From Manito Ahbee to spray pads to giant bugs, plenty to do in Winnipeg this May long weekend

Victoria Day long weekend marks the unofficial beginning of summer. With daylight stretching later into the evening and an extra day off, many people will be looking for activities to fill their time.

The sun is expected to return Saturday after a couple days of cloudy, drizzly weather, and temperatures are expected to rise into the mid-20s in southern Manitoba on Sunday and Monday, so you'll want to get outside as much as possible.

Here's a quick roundup of what's happening in Winnipeg this weekend.

Bikes and spray pads

The City of Winnipeg's Sunday/holiday bicycle route traffic restrictions start this Sunday. On Sundays and holidays (like Victoria Day), motor vehicle traffic may travel for only one block on bike routes from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Four streets are designated as bike routes:

• Lyndale Drive, from Cromwell Street to Gauvin Street.
• Scotia Street, from Anderson Avenue to Armstrong Avenue.
• Wellington Crescent, from Academy Road to Guelph Street.
• Wolseley Avenue, from Raglan Road to Maryland Street.

The city is also opening some of its spray pads early this weekend. Starting Saturday, 13 spray pads will be open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day until September.

The spray pads opening include:

• Central Corydon Community Centre — River Heights Site.
• Central Park.
• Jill Officer Park.
• Machray Park.
• Park City West Community Centre.
• Provencher Park.
• Shaughnessy Park.
• St. James Assiniboia Centennial Pool.
• St. Norbert Community Centre.
• Vimy Ridge Memorial Park.
• Waverley Heights Community Centre.
• West Kildonan Memorial Community Centre.
• Westdale Outdoor Pool Spray Pad.

Other city spray pads will open on May 27.

Manito Ahbee

Manitoba's largest festival celebrating Indigenous culture runs all weekend, with music, dancing, and two massive powwows to enjoy.

This year's festival kicked off Wednesday and continues until Sunday. The event is expected to bring 10,000 people to Winnipeg's downtown this weekend, according to organizers.

The International Powwow and marketplace on Saturday and Sunday will include close to 800 dancers and is expected to attract thousands of visitors to the RBC Convention Centre.

Camping

The first long weekend of the warmer season provides an opportunity for people to get out of the city and visit some of the many parks across the province.

For the first time in more than two decades, the Manitoba government has lifted a ban on alcohol in provincial park campgrounds for the May long weekend.

Alcohol-free camping areas will continue to be available all season at a number of provincial campgrounds, the province said, with special family-friendly camping bays at Birds Hill and Grand Beach provincial parks.

Assiniboine Park Zoo

Beginning May long weekend and running all summer, the zoo offers daily chats on a wide variety of animal-related topics offered by zoo staff.

You can learn about butterflies, burrowing owls, camels and, of course, polar bears, plus many more subjects.

As well, the zoo's Xtreme Bugs exhibit — featuring 19 gigantic animatronic insects and arachnids — is now open.

For a complete schedule of daily zoo chats, visit the zoo website.

Filipino Food Fest

It's going to be a delicious weekend.

Food Trip — The Filipino Food Festival kicks off Saturday at Tyndall Park Community Centre. 

Organizer Lourdes Federis says the festival will serve up some tasty culinary discoveries for some, and a taste of home for others.

Aside from more than 30 food vendors — most, but not all Filipino — there will be bingo, wellness activities, live bands and some friendly competition.

In one contest, dubbed a "boodle fight," a spread of food — vegetables, rice, meats — will be laid out on a banana leaf to see which team can eat it all the fastest. In the second, non-Filipinos will be challenged to eat a fertilized egg — a popular delicacy in the Philippines. 

The festival runs 12 p.m.-9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.