Festival du Voyageur returns with changes for mild winter, but classics 'are still there': director

Manitoba's largest winter festival kicked off in Winnipeg on Friday, and the head of the event says organizers are "rolling with the punches" in light of a mild winter.

Festival du Voyageur attracts thousands to Winnipeg's St. Boniface neighbourhood each February to celebrate the area's fur-trading past and French culture through entertainment, arts and crafts, music, exhibits and displays.

The opening ceremony and musical programming are set to begin Friday night, but the head of the festival says there were 1,500 kids taking part in its school program earlier in the day.

With the festival now in its 55th edition, "we're getting to see that intergenerational passing down of the culture, of the language, and it's so important to keep that alive," executive director Breanne Lavallée-Heckert told Up to Speed host Faith Fundal in a Friday interview.

"We're really proud to be able to offer that space, and to create the space with the help of the community."

Lavallée-Heckert, who has attended the festival since she was a child and participated as a snow sculptor in the last couple of years, says a few new changes were made to the event this year, including an Indigenous art gallery.

"We also do have some snow sculptures in the park … but we also have some other sculptures made with different mediums, so that's also new this year. They're made with all recycled materials," she said.

"Because of that lack of snow this year, we've had to innovate a little bit, so there's lots of different elements," she said.

"But all the classics are still there: tents are still full of wood chips and fiddle music is still in the air."

One of those classics is the sugar shack, where Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a stop on Friday to pick up some maple taffy.

Lavallée-Heckert says festival staff were happy Winnipeg got some cold weather this week, but they're watching the temperatures closely.

For now, "it's great to see all of the people who come to Festival, who have been volunteering with us — working with us — since the beginning, who now have their children involved," she said.

"It's just great to see … kids inspired to play the fiddle [and] all that magic that happens at Festival."

The festival runs until Feb. 25. You can find a full schedule of events on the festival's website.