Winnipeg Folk Festival wraps up with sold-out crowds despite scorching heat

The 51st Winnipeg Folk Festival wrapped up Sunday with sold-out crowds enduring near 40 C temperatures as a heat wave settled over southern Manitoba. For the first time in the festival’s history, tickets sold out before opening day, with more than 80,000 people attending the four-day event despite the extreme heat. Festivalgoers said staying cool [...] The post Winnipeg Folk Festival wraps up with sold-out crowds despite scorching heat appeared first on CityNews Winnipeg .

The 51st Winnipeg Folk Festival wrapped up Sunday with sold-out crowds enduring near 40 C temperatures as a heat wave settled over southern Manitoba. For the first time in the festival’s history, tickets sold out before opening day, with more than 80,000 people attending the four-day event despite the extreme heat. Festivalgoers said staying cool became part of the experience.

“Lots of water, lots of shade, staying in the breeze whenever there’s a breeze, you gotta turn to it, give it a big hug,” said Olivia Nahuliak, who was attending her fifth Winnipeg Folk Festival. “We carry a lot of ice, we find the shade, every music that we love has the best shade,” said Korinne Kelly, who was attending her 27th Winnipeg Folk Festival. “Excessive attempts to hydrate, lots of electrolytes, lots of recognizing our limitations, and if we need to go rest, we need to go rest,” said Jonathon Proven, who was attending his first Folk Festival in 15 years.

“And wet bandanas!” Valerie Shantz, executive director of the Winnipeg Folk Festival, said attendees have learned how to handle the summer heat. “They’ve been through this before, they totally know how to dress for the heat and how to find shade when they need it and keep hydrated and that sort of thing.

And that’s really been the main challenge and it hasn’t kept people away. Amazingly we are still really enjoying a lot of people,” Shantz said. The festival, now in its 51st year, has built a loyal following that extends beyond the music, Shantz said.

“The culture of the festival is a huge part of our success, and the music is an important part, but our unofficial motto is ‘People and Music,'” Shantz said. For many attendees, that sense of community is what keeps them returning year after year. “This is one of the safest places you can imagine being.

I was here as a little kid, I’ve been here since I was an embrio, and like you see all these kids running around, you see everyone runinng around having a good time, this is a very safe place and a very good community. And everyone is here to have the best time they can possibly have, and they’re doing it,” Proven said. “I think it’s the community feeling and just the tradition around it.

There’s so many people that have been going for as long as I have and even longer and I just feel like it’s something we all look forward to every single year,” said Cam Enns, who was attending their 25th Winnipeg Folk Festival. “You can do it all here. Actually it is a very special thing.

It’s my Christmas of the year. It’s my favourite weekend of the whole year,” said Kelly. “It is definitely the community and the embrace of the Earth.

You come out here and everybody gets on stage and they say we gotta be thankful for the Mother Earth and I can’t agree more. We’re laying out in the grass all day like I said looking at the bugs, we’re enjoying the trees and the air.

This beautiful blue sky, not a cloud to see. It doesn’t get better than this,” said Nahuliak. The post Winnipeg Folk Festival wraps up with sold-out crowds despite scorching heat appeared first on CityNews Winnipeg .