Festival du Voyageur 2020 goes into hibernation under sunny skies — until next winter
Dana Hatherly | CBC News | Posted: February 24, 2020 3:30 AM | Last Updated: February 24, 2020
Winnipeg's 10-day winter festival wrapped up on Sunday afternoon
A two-week long winter festival to celebrate French culture is going back into hibernation.
On Sunday, Festival du Voyageur wrapped up its 51st season at Winnipeg's Fort Gibraltar in the heart of St. Boniface.
"Things came off to a really great start this year," said communications director Nicolas Audette.
Following a short-lived deep freeze in the city, Audette noted the abnormally mild late-February conditions during the final weekend. "We saw many people joining us at the park for concerts, for children's activities, for our children's playground [and] the slide," he said.
Organizers are still tabulating overall turnout over the 10 days. Audette estimated attendance would be similar to the previous year. Park capacity was slightly higher than last festival, which may boost the numbers.
"We're just overwhelmed with lots of joy and people enjoying the time, enjoying the weather and really celebrating our community here," Audette said.
After more than half a century of celebrations, this year represents a new chapter for the festival, he said.
For example, Festival organizers dipped into a newer form of social media marketing through TikTok — a short-form video app popular among young people — to engage youth. The festival's account has more than 13,000 followers and 344,000 likes. It features videos of its mascot goofing around and clips from the sugar shack, which serves traditional rolled-up maple taffy on a stick.
Other changes involved creating a new logo, boosting Indigenous programming and inclusiveness, and lowering waste and emissions.
"We look forward to taking that ... even further next year for a 52nd edition."
Watch the story behind Festival's new logo:
Known for celebrating French and Métis music, food and dance, the Festival is not exclusively Franco-Manitoban.
"We are a bilingual festival. We are a French fesitval. But you don't have to be Francophone. You don't have to be Métis or Indigenous to come celebrate with us," Audette said.
"It's a place that's open and welcome to everyone."
As part of those initiatives, organizers pushed for more Indigenous music and culture. They hired a full-time coordinator to plan Indigenous programming and include culturally relevant artists and services, such as Bear Clan Patrol on security.
Watch the history of the Métis sash:
In addition to modifying the tent layout at the grounds, Festival tested out new waste reduction initiatives, including its first compost program.
Audette explained "eco-voyageurs" played a role in patrolling the new waste sorting system.
"We were doing a lot of educating and working with festival goers to reduce our ecological impact and sort trash with composting and cans, make sure everything's properly sorted so we can reduce the amount of waste that's created," he said.
A group of University of Manitoba engineering students are studying the temperatures in the tents. They will be making recommendations to the festival in a report to limit the amount of propane used to heat the pavilions and the overall emissions produced.
Audette said they have likely reduced their ecological footprint, which was a big priority this year. Organizers are still crunching the data to back that up.
Hibernation mode
The last festival goers left the grounds late Sunday afternoon under sunny skies.
In preparation of next year, the Turennes, a local Métis family and long-time festival goers who own and operate Aikens Lake Wilderness Lodge, a fly-in fishing destination in Manitoba, were welcomed as the new official Festival family.
Classic snow and ice sculptors around the city will out live the festival itself — until the changing seasons bring them to rest, too.