{"id":260,"date":"2020-02-21T18:26:34","date_gmt":"2020-02-21T23:26:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/passionethistoire.ca\/?p=260"},"modified":"2021-04-12T12:50:01","modified_gmt":"2021-04-12T16:50:01","slug":"passion-histoire-blog-a-day-at-the-festival-du-voyageur","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/passionethistoire.ca\/en\/passion-histoire-blog-a-day-at-the-festival-du-voyageur\/","title":{"rendered":"Passion & Histoire Blog: A Day at the Festival du Voyageur"},"content":{"rendered":"

One could think that organizing an outdoor festival in the middle of a Manitoban winter is a challenge and drawing a crowd is one as well. But no, not in Winnipeg! The Festival du Voyageur takes place every year in February (2020 is its 51st edition) and for ten days the entire neighbourhood of Saint-Boniface moves to the rhythm of ”H\u00e9 Ho!” cheered by festival-goers.<\/p>\n

The Festival du Voyageur During the Day<\/strong><\/p>\n

By day, the Festival du Voyageur offers a variety of activities adapted for all ages and interests.<\/p>\n

The Sculpture Symposium<\/strong><\/p>\n

I visited the Festival on its second day so the ice sculptures weren’t completely finished yet. This year, there are seven participants from Manitoba of course, but also from Saskatchewan, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, the P\u00e9guis First Nation and Argentina.<\/p>\n

Photo credit: Kenza Zaoui<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Photo credit: Kenza Zaoui<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Photo credit: Kenza Zaoui<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The artists were at work despite glacial temperatures that day and I have to admit that I have a preference for the ice castle that seems to have come straight from the animated movie\u00a0Frozen<\/i>!<\/p>\n

Photo credit: Kenza Zaoui<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fort Gibraltar<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Fort Gibraltar is the reconstruction of a North-West Company trading post where furs were exchanged between Indigenous people and Voyageurs in 1815. Close to two centuries later, passionate costumed interpreters revive that era.<\/p>\n

Photo credit: Kenza Zaoui<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Photo credit: Kenza Zaoui<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Photo credit: Kenza Zaoui<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Among other facts, note that Voyageurs had an estimated lifespan of 38-39 years and their ration of choice was pemmican. But I won’t go into much detail, because I’ll talk to you again about Fort Gibraltar later in the year!<\/p>\n

Photo credit: Kenza Zaoui<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Tents<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Winter doesn’t scare Manitobans, and there are three ways to warm up at the Festival du Voyageur:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • find a spot near a fire (there are a number throughout the Park),<\/li>\n
  • drink a little Caribou (a sweet liqueur with a red wine base)<\/li>\n
  • or go inside a tent.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
    Photo credit: Kenza Zaoui<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Inside the Festival du Voyageur’s four tents, one can find something to eat, activities and concerts. I got to hear a number of artists from all over the world: Manitoba of course, but also from Acadia and Senegal. Beaus\u00e9jour is pictured below.<\/p>\n

    Photo credit: Kenza Zaoui<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    But wait, there’s more\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    It’s possible at the Festival du Voyageur to learn about Indigenous and M\u00e9tis cultures, notably with the Pow Wow that takes place every weekend day at noon, but also through workshops and gastronomic meals.<\/p>\n

    The Festival also offers a plethora of activities for kids: slides, sleigh rides, snowshoe hikes, storytimes…<\/p>\n

    And finally, there are all kinds of good things to eat at the Festival du Voyageur, from maple taffy to beaver tails for the sweet-tooths, poutine to tourti\u00e8re for those who prefer something savoury, and I’m forgetting some!<\/p>\n

    The Festival du Voyageur at Night<\/strong><\/p>\n

    The change in ambiance is complete once night falls. The whole park is illuminated and the ambiance beats to the rhythm of concerts until midnight.<\/p>\n

    Photo credit: Kenza Zaoui<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    A Festival-Goer’s Starter Pack<\/strong><\/p>\n

    To have a great Festival du Voyageur, you’ll need a ceinture fl\u00e9ch\u00e9e, warm clothes, the Festival app on your phone and I’d also recommend listening to the Festival playlist ahead of time, unless you really like surprises!<\/p>\n

    Photo credit: Kenza Zaoui<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Will you be there next year?<\/p>\n

    The Festival du Voyageur will take place from the 12th to 21st of February 2021!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    View a day in the life of a Festival du Voyageur goer through Kenza’s eyes. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-festivals-and-events","category-st-boniface"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/passionethistoire.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/passionethistoire.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/passionethistoire.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/passionethistoire.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/passionethistoire.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=260"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/passionethistoire.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2225,"href":"https:\/\/passionethistoire.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260\/revisions\/2225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/passionethistoire.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/passionethistoire.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/passionethistoire.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}