Rainbow Trout organizers hit water to hawk tickets

All aboard the “Good Ship Trout.”

The Rainbow Trout Music Festival is commandeering the Winnipeg Waterways tour boat at The Forks today to sell 50 keepsake tickets for August’s event, set to be held along the banks of the Roseau River south of St. Malo. The limited-edition tickets (cash only) will be available for $160, while online sales of full weekend passes ($160) are set to open to the public on Sunday at noon.

Since 2009, the volunteer-led independent festival has made its home at the Oroseau River venue, bringing music and creativity to a site owned by George and Florence Beaudry. Earlier this year, the festival announced that following the 2025 festival (Aug. 15 to 17) — featuring Manitoba headliners Tired Cossack, Beth, Holy Void and Fontine — the organization would be moving to a new location.

“Something that’s very special about Rainbow Trout is its connection to nature at the festival site, so having our ticket launch on the river resonates with the spirit of the festival,” says communications and marketing director Katlyn Streilein.

Starting at 2 p.m., Winnipeg songwriter Nic Dyson will rock the main dock as ticket buyers board the tour boat in groups of 10.

“We’ll go out as many times as it takes to sell the tickets,” says Streilein.

Festival organizers call the aquatic launch a “full-circle moment” as Will Belford, the co-owner of Winnipeg Waterways Tours & Transit, is one of Trout’s founding members.

A former Rainbow Trout fun-and-games co-ordinator and operations director, Belford left the board two years ago to dip his toes into the tourism industry, and was eager to help kick off the festival’s “last hurrah” at its original riverside site from the ancient meeting point of The Forks.

In a release, artistic director Keeley Braunstein-Black says the limited-edition physical tickets are a throwback to the festival’s roots when “hand-to-hand” ticket sales were the norm.

“These tickets are more than admission: they’re a keepsake from the last summer at Oroseau,” Braunstein-Black said.

The festival will continue in the future, but that the volunteer board has yet to select a location for the 2026 edition and beyond, Streilein says, noting tentative conversations have been underway with potential hosts interested in sharing their land.

Streilein says festival attendees this year can expect an extra-special version of the festival, where organizers are also planning to co-ordinate a time-capsule project to commemorate its 16-year run at its original location.

Earlier in the week, the festival announced its 2025 lineup, which features Toronto headliners Luge, World News 808909 and So Tired, along with Manitoba acts Compost, Charlie Redstar, Prairie, CEC, Smoky Tiger, Tofusmell and Irvin Miller.

All festival information and volunteer applications, is online at rainbowtroutmusicfestival.com.

ben.waldman@winnipegfreepress.com