Mike Holmes, home improvement guru and TV host, will be the parade marshal for the 2009 Calgary Stampede parade. (CBC)

Celebrity Canadian contractor Mike Holmes, who rides in to save homeowners from renovations gone wrong, will be saddling up to lead this year's Calgary Stampede parade.

The host of the TV program Holmes on Homes will be parade marshal on July 3 for the annual procession that kicks off the 10-day Stampede, which celebrates the cowboy way of life.

Holmes is also a spokesman for the WorldSkills competition, an international trade and technology event that Calgary is hosting in September.

"Bringing in skilled trades and everything that we're doing together — and think about it, Calgary's building like crazy — perfect fit for me. I said, let's make it happen," said Holmes, who was sporting a white Stetson, after a news conference on Tuesday.

"Today I feel like a cowboy. I feel like the new sheriff," said the contractor from Toronto who has never attended a Stampede before.

Holmes admitted he's not as deft on a horse as he is with a hammer.

"It's not that I don't know how to ride. Like I can ride a motorcycle like you've never seen. But I get on a horse and … I think they get this idea that 'this Holmes guy doesn't know how to ride me,' so they take me on a ride," he joked.

Skilled trades competitors named honorary marshals

Eight Albertans who are competing for Team Canada at WorldSkills were also named honorary parade marshals.

"I can't believe it. Not a lot of people get to be in a parade and to be an honorary parade marshal is huge, especially with Mike Holmes," said Tiffany Vandermey, 21.

Vandermey, who just completed an apprenticeship at SAIT, will be competing in the painting and decorating category of WorldSkills, which features participants from 49 countries.

Last year's parade marshal was Patsy Rodgers, the first Stampede Queen in 1946. Other marshals have included royalty, rodeo champions and athletes and actors.

Organizers of the Stampede — billed as the greatest outdoor show on earth — said Tuesday they anticipate this year's event to be bigger than ever, with 100 new exhibits and attractions and a new grandstand show every night after the chuckwagon races.

David Chalack, president and chairman of the Stampede board, said he doesn't expect the number of visitors to drop this year despite the economic downturn. The Stampede has stepped up its marketing campaign this year, especially in Western Canada.

Chalack said ticket sales in the last two weeks before the Stampede this year are higher than the same period last year.