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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Barge festival a roaring success

By: Melissa Martin

Posted: 08/30/2010 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

Fred Penner performs at the 2010 River Barge Festival Sunday at The Forks.

The skies loomed dark, but the show stayed afloat: on Sunday, the River Barge Festival closed with a cloak of cloud, a drizzle of rain and a whole lot of sunny faces.

The five-day event, which kicked off on Wednesday, turned in its final round of free floating performances with a family-themed Sunday. In the mix: gung-ho hosting from Al Simmons -- who later donned a red-striped bathing suit to take a cruise over the Assiniboine -- and performances by Rocki Rolletti and the Junior Noodle Wave, the Jazz on Wheels crew, and more. "We had a home run with this event," Forks COO Paul Jordan said, minutes after kids' music icon Fred Penner played his last tune. "You can't help but be delighted with what it did."

Here's what's making Jordan smile: after six months designing and building the nine-metre by 12-metre barge-stage that bobbed in the Forks' port, various headaches and a host of changes from the original concept, a whopping 30,000 people turned out on the festival's first four days, with hundreds more piling up on the grass for Sunday's gigs.

The good news: the barge can be disassembled into components and stored for the winter, to be floated again next year. "Building a barge (was challenge No. 1)," Jordan laughed. "Try that sometime. It's not like you just order them from the hardware store. We went through a lot in designing that thing, and we got it right."

And they certainly didn't build it for nothing. While the 2010 River Barge Festival was floated with federal cash, courtesy of Winnipeg's status as the "2010 Cultural Capital of Canada," Jordan said organizers are eager to draw new sponsors and repeat the event in 2011. "The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra is huge to do this again," Jordan said, a nod to Friday night's headlining act.

Along the terraced port seating and damp grassy knolls, audiences agreed. "I think it's great," said Christine Brouzes, who huddled under an umbrella with son Sawyer Moorlagh, 3, listening to Fred Penner play "It's Raining It's Pouring" as the first drops dripped down.

"I hope this is an annual event. I love that the barge has great sightlines... we came with our own chairs because we wanted to sit down front. But even if we hadn't, we still would have had great seats."

melissa.martin@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition August 30, 2010 A5

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