‘Loyal friend’: Cockburn receives key to city on 50th anniversary of first folk fest appearance Wildfire smoke forces some folkies to wear masks By: Eva Wasney Posted: 9:11 AM CDT Sunday, Jul. 13, 2025 Last Modified: 12:08 PM CDT Sunday, Jul. 13, 2025 Updates

A sprawling crowd gathered Saturday afternoon at the Winnipeg Folk Festival’s Big Bluestem stage to witness Bruce Cockburn receive the city’s highest honour.

In a brief ceremony prior to the legendary Canadian musician’s concert, Mayor Scott Gillingham presented Cockburn with the key to the City of Winnipeg.

“He has inspired and influenced countless artists, poets and entertainers; his lyrics have stirred us and soothed us and challenged us,” Gillingham said from the stage, alongside festival executive director Valerie Shantz. “Today, we celebrate Bruce Cockburn as a loyal friend of the Winnipeg Folk Festival for 50 years.”

Those in attendance gave a standing ovation and cheers of “Bruuuuuuuuce” rippled through the large daytime crowd.

Previous recipients of a key to the city include ballerina Evelyn Hart, hockey player Jonathan Toews, musician Gene Simmons, among others.

Cockburn, 80, performed at the first folk festival in 1974 and made his most recent appearance in 2017. The 13-time Juno Award-winning singer-songwriter and guitarist is a member of the Order of Canada and an inductee into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.

“Thank you for the recognition, thank you for the hospitality that I’ve experienced over all these years, it’s been a pretty good run,” said Cockburn, who was born in Ottawa and first travelled west in a campervan with his wife and dog in 1970.

“The people (of Winnipeg) were so hospitable and so friendly and it opened up a whole life, really, because the travel that that was the beginning of became a huge part of everything I’ve done since.”

Seated on a stool at centre-stage, Cockburn tuned his guitar and told stories between the music, which included Mama Just Wants To Barrelhouse All Night Long (a song he played at the first festival five decades ago) and Lovers in a Dangerous Time.

The crowd, one of the largest this reporter has seen at a daytime stage, was quiet and captivated during the set, standing for a second ovation once Cockburn wrapped.

The sky was sunny and smoky during the third day of folk fest.

While the air quality had improved considerably from the dense wildfire smoke hanging over grounds Friday, many festivalgoers continued to wear masks while taking in the day’s music.

Amy Attas flew in from out of town to attend the festival with family.

“I live in B.C. now and when it’s this bad, I don’t usually go outside,” she said of the smoke. “I’m wearing a mask because it feels like a good balance.”

Attas didn’t expect the festival to cancel events, but had hoped for more communication about the conditions on Friday and Saturday, when the air quality health index was hovering around 10 — the highest health risk level, during which Environment Canada recommends the cancellation of outdoor activities. The festival had put out three weather updates related to the air quality between both days.

“I don’t know if there’s anything they could do. I hope they’re protecting the performers, especially the older performers,” Attas said.

Dennis Kakoske was also visiting from out of town and expected to see fewer people and more masks.

“I thought it was really going to kill the attendance because it was so bad,” he said of the air quality. “I’m surprised that people are kind of taking it in stride… even young kids don’t have masks on.”

Kakoske also didn’t expect the event to be cancelled.

Eva, a volunteer who asked not to use her last name, decided against camping with friends at the festival when she noted the air quality Thursday night.

“I’ve been struggling with my asthma and the wildfire smoke for a few years,” said Eva, who was wearing an N95 mask, had packed extra asthma medication and had made safety plans with friends in case of an attack. “It definitely takes me a while to recover from being outside, even with the mask on.”

She uses four different apps to monitor smoke conditions hour-to-hour and was unable to complete her volunteer shift Friday, when ratings were the worst she had ever seen.

Eva also didn’t expect the festival to cancel.

“It’s a difficult call for the festival to make, but I think having an indoor space for people to recover from the air so they can get back to the city safely would be helpful,” she said. “(And) it would be good if there was more of a consensus about being out in the wildfire smoke.”

eva.wasney@winnipegfreepress.com

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