What’s up: Winter Kept Us Warm, Streat Feast, Kultivation, Filipino Street Festival, Burt Block Party

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 14/08/2025 (400 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winter Kept Us Warm

• Dave Barber Cinematheque, 100 Arthur St.
• Aug. 15 to 20
• Tickets: $7.50-$11.50

“At the time (I made this film) it was a triple taboo,” the Winnipeg-raised director David Secter told Filmmaker Magazine’s Natalia Keogan last month in an interview to mark the 4k restoration and Blu-ray release of his 1965 debut feature, produced in Toronto four years before Canada stopped recognizing homosexuality as a crime. “It was against the law, against the church and against medicine.”

Named after the opening lines of T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land, telling a personal story of unrequited, under-the-radar, undergraduate love, Winter Kept Us Warm ushered Secter — then a 22-year-old student at the University of Toronto — into Canadian film history.

“Not only was it the first gay feature made in Canada, but the first English-language Canadian feature to be shown at Cannes,” wrote the queer publication Xtra* in 2005.

Shot on campus against the wishes of the conservative establishment with an assist from student actors at the U of T and photo school instructors from the former Ryerson Polytechnical Institute, Winter Kept Us Warm has been cited as an inspiration by David Cronenberg, who has called the film “a shattering revelation.”

This week, the 4k restoration of the now 82-year-old Secter’s film shows six times at the Dave Barber Cinematheque, with two screenings Friday evening along with a 3 p.m. screening on Saturday and two screenings (3 and 5 p.m.) on Sunday.

— Ben Waldman

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Streat Feast at The Forks

• The Forks Market, CN stage and field
• Friday through Sunday
• Free

Some of Winnipeg’s best-loved food trucks, vendors and entertainers converge this weekend at the CN stage and field at The Forks as part of the third annual Streat Feast.

The event was started by cousins Lou and Lynn Alarkon as a way to highlight a range of cultural specialties, culinary and otherwise, and to encourage supporting local businesses and organizations.

This year’s festival takes place Friday from 4 to 10 p.m., Saturday from noon to 10 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 9 p.m.

Food vendors participating in this year’s Streat Feast include Tom Yum Thai, the Butter Tart Lady, Intergalactic Sauces, Lobster Bae, Cecilia Golden Crust Pizza, Avril’s Baked Joy and Akin’s African Restaurant.

Non-food vendors include Our Farm Greenhouse, Sanden International Trading, African Vibes Imports, Intertwine, Amohrie and plenty of others.

The event will also feature live entertainment, a pop-up market, family games and competitions. The event is free, with food available to purchase.

— Ben Sigurdson

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Kultivation Festival

• Various locations
• Aug. 18 to 24

Learn how to roll lumpia, enjoy live entertainment and network with Winnipeg creatives at this year’s Kultivation Festival.

The annual Filipino cultural festival returns Monday for a week of food, entertainment and community building. Founded by a group of local Filipino entrepreneurs, the city-wide summer event is now in its fourth year.

Saintuary Bar and Cafe (123 St. James Ave.) hosts a freestyle dance battle on Aug. 19 and open-mic sessions featuring up-and-coming musicians later in the week.

Music and food pop-ups take place at Patent 5 Distillery (108 Alexander Ave.) and Little Brown Jug (336 William Ave.) on Aug. 22 and 24, respectively.

Tito Boy Restaurant (730 St. Anne’s Rd.) hosts the aforementioned lumpia rolling workshop on Aug. 21, followed by two nights of multicourse meals from local chefs on Aug. 23 and 24.

The Sala Film Festival rolls at the Winnipeg Art Gallery-Qaumajuq (300 Memorial Blvd.) on Aug 23, with a film screening and panel discussion.

Search Kultivation Festival on Instagram and Facebook for event and ticketing details.

— Eva Wasney

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Manitoba Filipino Street Festival

• Maples Multiplex Grounds, 434 Adsum Dr.
• Saturday and Sunday
• Free

Be immersed in the vibrant culture of the Philippines at this entertainment-packed two-day street festival.

Attendees can expect no less than nine styles of cultural dance, live music, food vendors and, on Saturday night, the much-loved parade and fireworks.

Now in its 13th year, the Manitoba Filipino Street Festival recognizes the diversity of Winnipeg’s Filipino population.

“Anybody who is familiar with the Philippines, we have 7,100 islands, 80 provinces and we speak 100 dialects. A lot of Filipinos here in Manitoba, a lot of them speak a different dialect, they come from a different province, they celebrate different festivals,” festival chairman Ley Navarro told the Free Press in 2023.

“That was the intent, we want to get all these people together and celebrate, showcasing their different dances, their different customs.”

The festival grounds open at 10 a.m. both days. Click here for more information.

— Jen Zoratti

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Burt Block Party

• Outdoors beside Burton Cummings Theatre, 364 Smith St.
• Thursday to Sunday
• Tickets $99.75 per day at Ticketmaster (Friday sold out)

Summer keeps getting longer.

At least judging by our downtown summer festivals, if not other thermometers.

After jazz fest, the Soca Raggae Festival, fringe fest and Folklorama – there’s now the Burt Block Party.

Five years into the event, it’s almost bizarre to think there was a time when Winnipeg’s downtown didn’t fill up, once a year, with rocker bros in skinny jeans and flannel.

This year’s headliners include Canadian country singer-songwriter Dean Brody (Thursday), Vancouver-based pop-rock band Marianas Trench (Friday), anthemic Ontario rock outfit the Glorious Sons (Saturday) and rock vet Kim Mitchell (Sunday).

Together, they’ll turn the concert enclosure outside the Burt into a hot box of good vibes for 4,000 fans.

—Conrad Sweatman

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