The Winnipeg Folk Festival

Zane Vanderhorst-Sewell
Mar 7, 2018
4 min read

What is the Winnipeg Folk Festival? What to expect as I share some personal experiences and talk about some of the best concerts that come together in this amazing folk music festival at Birds Hill National Park.

A Photo I Took of my friend Lev a couple years ago at the festival .

A rising sun at the Festival Campground captured by me about 4 years ago before I wanted to be a photographer.

I have been attending the Winnipeg Folk Festival since I was a baby, to this day I still have a photo on y wall of my parents pushing me around in a stroller in 1998, and since then I have returned almost every year.

This year will be my 3rd year as a volunteer which I have found to be a very fulfilling, experience, and if your on a budget and still would like to attend the festival volunteering is a great way to save your money, with only three 8 hour shifts, you get a 4 day pass to the festival, and sometimes if your lucky, you might get early access to the festival. Volunteering also includes 3 free meals every day of the festival and a free camping pass if you are on the campground safety crew. All that for only three shifts! Sounds like a good deal to me.

The Poster from a couple Folk Fest ago.

The festival is celebrating its forty fourth anniversary this year as it has been running since 1974. The first Winnipeg Folk Festival where it all began was a free event hosted by the city to celebrate Winnipeg’s hundredth anniversary. The first festival lasted three days and attracted around twenty two thousand people. Now the festival running on its 44th year is expected to have 60,000 people in attendance with 2,800 volunteers and roughly 6,000 campers on site.

At one point in time the festival took place over a whole week but camping there for a whole week was a little too long for most campers and did ultimately did not result in more people attending the festival. The festival now only lasts for four days, but it is a four days that you will not regret.

Helicopter View of the festival.

In all my years of attending the Winnipeg Folk Festival I have seen many of my favorite artists and have discovered many more that I have come to love. Some of the most memorable artists I have witnessed while attending folk Festival are A Tribe Called Red, The Bahamas, The Shins, Begonia, Cat Empire, The Funk Hunters, City and Color, Elvis Costello, Edward Sharp and The Magnetic Zeros, K’NAAN, Mexican Institute of Sound, Milky Chance, Shakey Graves, and The Weaker Thans.

So from its inception, of one weekend in July, it has grown substantially, to a year round charitable and non-profit organization, which generates 24.9 million dollars in economic activity and almost 300 jobs year round.

If the music is not enough to get you to check out the festival, the food sure will! The Winnipeg Folk Festival features some of Winnipeg's best restaurants and venders, such as Chosabi sushi burritos, Bronuts, Grandmas Kettle Korn, famous whale tales, pop cart, Johnnys Sticky Buns, kawaii crepes, boon burger vegan burgers, and Lemon Heaven lemonade, but my favorite would have to be the Red Ember with their fresh oven baked pizzas.

If you are still unsure about attending the festival, let me tell you about the people. The Winnipeg Folk Festival seems to be a magical place where you leave your worries at hoe and step into a wonderland for a few days. As soon as you arrive you can feel the good vibes, everyone is extraordinarily friendly and it is impossible not to make a new friend. Whether you are by yourself or in a group you are bound to have an amazing time. The festival is very inclusive and I have never seen a fight or questionable behavior and if you start to act inappropriate someone wont be afraid to call you out. The festival is very family friendly even though there is drug use. most of the people involved in this are not trying to get fucked up but rather trying to enhance the music experience and expand their mind, which is why the festival is still kid friendly.

Folk Fest in the 80’s

My first year camping at the festival I was with a large group along with the second year, but ever since I have discovered that I would much rather camp alone and make new friends each year. Its not that I did not have a good time when I was with a group, I just find it incredibly refreshing to go to an incredible place for a few days, leave the world behind, and meet a ton of new people. I make amazing new friends each time I go! This is why the festival the festival is such a magical experience for me, and I hope to see you there this summer.

Links to bands websites

A Tribe Called Red- http://atribecalledred.com/

Bahamas- http://www.bahamasmusic.net/

Begonia- https://hellobegonia.bandcamp.com/

Cat Empire- https://thecatempire.com/

The Funk Hunters- https://thefunkhunters.com/

City and Color- https://www.cityandcolour.com/

Elvis Costello- http://www.elviscostello.com/

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zero’s- https://www.edwardsharpeandthemagneticzeros.com/

K’NAAN- https://www.britannica.com/biography/KNaan

Mexican Institute of Sound- https://institutomexicanodelsonido.tv/

Milky Chance- http://www.milkychance.net/