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With all due respect to the World Federation of Great Towers—an organization to which the Calgary Tower has belonged since it opened—does anyone really care? After all, in the urban context, as in basketball, vertical dominance isn’t everything.

The Calgary Tower is, in part, the product of a global trend that started in Germany with the 1961 opening of the world’s first revolving restaurant. It was an expensive gimmick, quickly adopted by dozens of cities, including Honolulu, Seattle and Cairo, in which a fresh view every few minutes constituted a sophisticated dining experience.

These days, quality of menu trumps an evening of watching the city orbit your table once every hour—and yet, there’s something undeniably special about taking an elevator to dinner. Countless Sweet 16 lunches, first sips of Champagne, Mother’s Day brunches and big-oil mergers have been celebrated in Calgary’s most iconic dining room.

The Calgary Tower may not be the tallest, but it’s idiosyncratically, lovably ours. It’s our Olympic torch and our brightest Flames fan. It lit up like a rainbow for the Children’s Hospital’s 10th birthday, welcomed the Aga Khan, reminds us to give to charitable causes, and can be counted on to announce Calgary Pride, Halloween, Pink Shirt Day, Hannukah and Christmas.

On Saturday, June 30, it’s our turn to fete this little tower that could (it does still own the title of highest observation deck in the world, thanks to being 1,200 metres above sea level). From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., a ’60s-themed block party at its base will feature food trucks, face painting, free ice cream, music from BassBus, photo ops and half-price admission to the observation deck.

Calgary doesn’t need to win the tall contest; we’ve been there, done that. Now let’s show ’em how to party like it’s 1968.