Hidy and Howdy were the official mascots of the

1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Calgary 1988 were a multi-sport event held from February 13 to 28, 1988, with Calgary, Calgary, Alberta as the main host city. This marks the m ...

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. They were anthropomorphic twin

polar bears The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a large bear native to the Arctic and nearby areas. It is closely related to the brown bear, and the two species can interbreed. The polar bear is the largest extant species of bear and land carnivo ...

who wore western/cowboy style outfits. Students of Bishop Carroll High School in Calgary were used as performers during Hidy and Howdy's four years as the mascots of the XVth Olympic Winter Games. After the Closing Ceremonies, they retired from public life, only ever reappearing once for the filming of the 1993 movie ''

Cool Runnings ''Cool Runnings'' is a 1993 American sports comedy film directed by Jon Turteltaub from a screenplay by Lynn Siefert, Tommy Swerdlow, and Michael Goldberg, and a story by Siefert and Michael Ritchie. It is loosely based on the debut of the J ...

'' for a brief cameo appearance, since the film is based on the Calgary Olympics. Hidy and Howdy were also featured on various "Welcome To Calgary" signs located throughout the city of

, but in 2008 the local government had the signs removed and "respectfully transported" to

Canada Olympic Park Canada Olympic Park (COP), formerly known as Paskapoo Ski Hill, is a ski hill and multi-purpose training and competition facility located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, owned and operated by WinSport. It is currently used both for high performance ...

where they are now kept, in turn ending the duo's iconic place in the city.

References

1988 Winter Olympics Olympic mascots Bear mascots Anthropomorphic bears Fictional polar bears Canadian mascots Fictional characters from Alberta Mascots introduced in 1988 {{Mascot-stub