre every season, and Alberta Theatre Projects (tel: (403) 294 7402; website: www.atplive.com), which offers a programme geared more towards experimental and Canadian works. The Calgary Young People's Theatre, various locations in Calgary (tel: (403) 230 2664; website: www.cypt.ca), caters for children. Theatre in a more informal setting is offered by Lunchbox Theatre (tel: (403) 265 4292; website: www.lunchboxtheatre.com), a theatre company begun in 1975, which performs short plays for the lunchtime business crowd at Bow Valley Square, 205 Fifth Avenue SW, and claims to be the longest-running lunchtime theatre company in the world.

Dance: The Alberta Ballet Company (tel: (403) 245 4549 for box office; website: www.albertaballet.com) offers both contemporary and classical ballet and performs at the Southern Jubilee Auditorium (see above).

Film: Mainstream cinemas in Calgary are dominated by the Cineplex chain (website: www.cineplex.com), with locations scattered throughout the city. The most central of the mainstream cinemas is the Cineplex-Odeon Eau Claire Market Cinemas, 200 Barclay Parade SW (tel: (403) 263 3167). You can see arthouse and foreign films at the Uptown Stage and Screen, 612 Eighth Avenue SW (tel: (403) 265 0120; website: www.theuptown.com), and at the Plaza Theatre, 1113 Kensington Road NW (tel: (403) 283 2222; website: www.theplaza.ca). Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. Tickets are sold only at the box office, normally on the day of the performance. Listings for all the cinemas can be easily accessed online (website: www.calgarymovies.com).

Calgary is finding its place as an international movie location with the 2005 filming of The Assassination of Jesse James by Coward Robert Ford. Andrea and Antonio Frazzi's Almost America (2001) was filmed in these parts, as was Anthrax (2001) and Viva Las Nowhere (2000), in which Daniel Stern and James Caan took on the country music business. Emmys have recently been awarded to some of Calgary's film talent for projects such as Broken Trail and Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.

Literary Notes: Although Calgary has been the setting for numerous Hollywood films, its depiction in literature is not quite as rich. Nevertheless, much of the history and texture of Calgary and prairie life can be appreciated through various books. Perhaps the best of these is Hammond Innes' Campbell's Kingdom (1952), a little-known book by a popular writer that chronicles the intertwined dramas of love and oil-drilling in the Rocky Mountains.

Margaret Laurence, one of the most highly regarded and influential of Canadian writers, grew up in the prairie province of Manitoba and much of her work is set in the country's vast prairie - usually centred around the lives of women. Her most famous book, The Stone Angel (1964), is a story told by an elderly woman recounting her youth in a prairie town and is resonant with themes that dominate life in the west of the country.

Another well-known Canadian book chronicling the days of the Wild West is The Englishman's Boy (1998), by an author rapidly gaining prestige in the Canadian writing world, Guy Vanderhaeghe, who won Canada's Governor General's Award for this novel.

Canadian-born writer Aritha Van Herk teaches creative writing at the University of Calgary, and has written numerous books highlighting the history and culture of Canada. Her 1998 novel Restlessness is a dark mystery set in Calgary.