A note from Best of Calgary Founder: Here's to the class of 2020!

Photo by Kyler Nixon

Well, today – two months later than usual – we reveal our 2020 Best of Calgary class, but as we all know, these are not usual times.

When we first received the results from our annual survey back in late February – in which nearly 23,000 Calgarians cast their votes – we had no idea that a couple of short weeks later, the world would drastically change.

Shortly after we started to reach out to our winners in early March to gather content and take their pictures, everything in the city – and around the world – shut down. None of us knew when we would be able to eat at a restaurant again, shop for our favourite outfit, or workout at our neighbourhood gym.

For obvious reasons, we didn't release our 2020 Best of Calgary list on May 1st as we normally do. Cases in the city were spiking at that time, and the majority of our winners' businesses were still closed. It certainly did not feel like a time to celebrate.

Fast forward two months later and restrictions around the city are starting to lift. We're still a long way from seeing ourselves through this pandemic, but as many small businesses start to re-open their doors, we realize it's more important than ever to support "local."

We have published our full class of 2020 Best of Calgary winners, as was received from our survey partner Stone Olafson back in February based on your votes. Some of our winners are slowly getting back to some semblance of normalcy; some are just starting to re-open; and some, unfortunately, may never reopen.

Please read their stories, please visit their stores and restaurants when you feel comfortable doing so, and please support them as much as you can.

This is the reason we started Best of Calgary five years ago – to celebrate the businesses, organizations and individuals that make our city a great place to live. This year, of all years, we need to celebrate them more than ever.

Gary Davies

Founder
Best of Calgary