People from France, Australia, England, the U.S. were amongst extras in a scene for the popular CBC series

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On Aug. 11, the Lesigneurs from Lyon, France, went on a mission that took them through the dusty Alberta backroads southwest of Calgary.

The family of four were on vacation and had been travelling through the Canadian Rockies when they were informed that they were in the vicinity of the famous Heartland Ranch.

This is the supposedly secret location where the CBC family drama has filmed many of its exterior scenes going on 20 seasons. The horse-loving teenage daughters of Michael and Melanie Lesigneurs — Kaylia, 15, and Romane, 13 — are devoted fans of the series and have watched all 19 seasons at home on Netflix.

Google Maps told them how to get the Heartland Ranch after they decided to conduct their own tour of Heartland locations. It is not far from Millarville, but not easy to find. Still, like many before them, the Lesigneurs navigated the dirt roads in the foothills and made it to the entrance of Heartland ranch. They were stopped by security but were allowed to stand at the end of the laneway and snap some photos of the famous Heartland archway.

To be clear, on most days this isn’t actively encouraged. Directions to the ranch are supposed to be under wraps and members of the locations team spend a good deal of time scrubbing its location from Google Maps.

So on any other day, the family would have eventually been sent on their way. But, unbeknownst to them, Aug. 11 happened to be part of a two-day fan-appreciation event that would see hundreds of fans from around the globe become extras on the ranch for the filming of Season 20’s seventh episode.

Fan days are annual events and have been for years. But this is the first time participants were allowed to set foot on the near-mythical Heartland ranch.

Usually the locations are more public, such as the Millarville racetrack. This year, hundreds travelled to a Millarville parking lot and were shipped on yellow school buses to the Heartland ranch. In the afternoon, they crowded onto bleachers to watch the filming of action-packed rodeo scenes and act as extras.

That morning, a member of the Heartland publicity team happened to be on her way to set with local members of the media when she spotted the Lesigneurs lingering outside the gate and asked if they wanted to be part of the experience. Since they don’t speak English, the family didn’t understand at first and stared blankly at the invite. Eventually, thanks to Google Translate, the family realized what was being offered. The teens were overcome with emotion.

“They cried when the girl told them they were invited,” said another fan from France later that day, who just happened to be sitting behind the Lesigneurs in the bleachers and volunteered to translate for Postmedia.

What began as an impromptu search for Heartland locales became a full day on set where they met other fans and were even singled out by cast members, including Shaun Johnston.

The actor was the first of the cast enlisted to chat up the fan/extras on Aug. 11. Since Season 1, he has played the lovable but gruff ranch owner Grandpa Jack Bartlett. Johnston is decidedly more gregarious than the TV patriarch he plays. Nevertheless, he began his meet-and-greet with the hundreds of fan/extras with a friendly but forceful plea.

“This is an experience for yourselves and you can talk about it forever and share it with your friends and all that stuff,” he said. “But you can’t tell them where you were. You can show them where you where, but you can’t tell them how to get here.”

The story of how the Lesigneurs made their way to the Heartland ranch may be unique, but Heartland has long had a global reach. Since debuting in 2007, it has garnered a broad and loyal fanbase from around the world. It is currently shown in more than 120 countries worldwide and fan days are open to everyone.

They are advertised through the Heartland website and through various social-medial channels. Fans must apply to attend and are usually chosen on a first-come basis. Once they are selected, it is up to them to find their way to Alberta.

On Aug. 11, there were fans from Australia, England, the U.S. and France. As extras, they gamely acted as rowdy rodeo fans when the cameras rolled. In between scenes, however, the crowds were probably the most quiet, serenely star-struck audience to have ever witnessed an afternoon of bull-riding.

For Leanne and Ayla Gale, a mother and daughter from Australia, participation required more than 31 hours of travel. They applied online, found out they had been accepted on July 31, booked flights on Aug. 1 and began their Alberta adventure on Aug. 8. They travelled from the suburbs of Brisbane to Sydney to Los Angeles and finally Calgary. On Aug. 10, they began their fan experience by visiting other Heartland locales, including the set of Maggie’s Diner in High River.

The day-to-day dramas of the Bartlett-Fleming clan have been reverberating in the Gale household for 11 years, ever since the family first discovered Heartland on Netflix.

Over 19 seasons, they have watched Grandpa Jack’s granddaughters Amy and Lou Fleming (played by Amber Marshall and Michelle Morgan) come of age on the ranch, fall in and out of love, get married and start their own families over 20 seasons.

The show underwent a major change in Season 14 when main character Ty Borden, who began the series as a brooding stable boy but eventually fell in love and married Amy, was killed off in episode 1 because actor Graham Wardle wanted to leave the series. It was easily the darkest chapter for Heartland fans. The Gales are still thinking about it.

“I miss Ty,” said daughter Ayla. “It was was heartbreaking. I wasn’t expecting it. I really did cry.”

Wyoming’s Laura Hills and her family have also become invested in the trials and tribulations of Heartland characters. She reckons she has watched all 19 seasons of Heartland eight or nine times, sharing the experience with her children and later grandchildren.

This was the second year in a row that she travelled from her farm near Riverton for the fan experience in Alberta.

“It’s surreal,” Hills said. “The fact that we’re at the ranch. that’s a dream for me. Because I’m kind of obsessed. Not stalker-obsessed, but . . . ”

Both Marshall and Morgan were among the cast members that addressed fans on Aug 11.

“This is no longer just a show, we have been in the living rooms of people around the world for two decades,” Marshall said in an interview with Postmedia. “So when I meet people, not only do they feel a very strong connection to me, but they have been there through the last 20 years of my life, which is almost unheard of. There are a few shows out there where the audience has been able to grow with the characters. But it is very rare.”

“To see people come and travel from all over the world just to be here for fan day and experience it, it never gets old. When I look up and see the smiling faces of an audience who are finally able to look behind the curtain of their favourite show that has been in their living rooms for many, many years and now they can come and be a part of it, that’s something that is very special. I think all of the cast understand and value that.”

Season 20 of Heartland will debut in the fall of 2026 on CBC.

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