Gallery: HéHo! Let’s brave the cold By: Photography by John Woods / Free Press Posted:

Extreme cold warnings greeted the start of the 2025 edition of the Festival du Voyageur but visitors were undeterred. Dressed for the weather, festival goers were treated to snow sculptures, glimpses of the fur trade life, music, and maple taffy on Sunday. The weather forecast is calling for milder temperatures for the rest of the week as the festival finishes up next weekend.

Read this article for free:


or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Subscribe and receive a limited-edition Free Press branded hat or tote.

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $205*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/02/2025 (605 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Extreme cold warnings greeted the start of the 2025 edition of the Festival du Voyageur but visitors were undeterred. Dressed for the weather, festival goers were treated to snow sculptures, glimpses of the fur trade life, music, and maple taffy on Sunday. The weather forecast is calling for milder temperatures for the rest of the week as the festival finishes up next weekend.

Visitors listen to musicians performing from Boîte à chansons, the festival‘s mobile concert trailer. (John Woods / Free Press)
Visitors listen to musicians performing from Boîte à chansons, the festival‘s mobile concert trailer. (John Woods / Free Press)

Visitors check out the trading post and learn about the fur trade. (John Woods / Free Press)
Visitors check out the trading post and learn about the fur trade. (John Woods / Free Press)

Ça Claque! performs at the Cabane à sucre venue. (John Woods / Free Press)
Ça Claque! performs at the Cabane à sucre venue. (John Woods / Free Press)

A family examines the Forest Of Hearts snow sculpture. (John Woods / Free Press)
A family examines the Forest Of Hearts snow sculpture. (John Woods / Free Press)

A snow sculptor adds the finsihing touches to a sculpture. (John Woods / Free Press)
A snow sculptor adds the finsihing touches to a sculpture. (John Woods / Free Press)

The Libellule S‘envole snow sculpture is one of several snow sculptures on display during the festival. (John Woods / Free Press)
The Libellule S‘envole snow sculpture is one of several snow sculptures on display during the festival. (John Woods / Free Press)

Stephanie (from left), Mark, along with children Charlotte and Jasper and their grandmother Sondra (right) roll maple taffy. (John Woods / Free Press)
Stephanie (from left), Mark, along with children Charlotte and Jasper and their grandmother Sondra (right) roll maple taffy. (John Woods / Free Press)

Visitors check out the blacksmith shop. (John Woods / Free Press)
Visitors check out the blacksmith shop. (John Woods / Free Press)

Festival goers get a lesson in voyageur cuisine. (John Woods / Free Press)
Festival goers get a lesson in voyageur cuisine. (John Woods / Free Press)

Children explore the playground. (John Woods / Free Press)
Children explore the playground. (John Woods / Free Press)

John Woods
Photojournalist

   Read full biography

Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.

Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.

Report Error Submit a Tip

More Stories

(Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press files) The project’s price has grown over time to reach $44 million, the developer says.

Developer ‘anxiously’ awaits judge’s decision on Granite Curling Club construction

Joyanne Pursaga 4 minute read Preview

Developer ‘anxiously’ awaits judge’s decision on Granite Curling Club construction

Joyanne Pursaga 4 minute read 6:19 PM CDT

The developer of a hotly debated project that would add 110 housing units to the Granite Curling Club’s parking lot has begun investigative work at the site while awaiting a judge’s decision on construction.

While some digging took place at the city-owned property last week, its developer said construction has yet to begin.

“I would call (the digging so far) investigative site work. It’s not preparing in any way for construction, other than to ensure that the reports that are required for any site have been completed,” said Jeremy Read, chief executive officer of UWCRC 2.0 Inc.

A heritage resources impact assessment will determine if the site has archeological significance. That work will check for everything from fossils to unmarked graves, said Read.

Read
6:19 PM CDT
Richard Shotwell / Invision Files Shogun star Hiroyuki Sanada turns 66 on Monday.

Today’s horoscope

Georgia Nicols 4 minute read Preview

Today’s horoscope

Georgia Nicols 4 minute read Yesterday at 2:00 AM CDT

MOON ALERT: There are no restrictions to shopping or important decisions. The moon is in Scorpio.

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

Tread carefully as it’s easy to get into an argument, especially with your kids or even a romantic partner. Very likely the dispute will be about mutual expenses, shared property or perhaps differing values. Do what you can to keep the peace.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

Read
Yesterday at 2:00 AM CDT
JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS Avery Helm and Quincy Houdayer with dog Honey outside their Furby Street apartment. After repeatedly asking for repairs, they went to the Residential Tenancies Branch.

Tenants battling landlords find help in short supply from province

Scott Billeck 14 minute read Preview

Tenants battling landlords find help in short supply from province

Scott Billeck 14 minute read 6:00 AM CDT

For nearly three years, Quincy Houdayer and Avery Helm repeatedly pressed their landlord to address plumbing failures, water damage and other maintenance problems at their West Broadway apartment, with records showing some issues persisted until the couple turned to the Residential Tenancies Branch.

Emails and text messages between the tenants, Clearwater Management and the RTB reviewed by the Free Press document recurring leaks and flooding, periods without heat or hot water, concerns about mould and basement conditions and repeated followups from the couple seeking repairs.

“Most of the experiences we’ve had with them can be boiled down to, like, they either are very dismissive about it, they act like it’s not their problem… or they will just fully, blatantly ignore you,” Helm said, adding that the only way to get Clearwater to respond was to threaten going to the RTB, a provincial government agency.

RTB data obtained by the Free Press also shows 13 orders involving the three-building complex at 193-197 Furby St. in 2026 alone. All but one favoured the tenant, while the remaining order ruled in favour of both the tenant and landlord on different items.

Read
6:00 AM CDT
JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS The Giant Tiger at 2195 Pembina Hwy. is set to close in February 2027.

‘People count on this place’: Pembina Hwy. Giant Tiger latest location slated to close

By Matthew Frank 3 minute read Preview

‘People count on this place’: Pembina Hwy. Giant Tiger latest location slated to close

By Matthew Frank 3 minute read Yesterday at 4:34 PM CDT

Another Giant Tiger store in Winnipeg will shutter next year, leaving some area residents concerned about a lack of affordable groceries in the neighbourhood.

Red papers taped to the front doors of the Canadian retail chain’s location at Pembina Highway and Southpark Drive indicate it will close Feb. 27.

Doreen Yanchuk, a self-described bargain hunter, shook her head when she saw the signs Monday. The 67-year-old said she’s a regular customer at the location because it’s a five-minute drive from her home.

“They have very good sales here, which draws people to the shop because everything is expensive,” Yanchuk said.

Read
Yesterday at 4:34 PM CDT
KELLY-ANNE RIESS / FREE PRESS Now you see it, now you don’t. Winnipeg escape artist Dean Gunnarson stands where a historic plaque commemorating the founding of the International Brotherhood of Magicians once hung before mysteriously disappearing earlier this week.

Piece of Winnipeg’s magic history disappears

Kelly-Anne Riess 5 minute read Preview

Piece of Winnipeg’s magic history disappears

Kelly-Anne Riess 5 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 4:15 PM CDT

A piece of Winnipeg’s magic history has vanished, and internationally renowned escape artist Dean Gunnarson is offering a $500 reward to anyone who can make it reappear.

The plaque marked the birthplace of what has become the world’s largest organization of professional and amateur magicians, the International Brotherhood of Magicians, which was founded in Winnipeg more than a century ago.

Gunnarson said fellow magician and local magic historian Bruce Thompson discovered the disappearance Tuesday while on his way to work.

Thompson returned to inspect the site and found what appeared to be evidence it had been forcibly removed.

Read
Updated: Yesterday at 4:15 PM CDT
A man places a window covering on his boat as Hurricane Simon approaches Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Hurricane Simon pounds resorts and vulnerable towns along Mexico’s Pacific coast

Fernando Llano And Martin Silva, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

Hurricane Simon pounds resorts and vulnerable towns along Mexico’s Pacific coast

Fernando Llano And Martin Silva, The Associated Press 5 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 2:38 AM CDT

PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico (AP) — Hurricane Simon pounded Mexico’s Pacific coast as a Category 3 storm on Sunday, its eye remaining just offshore as its most powerful winds and rain slammed people living between the Sierra Madre and the ocean.

The hurricane's center swirled parallel to the coast, closing in on the Puerto Vallarta area, where its most damaging winds and rain were expected to hit around midnight and continue through Monday morning. Its maximum sustained winds weakened late Sunday to 115 mph (185 kph), according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami, but it was still expected to remain a dangerous hurricane.

That’s not good news for people in and around Puerto Vallarta, a popular tourist destination in the state of Jalisco. Just inland and uphill from the resort areas, many Mexicans live in communities where housing might not stand up to the storm.

By late Sunday, Simon's eye was moving northwest about 45 miles (75 kilometers) south of Cabo Corrientes at about 5 mph (7 kph). A senior hurricane center specialist, Philippe Papin, said this westernmost tip of mainland Mexico is the area most likely to get a direct hit from the system. Cabo Corrientes is at the southern tip of Bahia de Banderas, the wide bay where Puerto Vallarta looks out to the Pacific.

Read
Updated: Yesterday at 2:38 AM CDT