Winnipeg Folk Festival

The Winnipeg Folk Festival continues to be a magical musical event. Artists from around the world, with huge diversity of styles. If you can't find something you like, then you really don't care much for music and should find an alternate activity! While Mainstage events give you that 'concert' feel, the daytime Workshops are really where things happen...artists from various groups collaborating and creating sounds you'll hear nowhere else.

As she rode her bike toward me, I noticed writing on her shirt and so naturally I tried to read it. But as she pedaled closer, two things became clear. One, she was wearing a cape which flapped happily in the breeze. Two, the cape was the only thing she was wearing. The writing was, in fact, written on her bare chest. I certainly wasn t in Kansas anymore; I was definitely at the Winnipeg Folk Festival. The Winnipeg Folk Festival is many things. It is a four day (and night) outdoor concert with nine stages of music ranging from indie to bluegrass to Syrian electro-pop. It is a variety of vendors including local, vegetarian, and ethnic options, all of which serve their food on reusable plates. It is a chance to hear well known acts such as Arlo Guthrie and Edward Sharpe as well as discover rising stars like Quebec s sister-duo Les sueurs Boulay. And it is a place where my body and soul breathes easy each time I enter through the main gates, a place where barefoot toddlers run around giddily beside grandparent baby boomers and hip twenty somethings and teens who\u2014respectfully, away from others on the outskirts of the festival\u2014smoke cannabis in huddled circles. That describes my experience the first five times I attended this festival. But in 2015 I learned there is a whole other side of the festival that I knew little about. A place so vibrant and intoxicating in its lure that one festival goer I met this year, on the last day of the fest, had only made it into the festival grounds that last day. He had happily spent the entire festival until then in the festival campground. It is true I camped my first five years at a campsite within Birds Hill, the provincial park where the festival is located. There I had a private spot for my car and tent, my own picnic table, and easy access to a shower building. Sometimes at night I would hear drums beating from two miles away\u2014from the festival campground\u2014and it would annoy me at five in the morning. But otherwise at the end of the day I was mostly cut off from the festival and festival goers, as I sat around my campfire hoping to see the Northern Lights come out and play (which they did two of the years I spent at the fest). This year, though, I camped at the festival campground, which is right across the street from the festival itself. We all arrived the day before the fest to set up, and quickly a tent city emerged from the woods and prairie. We had our own grocery and convenience store, our own pizza truck, and a co-op campers could go to get bikes and equipment repaired. Then there were the shelters constructed of reclaimed materials. One notable example is an open-air gathering place filled with random instruments and topped with a disco ball. People gather here to jam and sing at all hours of the night and day. Another example is the costume library. Inside are boxes of wedding dresses and funky suits and angel wings and pasties. Fest goers wear these costumes around the grounds and into the festival itself. There is also a vintage tattoo shelter (they are stamped on you) and a bar (where I saw no booze but did see people smoking cannabis). These community-energizing places are staffed by volunteers and no money is exchanged. By day, the festival campground is a mixture of hungover hippies scurrying to attend a yoga session and teens on their bikes heading across to hear the music. But at night the place really comes to life. Tents and yurts are illuminated with a variety of lights making it a striking city to behold. People roam around from neighborhood to neighborhood. I stop at one area where they are playing music around a campfire. We are all drawn in by the fiddler whose fiddle and bow are illuminated with Christmas lights. As an avid fitness dork, I religiously wore my Up fitness tracker, and put on about 100,000 steps during my five days in Birds Hill Park. By day I would wander from stage to stage enjoying musical groups I d never heard of. By night I would wander the campground marveling at the place and making new friends. On Sunday, the last night of the festival, a huge storm rolled through swamping the fest grounds. Many of the festival campers pulled out early. Slowly I walked back to my tent feeling melancholy that the experience was over. Nearly to my tent, though, I passed a fire with several silhouetted people around it. I slowed to listen to the music they were making, and then one of them called me over. Boxed wine was shared. A guitar was put into my hands. I played and sung a tune by Blessid Union of Souls. I believe, I sang, love is the answer. I believe that love will find a way. Together this group of strangers and I sang some more, enjoyed some more wine, and parted with hugs. It was a fitting end to an amazing experience, one that doesn t really end, but lives on in my heart and in my plans to bring my newborn children here just as soon as they are old enough to walk and run around. I cannot wait to introduce them to the fest, where they can let the music and the spirit of the place blow them around from wonder to wonder.

Not only did he make me laugh for 10 straight minutes, he made me feel like I was 24 again. I still can picture him looking into the crowd and saying, "Hey, is that Gandalf's brother" However, the volunteers in Festival camping should not have removed the airplane seats! - Those seats were popular with dozens of campers and the owners shared them with everyone.

As always fun for the whole family. Arrive early to enjoy the day shows.

Winnipeg Folk Festival is phenomenal at music, bringing good people together and caring for our surroundings. Although I didn't see all of the acts I wanted to, I would say my favorites were this Italian band named Marco Calliari and Toots and the Maytals. Marco Calliari had an upbeat sound and the genre is described as Balkan, I highly recommend them. Toots is obviously reggae, they were dancing, having a good time and at the end they did some crazy awesome free styling. As far as bringing people together goes the Festival camp grounds is an environment where you can literally walk up to anyone and have a great conversation. Everyone is there to have a good time and you are pretty much guaranteed to find someone with whom you are going to want to keep on seeing every year afterwards. The things that really make me want to come back every year are the fact that they take your garbage, sort your recycling AND allow you to compost. You can't even find that in most people's homes let alone large events. One of my biggest deals is that I know what is happening in our world when it comes to waste and I can't ignore it or just not care. The WFF people seem to care as well and they seem to be doing something about it. I salute them for it. This is an overall great festival that will make you feel all around good. I will highly recommend this to anyone who would care to hear about it.

Fun to see the people and groups I grew up on! Even more fun to see the up and comers!! If people watching is another favorite, this festival is a great place to be!!

This was my 10th year and every year gets better. The numerous Genre's makes it so interesting and you never know who you'll be discovering next. I know what I'm doing next July and the July after that and so on, until I can't go anymore.

This is a very well run festival! Great music, good food. I do have some complaints too. The bleed over from one stage to the next was horrible at times, especially when I was listening to a quieter performer competing with something louder. Also on several occasions, I was unfortunate enough to be seated by audience members who talked or even yelled throughout the performance. And I thought there might be a way to organize the audience part of the main stage area using numbers or colors so it is easier to find friends and our own tarp again. Thanks

This festival has lost ground in quality. Until this year the sound has been amazing - and good sound outdoors takes some expertise. It has gone from being family friendly to parents needing to be aware of places they should not take their children at night. This year every stage was plagued with sound problems - mics turned off, feedback. Even main stage performers were obviously frustrated with their monitors as they pointed to their mics and pointed upward which seemed to indicate the monitors were off or too low volume. The Festival is not enforcing rules about dancers coming into the seating area in front of the stage. We get up early to get tarp tickets so we are close to the stage. Every night except the last we were forced out by people who flooded in from the dance area. People were stepping on our backpacks, tripping over our chairs and being quite rude. The festival is family friendly during the day, but It would be advisable for families with young children to stay out of the area in front of the main stage and take seating much farther back. It is not safe there and when the dancers flood in they are not watching for young ones. This year we moved back once things got scarey up front, and seating behind the sound booth seemed a much safer place to be. It is hard to imagine that those who began this festival would have envisioned a time or place at the festival where segments of the crowd behaved with mob mentality and young children and older folks would not be safe. Based on the number of drunk people at night alcohol has become a problem. In our early years we never -ever- saw drunks. We appreciated the fact that up until 2 years ago backpacks were checked for glass and alcohol. Now they pat the outside, as though that is some kind of security measure. When I asked why they were no longer checking backpacks I was told that beginning last year a new policy was implemented that the festival would be a welcoming entity rather than policing. They are leaving legal matters up to legal civil authorities. The result is that there are drunks ruining what used to be a family event. The festival changed when they started serving alcohol. At the beginning they at least pretended to control the amount a person could buy. Now you can buy as long as you have money. The beer gardens grew from one to two - the second one being so close to a stage that the noise from the beer garden overpowers the music if you sit on the right side of the stage. More bathrooms were added this year - to the stage that serves alcohol. Future plans show that the first beer garden will be moved closer to the main stage - into a space that presently has food vendors. I am sure the beer gardens provide substantial funds to the festival - but alcohol has changed the character of the festival forever. The Winnipeg Folk Festivals has a reputation for being one of the best volunteer supported festivals there are. The job the volunteers do is truly amazing. With a few exceptions here and there, the music quality is high. If they can get a handle on the alcohol problem and enforce their own rules on crowd control this event has the potential to return to the top-notch event it once was.

Seeing Dawes and Trampled By Turtles on a small stage was awesome!

The music was amazing. K.D. Lang rocked it and I was left with wanting to hear more from Matt Andersen. I laughed and cried while listening to Shane Koyczan and the Short Story Long. I was disappointed in The Be Good Taynas and the food venders. I really did not like the new traffic flow, people please open up the space and fallow the natural foot paths of your ticket holders. Oh ya, Trampled by Turtles and the Sunday "So Long Bannatyne, Hello Birds Hill Park" was a weekend highlight. The extra day sucked in that I had to take an extra day off from work, we traveled and the ticket price is getting out of my price range. The music was a treat and the new showers at Birds Hill were refreshing.

A great night. There were no vendors open. Very little merching to be had, so I was sad. Tegan and Sarah were an 8 /10 ( did not do an encore!). So minor crowd antics up front such as surfing and debris tossing. Didn't go too far though. A very good time was had!

Hayes Carll was amazing! I hadn't hear of him before but my boyfriend suggested we go and see him. Wow, I loved the show. I'm going to have to go out and buy all of his CDs now. I can't wait until he comes back to Winnipeg.

I am truly satisfied by the Winnipeg Folk Fest, it is something that can not be re-created anywhere else. This was my second year attending, and the a matter of whether I will attend next year wasn't even a question. I was introduced to the Fest by a a friend and their family who have been going for the last 15 years, and at first I did understand why it was such a tradition. After going I now understand. It's an incredible experience that's hard to describe, the music is amazing, and the staff always manage to surprise me.

First time at the festival had an amazing time. Music genres for everyone. Tried to soak it all in, weekend pass might be the way to go next year. Definitely coming back.

10 out of 10 would do molly again, the music was incredible and as always popes hill never fails to impress every year

It was a great year. The volunteers at both the festival site and the campground were really fine; helpful and engaging and fun. The music had a lot of great surprises and was a treat. Too bad some of the workshops were a bit muddled by a theme that the artists were unaware of, or by just trying to cram too many people onto one stage. That one is on the Artistic Director to think through for next year. Musicians meshing together and finding a theme to jam on is great. 15 people hammering away is a cacophony.

This is the most well done festival I've ever seen. Clean and green and the Music is always outstanding!! I live the fact that you bring your own water bottle and they have great water taps all over the place. Eating on a real plate is nice also. My only complaint is the wine served in the beer tent could be stepped up a notch. Stop with the crappy stuff. There is a lot of low priced wine that tastes good.

I've been attending the Winnipeg Folk Festival for the past nine years, and I've always been impressed. Although this was my first year not volunteering, I still had a great time taking in more music than any other year, and simply enjoying the Folk Festival vibe. Camping was quite an experience, as always! Be sure to bring earplugs if you can't sleep through singing and drum playing all night!

I thought that the volume of the music was too loud on Thursday and Friday night! I thought it was perfect Saturday night... Wasn't there for Sunday night! Does someone keep track of the decibel level?

An easy event to attend. Volunteers guide you to the best available campsites, parking, or whatever else you need.

I have been going to the Winnipeg Folk Festival for about 20 years. I love the Folk Festival; however, the evening Main Stage was often too loud and hurt our ears. I have a 3 1/2 y.o. and we had to leave quite often to get away from the loud music. You need to do a better job of monitoring the sound and getting it into tolerable ranges for everyone. Every single person I was with said their ears hurt, even if they were wearing earplugs. My daughter had sound reducing headphones and it still hurt her ears. Considering you could hear it clearly at the Bird's Hill Campground (including understanding the words), it seems that you need to take a look at the decibel levels of the sound for the comfort of paying patrons.

Though the acts for the main stage weren't as good as I had hoped all the other venues were excellent once again . . .

This was my first time at the festival, and I loved it. I loved being outdoors all the time, between camping out and all the musical performances. Developed an interest in several artists I'd never heard before, and heard a few familiar songs, too. The festival food is delicious. There's an area just for dancing, which I love, but also a lot of consideration for those who just want to sit an enjoy a show, too. Very safe, very family friendly. And I met great people. The entire festival was a reminder to enjoy the life - music, food, people, experiences - that's right in front of me. By the end of it, I wasn't even bringing my phone with me from the campsite. And now I miss all that sunshine and being barefoot all the time!

Once again, WFF was a great event to attend. The weather cooperated until Saturday afternoon, but everyone persevered on Sunday. Bonnie Raitt, Joan Baez, Elephant Revival, Ani DiFranco and everyone else had great performances. Ani DiFranco was commanding on Main Stage. Joan and Bonnie were at their best and unbelievable. A great event all around. All the changes have been for the best. Music, Camping, Parking, Food, People watching, all great!!!

I was sad that I missed Ani Di Franco Saturday night since we were drying out our tent from the wind and rain storm. I also had to miss Sunday since we bailed out and went to a hotel on Sunday when it looked like it was going to be a wet day for day and night concerts. We did however love the love that the festival spread even during the challenges of weather.

It was a wonderful, utopian weekend. No fear of robbery, no worry about being late, excellent food, spectacular people watching. Too bad about Sunday's rain since that meant that I missed Joan Baez. Now, a few minor complaints: The songs about getting drunk got a bit old. And I missed having at least an occasional Latin beat to dance to - Calypso Rose does not qualify as Latin, in my mind . . . Also, had to leave a couple of sites because the music was just too loud. Is there a decibel limit? If not, there should be, IMHO.

Folk Festival was great! One thing that could be improved is the ID check for the beer gardens. There were times the people I was with forgot their ID at the camp ground and had to walk all the way back so they could get into the beer gardens. It would be nice if you could show your ID once and then get a wrist band for the rest of the festival, which would allow you to enter the beer gardens. There was also a time where the porta potties were really full and over flowing. They filled up at night and weren't cleaned until the late morning/early afternoon. It was pretty awful.

Once again there were memories to be made at the Winnipeg Folk Festival. The site and the event are always undergoing change/improvement; it pays off. Such a wide variety of music, and a mix between people you know and can't wait to see--Bonnie Raitt, Joan Baez, Corb Lund, Ani Difranco--and your new discoveries--Danny Barnes, Shakey Graves, and Baskary all the way from Sweden! Mother Nature can take her toll, but it is still worth all the effort to get there an enjoy the shows.

ben harper was excellent! so happy to see he would come to Winnipeg.... and the fact that he acknowledged Buffy Sainte Marie was awesome!

what can i say-the wpg folk fest appears to be committed to improving every year. cant wait for the switch next year to more water fountains/taps and reducing the plastic. a few more portapotties would be nice. not sure how they keep the mosquitoes out but its amazing how the evenings can be enjoyed without those nasty bugs. quality of entertainment phenomenal again and the parking people got better every day with the mass exodus at nights end. kudos-cant wait for next year

No drunks, amazingly clean,very family friendly, and outstanding music. On top of this it the best run and orgnanized festival I have ever been to. The best there is!

This is a wonderful event that has seen many changes over the years as it grows. The changes this year were great. Music, food, tavern, hand-made village, and stage changes were great. The camping was good in the Provincial park as well as the biking. Bike Corral was great, we biked 4 times to the festival.

I have nothing but thankfulness for the festival. At my age of 67 and camping with one friend I felt desire at times to meet some older folkies. I love being in the festival campground and would relish an event for the senior or grandmother/father aged to chat and share some life stories...

Sunday's performances by the Flatlanders at the Winnipeg Folk Festival were simply terrific. From their completely enjoyable afternoon workshop with Hayes Carll, Matt the Electrician and Robert Ellis to a stellar headline stage performance on the Main Stage that evening, the Flatlanders were truly a highlight of the 2014 festival.

Wonderful event,great participants, great diversity of music The male Emcees were horrible and only embarrassed themselves. Sadly they are remarkable only for their lousy humor.

Not only is the music generally amazing the people are reason enough to go to this festival. It's a really amazing thing to be able to say to someone you just met, with complete certainty, yeah I will see you next year. I have heard from seasoned festival travelers that this is one of the top five festivals in the world. The only way I could see not going to this festival is if I didn't have the funds. There is so much love to be had at this festival.

Incredible event as usual - amazing efforts by not only musicians but volunteers etc. We loved it all with just a few tweaks needed. 1. Why the ridiculous, loud DJs/so-called comedians between acts? It threatens to ruin what is otherwise a classy event. Why not just play music, or even silence? 2. Why not allow some dancing nearer the stage on both sides? Too much of the energy is pulled away from the stage, especially with so many people putting down tarps and not even staying for all the music! 3. Beer areas should be able to hear the music! I know it is a family event and we don't want to encourage too much alcohol but why is it so wrong to hear the music in background while having a beer or two? Maybe even to see it performed on main stage? 4. Volume was a little much on a couple groups - particularly the bass etc.

I have attended this festival for a number of years and every time I go I have such a great time, the music is so impressive- the workshops with they combine different performs and instruments together and come out with some great sounds that will never be heard again or the same is to not be forgotten. The culture of the festival is another reason to enjoy it and relax. The food is so well done and such a variety with many healthy selections. They offer great activities for children of all ages. It seems to get better every year- but with next year being the 40th year I would bet it will be phenomenal!

This was my 38th WFF so it obviously is special to me. I have seen the prices continue to climb, the process for reserving a camping site (from the US) become more difficult, the service by the ticket volunteers become slower, the respect for a persons tarp diminish (I had a person I talked into going to the festival punched last year), the smoking of cigarettes increasing in restricted areas, the alarming increase in intoxicated people(all kinds of substances), and the general rudeness of people attending continuing to increase. Not to mention the intrusive sound from other stages, less $ spent on performers (it appears) and very clear corporate leanings. And....then you ask us to contribute more to help it to go in this direction. Any of you who have been going to the WFF for any length of time know I am not being too harsh--maybe a bit too protective of all it used to be. REMEMBER? I am finding it harder to justify all of the effort, energy, and expense it takes to attend.

The truest festival experience one can ask for in the 21st century. Conscience people listening to conscience music. Go once and you'll always return.

enjoyed the celtic & blues. great food... Unfortunately... I didn't see the regular ICE CREAM stand unti late in the Festival. The other ICE Cream Novelties... were a bit scarey... the sign saying to wait 5 minutes due to the Dry Ice.. Hmmmm The only MC I enjoyed was the Woman. (can't remember name) The 2 guys - (supposedly did Improv ) I didn't care for. They were not funny.. and seemed to just repeat themselves. TOO much yelling... and if we were asked once we were asked a 1000 times.. "SO ya having a good time?" or something like that. The other Male MC, was very anoying. He also was not funny & his yelling & voice... were difficult to listen to. How about using that time.. for worthwhile information. Like more information about the BAND we are about to hear, info reminders about the festival itself, information on the numbers of people each day.. or something interesting. Humor is good, too. If it is funny. .....

Bus service was incredible...easy to find and get around.

As a first time goer I really enjoyed the expierence and entertainment :) will definitely return next year!!