Winnipeg Folk Festival
Winnipeg, MB, Canada
Winnipeg, MB, Canada
Manitoba
49.895136
-97.13837439999998
Description
Festival Info
The 2017 Winnipeg Folk Fest takes place at Birds Hill Provincial Park, Aug 6-9.
First Time Festing?
So, you’re thinking about coming to the Winnipeg Folk Fest? Ready to enjoy the outdoors, relax, meet some friendly music-lovers and discover your next favourite artists? Welcome! Let’s start you off by giving you the low-down on what to expect so you can come prepped and ready for fun.
The People
There’s something magical about Folk Fest that makes everyone who attends feel like their best selves. A special community forms at the festival, people of all ages that you’ve never met feel like neighbours and friends, making the atmosphere welcoming and relaxed.
The festival is run by 18 permanent and contract staff and overseen by a volunteer board of 14 very nice people – it’s a nonprofit AND a charity.
Over 2,700 volunteers help run the four-day festival. Many have been volunteering with the festival for 20, 30 and 40 years! They are happy to help you at any turn.
The Music
More than just folk! We have a little something for everyone with a range of roots, world music, indie-rock, electronic, country, Celtic and Americana genres. And many of the 75+ artists in our lineup are playing in Manitoba for the very first time!
We have nine stages throughout the festival site. During the day, these stages are home to concerts, workshops and family programming. In the evenings, Main Stage is where our headlining bands play while Big Blue @ Night has more alternative music to groove to.
Daytime workshops are a huge part of the “discovery” aspect of Folk Fest, for festival goers and artists alike. Workshops allow artists to jam with other artists they may have never had the opportunity to collaborate with and YOU get to discover new music as part of a one-time-only experience!
Award-winning Family Festivities. The Chickadee Big Top is home to live children’s music and fun Friday through Sunday. Located right beside it is the Family Area with games, crafts, reading, face-painting, puppetry and more. Families spend quality time together here throughout the weekend. But please note that this is not a drop-off area for kids to be looked after by volunteers.
On The Festival Site
Download the Winnipeg Folk Fest app before you get to the festival for artist bios, schedules, a site map and other useful information.
Join us in the Festival Village – a great meeting place and home to food vendors, a Tavern, a music store with festival and artist merchandise, ATMs and audience services where you can get a paper program book, charge your phone and check your bag if you don't want to carry it around all day. This area is also home to the Hand-Made Village where nearly 50 artisans from across Canada sell their handcrafted works including jewelry, clothing, pottery and musical instruments!
Keep a Winnipeg Folk Fest tradition alive! Get to the festival grounds early to participate in the tarp shuffle to claim your spot for the evening at Main Stage. Chairs no taller than two feet are welcome in the seating area. Chairs taller than two feet and wheelchairs go to the left of the centre seating area. You’ll find a wheelchair charging station there as well. And if you want to get up and dance, there are big spaces to the right of the centre seating area and behind the Main Stage sound booth.
Lots of space for all! You only have to be shoulder-to-shoulder with other folks if you want to be. There is lots of room for you to spread out and enjoy the music and atmosphere.
Gotta go? We have many well-maintained porta-potties on site stocked full of toilet paper! There are over 150 of them, conveniently located and accessible so there’s never much of a wait.
What to Bring
Stay hydrated. Environmental sustainability is top priority at our festival so we do not sell bottled water. Be sure to bring your own water bottle from home - or buy one at the music store in the Festival Village - and fill up on cool and clean water. Our taps on-site are marked with tall blue flags.
Bring snacks. You must be nourished to fully enjoy the music! Bring your own snacks or buy from any of our 15 delicious food vendors with local, organic and fair trade food – including vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options – for great prices.
Be prepared for all weather conditions. This includes hats and sunblock for the hot sunny days and hoodies, raincoats and boots in case of cooler weather or rain.
Get ready to be on your feet. The site is big and the last thing you want is a painful blister to ruin your weekend so make sure you have good walking (and dancing!) footwear.
Get charged up. Using your phone to access the festival app, connect with friends and snap great pictures is going to drain the battery. Bring your phone’s charging cord and drop your phone off with the volunteers at the MTS Charging Station for free. They’ll look after it for you while you enjoy the music.
Bring cash. We do have ATMs on site but if you’re looking to avoid lineups, come with cash in your wallet for the Tavern, food vendors and the Hand-Made Village as not all of them take credit or debit cards.
Transportation to Birds Hill Provincial Park
The Folk Fest Express is a popular, free bus service that runs every half- hour from downtown Winnipeg to Festival Drive in Birds Hill Park. It takes just under an hour and all you need is a ticket or wristband to ride!
If you’re driving to Birds Hill Park it only takes 20 minutes from the north perimeter of the city up Highway 59. We encourage carpooling! Our parking area is divided into two lots – the east lot and the west lot – and both require a brief walk to the gate. Fair warning: be prepared for a short wait at the end of the night as it takes time to make sure all attendees get out of the park safely.
We facilitate a Bike Ride to Site for campers from downtown Winnipeg to the festival where we will haul your gear out and back.
Lineup:
City and Colour • The Shins • Feist Brandi Carlile • Barenaked Ladies • Bruce Cockburn Daniel Lanois • Margaret Glaspy • Damien Jurado • Foy Vance • John K. Samson & The Winter Wheat • John Paul White • The Felice Brothers • Murder By Death • Charlotte Cardin • Graham Parker Duo feat. Brinsley Schwarz • Peter Yarrow • Big Thief • Cracker • Andrew Combs • Mbongwana Star • Esmé Patterson • Begonia • Arum Rae • Joey Landreth • Chali 2na & The House of Vibe • DakhaBrakha • Aoife O'Donovan • Paper Bird • Red Knuckles and the Trailblazers • Choir! Choir! Choir! • Bryan Sutton and David Grier • Jonah Blacksmith • RURA • Tim O'Brien • Desi Sub Culture • MarchFourth • Old Man Luedecke • Hot Rize • Camper Van Beethoven • Sun K • The Suitcase Junket • Wesli • Danny Barnes & Nick Forster • Christopher Paul Stelling • DJ Shub • Cécile Doo-Kingué • Paul McKenna • 100 Mile House • Luke Roberts • Tavis E. Triance & The Natural Way • Carly Dow • Ten Strings and a Goat Skin • Richard Inman • Archie Roach • Bon Débarras • The Small Glories • Pete & Joan Wernick • Clinton St. John • Bubba B The MC • Marisa Anderson • Mohsin Zaman • True Blues feat. Corey Harris & Alvin Youngblood Hart • Jayme Stone's Folklife • Castlemoon Theatre • Double the Trouble • Diyet • Seanster and the Monsters • The Swinging Belles • Mr Mark
This listing has no upcoming events
Start:
2017-08-04T00:00:00-05:00
End:
2017-08-07T00:00:00-05:00
Category
Music
Tickets
Single day pass
118.9
CAD
4 day pass general admission
286.18
CAD
Adult Gate 4 Day with Festival Camping Ticket
404.5
CAD
dult Gate 4 Day with Quiet Camping Ticket
479.98
CAD