Radium Hot Springs

Photo Courtesy of James Anderson

Come late fall, the village of Radium Hot Springs, as it goes with many mountain towns, slows down considerably. Many of the summer soakers, hikers, bikers, golfers, and the like, have made their journey home. However, some Radium “residents” never leave. In fact, come late fall, they start “raising the roof” with a headbanging show that always draws a crowd.

Radium Hot Springs – a beautiful Kootenay Rockies village located 260 km west of Calgary in the Columbia Valley – is known for many things. Obviously, the gorgeous natural hot pools (the largest in Canada) immediately come to mind. The exceptional golf – there are two spectacular courses in town - the hiking, the Columbia Valley Wetlands, the quaint motel-lined downtown “strip,” which boasts ice cream shops, candy stores, restaurants, mini-golf, and the like, are all staples on Radium Hot Spring’s “To Do ” list.

Throughout the year, Radium also hosts a number of popular events including the unique Headbanger Festival. But it’s not quite what you’re thinking. There are no eardrum-busting heavy metal bands, mosh pits, or wild, all-night parties. No, the Headbanger Festival in Radium Hot Springs celebrates (in a good, clean, family-friendly way!) the fall rutting season. And the bighorn sheep always put on quite a show.

“Watching the big rams engage in their head-butting rituals is an awesome experience,” says Kent Kebe, former manager at Tourism Radium. “It’s one of the most impressive displays in the natural world you can see in Western Canada.”

The festival incorporates lots of chances to witness the headbutting first-hand. (This banging of heads occurs when two rams square off and smash horns in a thundering display of raw aggression and dominance. The winner then becomes the leader of the herd and earns the right to mate with the ewes.)

Parks Canada presentations, guest speakers, photography workshops, interpretive hikes, and family art projects are other highlights of the weekend; one that is all about celebrating the iconic wildlife in Radium and educating attendees on how wildlife and humans can better co-exist.

“Radium is one of the few places in North America where a herd of bighorn sheep lives and roams freely in a residential