Annual Manyfest lights up downtown

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A crowd fills the street with light at ManyFest 2011. (JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS ARCHIVES) Photo Store

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A brass band entertains on the street at ManyFest 2011.

LET there be light — whether it’s a vibrant glowstick worn as a necklace, a bike decked out with "blinky buttons" or a candle’s friendly flame.

At this weekend's third annual ManyFest celebration, in and near Memorial Park, one of the key events will be a "living parade of lights."

It's called Lights on Broadway, and it's a mass-participation glow party on Saturday night on the closed-to-traffic avenue.

If you're on foot, you can pick up a free candle in a plastic holder or free glowsticks, while supplies last. If you cycle to Memorial Park, you can visit a "lighting station" to get free gizmos such as "blinky buttons" to illuminate your bike.

At about 8:40 p.m., everybody -- cyclists and pedestrians -- will form a luminous procession to view light-based performances on the medians (more details are below in the event list).

If that sounds like a festive way to ward off the darkening days of fall, it's only one component of Manyfest, a three-day, all-ages celebration of "community, arts, entertainment and healthy living" organized by the Downtown Winnipeg BIZ.

The eclectic outdoor party was launched in 2010 under the name Five Events, One Weekend, drawing about 30,000 people over three days. It adopted the ManyFest title last year, attracting a crowd estimated at more than 35,000.

ManyFest costs about $175,000 to produce, not including the race put on by the Running Room and the Taste of Downtown Winnipeg festival organized by wine stores.

Stefano Grande, executive director of the Downtown BIZ, says his organization wants to draw people downtown not only to shop, work and live, but to play.

"It's a chance to appreciate our downtown from a different perspective," he says. "There's something for everyone...

"People will come out if you give them a good reason, and this is a great reason. On Saturday night for Lights on Broadway and the Big Dance, there's people of all incomes, all colours, all shapes and sizes, kids... It's just a good way to end an incredible Winnipeg summer."

Many people who attended Lights on Broadway in 2010 and 2011 cast votes for their favourite designs for permanent boulevard lighting that would, organizers said, eventually stretch from Main Street to Osborne Street.

The lighting plan had no funding as of a year ago, and the BIZ appears to have abandoned the proposed designs. It now says in a media release, "In 2012, a national competition for a permanent light-based sculpture for the Broadway median between Fort and Garry (streets) is planned to formally launch."

The Winnipeg Arts Council will be involved and the winning sculpture will be the first of many that will "animate" the Broadway medians, the release says.

Varying sections of the north side of Broadway will be closed to vehicle traffic this weekend.

Here's a look at the many components of ManyFest:

Taste of Downtown Winnipeg Wine & Cheese Festival

Friday and Saturday noon to 11 p.m.; Sunday noon to 6 p.m.

• Will your palate prefer the Chardonnay, the Cabernet or the Champagne? In Memorial Park, the Independent Specialty Wine Stores of Manitoba will serve samples of reds and whites, as well as gourmet cheeses. There's a premium booth that serves bubbly. Admission is free. Tasting tickets are sold in support of Winnipeg Harvest.

Giant Movie in the Park: How To Train Your Dragon

Friday at sundown, approximately 8 p.m.

• Bring a blanket or lawn chairs to Memorial Park and enjoy the free animated family movie on a giant outdoor screen. How To Train Your Dragon is a fantasy about a Viking teenager who befriends a dragon.

Lights on Broadway

Saturday, approximately 8:40 p.m.

• Get your free candle-in-a-holder, glowsticks or bike lights at Memorial Park. Or get your glow on before you arrive. Prizes will be awarded for the best lit-up participants.

Cyclists can choose to visit Omand Park, St. John's Park, Lagimodiere Gaboury Park, Lyndale Drive Park or Riverview Community Centre between 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. to get bike-lighting gizmos and pedal en masse to Memorial Park.

At about 8:40 p.m., the whole crowd will pedal and walk east on Broadway, turn around at Donald Street and head back to Memorial Park. Along the median during the procession, 10 entertainment zones will present performances that incorporate light, such as fire dancing.

Back at the Memorial mainstage, Lights on Broadway will end with a pas de deux by ballet dancers.

Big Dance on Broadway

Saturday, 4 p.m. to 11 p.m.

• You can sashay on the cement or polka on the pavement as Broadway becomes a community dance floor.

From square-dance tunes to hip hop to the African-contemporary beat of the NAfro band, there's a live act to inspire every dancer. There are two stages with well-lit street "dance floors," the Dance on Memorial mainstage and the Dance on Carlton stage.

Wear your red leather pants and big hair, because after the dance at 10:15 p.m., classic Winnipeg rock band Harlequin takes the stage for a blazing flashback to the early '80s.

Ciclovia

Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

• The fourth annual festival of green, active and healthy living takes over Broadway. Everyone is encouraged to walk, run or cycle from Assiniboine Park to The Forks and stop on Broadway for activities, environmental displays, free fitness classes and more.

You can check your bike, stroller or skateboard at the free bike-valet area in Memorial Park. If you've got a vintage bike, or just like to dress up in old-timey costumes like knickers, vests and argyle, join the Tweed Ride (see www.winnipegtweedride.com).

Ciclovia includes live music, a soapbox derby, bike polo, bike tune-ups, live art, yoga and much more. Burn off your morning latte at the Zumbathon (9 to 11 a.m.) in Memorial Park.

Winnipeg 10 + 10 + 5 Race & Two-Person Relay

Sunday 8 a.m. and 8:30 a.m.

• Three routes totalling 10 kilometres, 10 miles or 5 kilometres start and finish at Memorial Park. There's also a 10-mile relay. The 10K starts at 8 a.m. and the other events at 8:30 a.m. Cost to participate ranges from $30 to $70. Register at www.events.runningroom.com

Broadway Farmers' & Artistans' Market

Saturday 4 p.m. to 11 p.m.; Sunday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

• Vendors will sell wares such as handmade jewelry, crafts, baked goods and homegrown fruits and vegetables. Organizers says the farmers' market will be twice as big as last year's.

Minifest Kids' Zone

Saturday 4 p.m. to 11 p.m.; Sunday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

• Kids have their own mini-festival in Memorial Park with face-painting, a dunk tank, bouncers, bubble tables, giant sandboxes, inflatable slides, crafts, pony rides and other fun stuff.

For more information, visit www.manyfest.ca or pick up a pocket guide at the information booth on-site in Memorial Park.

alison.mayes@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition September 6, 2012 E6