Winnipeg 
Western Canada’s largest winter festival, Festival du Voyageur, is bringing its warmth to Winnipeg for the next 10 days.
Credit: Passion Histoire Saint-Boniface
This year’s festival will be held beginning Louise Riel Day weekend from February 16 to 25, 2024, with over 150 artists performing.
This yearly festival celebrates Manitoba’s fur-trading past, its unique French and Métis heritage and culture through music, arts, entertainment, competitions, and displays.
The festival will include popular activities like skating, fiddling and jigging contests, beard-growing contests, and voyageur games.
Admire gigantic snow sculptures, live music gigs, children’s activities, horse sleigh rides, snowshoe trails and workshops, slide the toboggan hill, sample French-Canadian food, listen to folklores and music, and meet historical characters of 1815 at Fort Gibraltar.
Don’t miss the Pea Soup Competition at Brasserie du Bourgeois on Sunday, February 25th! Sample and vote for your favorite soup among competitors like Marion Street Eatery, Nonsuch Brewing Co., and more.
Music forms a large part of the festival and will be performed by popular local artists mainly drawn from across various Indigenous communities.
This year’s dynamic line-up includes The Strumbellas, K’naan, Justin Lacroix Band, Ruby Chopstix, Andrina Turenne, Apollo Suns, HAVS, Dust Rhinos, Jocelyne Baribeau, La Légende de Calamity Jane, Amos the Kid, Alain-François, Men in Kilts, Wally Landreth and Oh! Sparkletones, Al Simmons, Harry Manx, The JD Edwards Band, Mulvey Street Maniacs, among others. Also performing at the festival stage are popular tribute bands Damn the Torpedoes, Squid Squad, Drink 182.
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Take in the warmth of the heated tents or the mesmerizing glow of the infinity fire. Delight your taste buds with sticky maple taffy, savour a community luncheon (ticketed) featuring Pea Soup, Tourtière, Bannock, Coleslaw, Sugar Pie, and Coffee/Tea.
Festival du Voyageur
Day tickets from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., evening tickets valid from 6:00 p.m. to midnight, or an all-day pass are available to buy and are priced from $5 to $40. Festival admission will be free for children five and under. Alternatively, you can buy a voyageur pass for $25 to $65.
Limited parking will be available at Parc du Voyageur for $10. However, parking is limited, and it is advised that festivalgoers use shuttle buses, carpool or a cab service while attending the festival.
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There is lots of fun to be had, with lots to eat, see and do! Plan your trip around this big kitchen party that infuses both the traditions of the voyageur past and the vibrancy of present-day Manitoba.
