It’s time for Western Canada’s largest winter festival, the Festival du Voyageur.
The fest, which takes place in St-Boniface, Manitoba from February 18th to 27th, celebrates Manitoba’s French heritage and culture through entertainment, arts and crafts, music, exhibits, and displays.
The first Festival du Voyageur was a four-day celebration that happened in 1970. The festival has grown into a 10-day festival bringing together more than 90,000 people and packing an economic punch of almost $13 million.
2022’s Festival du Voyageur will be a hybrid, with both in-person and virtual entertainment.
On-site (outdoor) activities include sleigh rides, snowshoeing, children’s activities, maple taffy-making, and snow sculpting. There is also a jigging contest (enter either in-person or online) and even a beard-growing contest!
There is also a mobile concert trailer (la Boîte à chansons), with live musical performances also at the Centre Culturel Franco-Manitobain and free shows at The Forks in Winnipeg.
You can also attend from the comfort of your own home (and I might do just that). There will be performances shared on Festival du Voyageur’s YouTube channel, a special stream of Indigenous programming, a Virtual Kids Zone presented by the Éducatrices et éducateurs francophones du Manitoba, and more.
Image: Festival du Voyageur 2019 beard-growing contest, festival website
Catherine Fisher, blogger
