Winnipeg festivals
Festival du Voyageur Ten days in Feb w festivalvoyageur.mb.ca. St Boniface’s French-Canadian heritage is honoured annually in the Festival du Voyageur, ten days of February fun, whose events lead up to a torchlit procession and the Governor’s Ball, where everyone dresses in period costume.
Pride Winnipeg Late May wpridewinnipeg.com. Large LBGT festival with a colourful parade and dozens of associated events and performances over nine days.
Winnipeg International Jazz Festival Mid-June w jazzwinnipeg.com. The biggest of Winnipeg’s ambitious summer programme of open-air concerts is this nine-day jazz festival.
Winnipeg Folk Festival Early July w winnipegfolkfestival.ca. A three-day extravaganza featuring over a hundred concerts, held at Birds Hill Provincial Park, 25km northeast of the city.
Winnipeg Fringe Festival Late July w winnipegfringe.com. A ten-day event of theatrical productions, held in the Exchange District.
Folklorama Early-Aug w folklorama.ca. Apart from the music festivals, the biggest festival in Manitoba celebrates Winnipeg’s multiethnic population. The festival has over forty pavilions spread across town, each devoted to a particular country or region.
Manito Ahbee Late Aug wmanitoahbee.com. One of North America’s largest powwows, which celebrates Aboriginal culture in music, dance, arts and crafts.
Winnipeg tours
You can find a good selection of self-guided walking, cycling, driving and paddling tours on Routes on the Red website (w routesonthered.ca), a local nonprofit marketing organization. Their leaflets can also be picked up at The Forks’ Explore Manitoba Centre.
Heartland Tourst 204 989 9630, w heartlandtravel.ca. Interesting and offbeat tours of Winnipeg look at its rock’n’roll era, its dancehall history, hauntings and, most rewarding of all, a look at the hidden meanings of the architecture of the Legislative Building by an author of a best-seller on the subject.
Historic Exchange District Walking Tourst 204 942 6716, w exchangedistrict.org. Interesting guided tours of the Exchange District leave from the Old Market Square between June and August. The choice is between standard 1hr 30min district tours and themed 45min offerings. Advance phone reservations required.
Muddy Water Tourst 204 898 4678, w travelmanitoba.com/listings/muddy-water-tours/. Self-proclaimed “dark tourism specialists”, and certainly offbeat, with theatrical and historically themed tours for kids ($3) to a 3hr attempt to communicate with the dead ($29).
Parks Canada Walking Tourst 204 983 6757, w parkscanada.ca/forks. A “6000 Years in 60 Minutes” walking tour (late May–Aug Mon–Fri 11am & 1pm; $4) sees costumed guides tell six thousand years of history in an hour and offers a geocaching kit to help you unearth the past for yourself ($6). For both enquire at the Explore Manitoba Centre.
Splash Dasht 204 783 6633, w splashdash.ca. River boat tours (daily every 15min: mid-May to Aug 10am–sunset; Sept–mid-Oct 10am–sunset; 30min; $11) from a quay by The Forks; water buses ($3.50 one way) between eight different spots along the river; canoe rental (daily 10am–9pm; $18/hr or $40/day).