Winnipeg Folk Festival

The Winnipeg Folk Festival is a summer folk music festival held in Birds Hill Provincial Park, near Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It features a variety of folk artists from all around the world, as well as a number of local folk performers.

Begun by Mitch Podolak and Colin Gorrie in 1974 as a one-time event to celebrate Winnipeg's centennial, it has grown into a major annual festival attracting crowds of 45,000 over four nights and requiring the efforts of over 2,200 volunteers. The festival begins Thursday night and runs through Sunday night.There is a large variety of music to be experienced each year, including bluegrass, Celtic, world, blues, old time, French Canadian, contemporary singer-songwriters, and children's performers. At the festival are such attractions as the Handmade Village and the Festival Music Store. Vendors come from all over Canada and the United States to sell items such as handmade jewelry, natural soaps, pottery and musical instruments.

As with other folk festivals in North America, performances during the day are held at several smaller stages where performers are presented in thematic concerts and workshops resulting in very intimate performances. The stages, are named Big Bluestem, Little Stage on the Prairie, Bur Oak, Green Ash, Snowberry Field, Shady Grove, Chickadee/Firefly Palace (children's stage), and the Northern Lights Main Stage. There is also a stage set at the base of Pope's Hill in the festival campground for late night performances. Each evening all other stages, except for the Firefly Palace and the campground stage shut down for the performances at Main Stage.

Many regular attendees of the festival camp in Birds Hill Park. The festival camping area resembles a party, with drumming and music often running until dawn each day. A quiet camping area is also available, as well as the Provincial Park campground.

External links

* [http://www.winnipegfolkfestival.ca/ Official web site]

* [http://trinimansblog.blogspot.com/2005/07/winnipeg-folk-festival-july-9-2005.html 2005 review]