Winnipeg Folk Festival

[jff]

Have any of you been to this festival?   We're flying up from Atlanta to Winnipeg while this is going on and bought four day tickets.  We'll probably only go two days. depending on the schedule.

 

Anyway, looks like a really fun festival with a wide variety of music.  This will be the eighth province we've visited.

 

Any tips?  Winnipeg tips in general?

[theashtraysays]

paging our Winnipeg ambassador @TCP

[TCP]

Hello! Giant post incoming...

Winnipeg Folk Festival is great! My work flew me out to Winnipeg in 2018, in the middle of summer, before offering me a role out here. Going to Folk Festival is one of the first things I did in this city and I think it's a big part of the reason I fell in love with this city. Then when I moved out it was middle of December and that...... is a very different city.

WPG FF has a laid back atmosphere that feels very community grown.

There's a few things about it I would describe as archaic. Mostly the seating/standing rules. Most people at the festival have a low to the ground lawn chair. You can only stand at the "Big Blue @ Night" Stage (which is the party stage with a lot of indie rock acts), a tiny little sliver to the side of the mainstage at night (usually full of drunk teenagers having more fun than me), and then in front of the mainstage during the headliner ONLY. Last year we sat through a performance from Miley Cyrus' sister, who's a pop singer, so we could see Orville Peck. Security kept shouting down the youths who wanted to stand and dance, until Mikey Cyrus' sister told them to let them stand "it's a music festival!". 

Otherwise, it's sitting for most of the evening performances at the main stage, and all the day time stages. Usually this is fine if you're seeing someone mellow but I saw the New Pornos a few years ago on a side stage and it was disappointing to be forced to sit. Folk Fest is a non-profit with a lot of people who have been involved for decades. I have no proof of this but I am sure there's a few old-timers who refuse to budge on this issue.

The seat of your chair can't be any taller than 2 feet. I have an extra chair you're welcome to. I also am in the market to replace my chairs as they lean too far back for this tall guy, so if I do you're welcome to borrow three of them. Otherwise Canadian Tire should have something affordable.

If you want to get upfront for the mainstage, there's this ridiculous thing called the tarp shuffle and a surprising lack of information available online about it, but if this sounds appealing to you let me know and I can go over how it works.

The workshops during the day are really great. In my experience, the performers usually stray from the theme forced on them from the organizers, but you can hear acts perform together and doing off-the-cuff performances. 

Winnipeg in July can be very hot. Don't let the Winterpeg thing fool you! Bring sunscreen, shorts, etc. It can also storm. But storms won't stick around for long as there's no mountains so the clouds will just move along. So bring some rain ponchos. 

Food is expensive but the dollar will be working in your favour. Lines can get long during the dinner hours, so plan strategically. 

Are you going to have a vehicle? Be aware that even though it's called the Winnipeg Folk Festival, it's not actually in Winnipeg, it's about a 45 minute drive north. The good news is the park is beautiful. There's a bus you can take from downtown OR if our schedules align you're welcome to hitch a ride with me.

 

Winnipeg gets a lot of hate from the rest of Canada but I think it's a beautiful city with lots of character. It has its problems, yes, but what place doesn't? Summers are beautiful. I would recommend staying near The Forks. 

 

Feel free to shoot me a message if you want to talk more! 

 

[jff]

Thanks for all that info!  it's funny about sitting since everything I've seen about the festival emphasizes dancing.  Looks similar to a hippie or jam band festival from their vids.

 

Our plan is to stay Downtown (not exactly sure where yet, though we definitely plan to hit up the Forks area) and take the shuttle to the festival.  Not sure which days we'll go to the festival.   It's possible we'll rent a car so we have more flexibility.

 

I'll hit you up again as the date approaches.  Maybe we can meet up at the festival.  Would be fun to meet a VC'er in person.

[calvino]

On 4/2/2025 at 3:14 PM, TCP said:

Hello! Giant post incoming...

Winnipeg Folk Festival is great! My work flew me out to Winnipeg in 2018, in the middle of summer, before offering me a role out here. Going to Folk Festival is one of the first things I did in this city and I think it's a big part of the reason I fell in love with this city. Then when I moved out it was middle of December and that...... is a very different city.

WPG FF has a laid back atmosphere that feels very community grown.

There's a few things about it I would describe as archaic. Mostly the seating/standing rules. Most people at the festival have a low to the ground lawn chair. You can only stand at the "Big Blue @ Night" Stage (which is the party stage with a lot of indie rock acts), a tiny little sliver to the side of the mainstage at night (usually full of drunk teenagers having more fun than me), and then in front of the mainstage during the headliner ONLY. Last year we sat through a performance from Miley Cyrus' sister, who's a pop singer, so we could see Orville Peck. Security kept shouting down the youths who wanted to stand and dance, until Mikey Cyrus' sister told them to let them stand "it's a music festival!". 

Otherwise, it's sitting for most of the evening performances at the main stage, and all the day time stages. Usually this is fine if you're seeing someone mellow but I saw the New Pornos a few years ago on a side stage and it was disappointing to be forced to sit. Folk Fest is a non-profit with a lot of people who have been involved for decades. I have no proof of this but I am sure there's a few old-timers who refuse to budge on this issue.

The seat of your chair can't be any taller than 2 feet. I have an extra chair you're welcome to. I also am in the market to replace my chairs as they lean too far back for this tall guy, so if I do you're welcome to borrow three of them. Otherwise Canadian Tire should have something affordable.

If you want to get upfront for the mainstage, there's this ridiculous thing called the tarp shuffle and a surprising lack of information available online about it, but if this sounds appealing to you let me know and I can go over how it works.

The workshops during the day are really great. In my experience, the performers usually stray from the theme forced on them from the organizers, but you can hear acts perform together and doing off-the-cuff performances. 

Winnipeg in July can be very hot. Don't let the Winterpeg thing fool you! Bring sunscreen, shorts, etc. It can also storm. But storms won't stick around for long as there's no mountains so the clouds will just move along. So bring some rain ponchos. 

Food is expensive but the dollar will be working in your favour. Lines can get long during the dinner hours, so plan strategically. 

Are you going to have a vehicle? Be aware that even though it's called the Winnipeg Folk Festival, it's not actually in Winnipeg, it's about a 45 minute drive north. The good news is the park is beautiful. There's a bus you can take from downtown OR if our schedules align you're welcome to hitch a ride with me.

 

Winnipeg gets a lot of hate from the rest of Canada but I think it's a beautiful city with lots of character. It has its problems, yes, but what place doesn't? Summers are beautiful. I would recommend staying near The Forks. 

 

Feel free to shoot me a message if you want to talk more! 

 

 

 Why does Winnipeg get hate from the rest of Canada - sorry - just curious. (living in Chicago we tend to get a lot of hate from parts of the USA)

 

We vacationed for a week in the Tobermory, Ontario, Canada in 2019 and enjoyed it. We happened to be there during the Civic Holiday weekend - which we didn't know going in - made for a crowded beach one day, but it was a hoot.