Ready, Sweat, Go… Winnipeg Folk Festival attendees brave scorching temps at Birds Hill

“I’m sorry for subjecting you to my British knees,” U.K. singer-songwriter Billy Bragg said at his Sunday workshop at the 51st Winnipeg Folk Festival. “Sometimes you have to make a choice between being cool and looking cool.”

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.

“I’m sorry for subjecting you to my British knees,” U.K. singer-songwriter Billy Bragg said at his Sunday workshop at the 51st Winnipeg Folk Festival. “Sometimes you have to make a choice between being cool and looking cool.”

He wasn’t alone in choosing the former; the fest at Birds Hill Pro-vincial Park, which sold out in advance, featured no shortage of creative heat-beating apparel.

First-aid volunteers wandered through the crowd misting overheat-ed fans with water and crowds largely stuck to treed areas.

MATT DUBOFF PHOTO
                                Quebec buzz band Angine de Poitrine performs at the Blue Blue @ Night stage on Friday night. The mysterious rock duo brought a wealth of new attendees to the folk fest, many of whom sported polka-dot outfits in homage to the band.

MATT DUBOFF PHOTO

Quebec buzz band Angine de Poitrine performs at the Blue Blue @ Night stage on Friday night. The mysterious rock duo brought a wealth of new attendees to the folk fest, many of whom sported polka-dot outfits in homage to the band.

Some ticket holders certainly stayed home on Sunday, when the humidex reached 47 C and shade was a hot commodity but many stuck it out to see acts from Sweden, Liberia, Lithuania, Wales, Benin and our own backyard heat up a multitude of stages over the course of the four-day event.

ADAM SCARPINO PHOTO
                                South Korean band Insun Park and Generals.

ADAM SCARPINO PHOTO

South Korean band Insun Park and Generals.

BROOK JONES/FREE PRESS 
                                Winnipeg’s Ian Zienkicz, who is attending his 18th Winnipeg Folk Festival, uses an umbrella to keep cool on Sunday.

BROOK JONES/FREE PRESS

Winnipeg’s Ian Zienkicz, who is attending his 18th Winnipeg Folk Festival, uses an umbrella to keep cool on Sunday.

BROOK JONES/FREE PRESS 
                                Lily Scott from Edmonton has fun with bubbles at Snowberry Field Stage on Sunday.

BROOK JONES/FREE PRESS

Lily Scott from Edmonton has fun with bubbles at Snowberry Field Stage on Sunday.

BROOK JONES/FREE PRESS 
                                Stephen Kurz (left) and Luizu Seiler, visiting from the Netherlands, take in the folk fest.

BROOK JONES/FREE PRESS

Stephen Kurz (left) and Luizu Seiler, visiting from the Netherlands, take in the folk fest.

BROOK JONES/FREE PRESS 
                                Contemporary Ukrainian ‘ethno-drama’ act Yagódy performs on Sunday.

BROOK JONES/FREE PRESS

Contemporary Ukrainian ‘ethno-drama’ act Yagódy performs on Sunday.

ADAM SCARPINO PHOTO
                                Amos the Kid, a.k.a. Winnipeg’s Amos Nadlersmith, performs Saturday evening.

ADAM SCARPINO PHOTO

Amos the Kid, a.k.a. Winnipeg’s Amos Nadlersmith, performs Saturday evening.

ADAM SCARPINO PHOTO
                                GOAT performs at the Winnipeg Folk Festival in Birds Hill Park, Saturday evening.

ADAM SCARPINO PHOTO

GOAT performs at the Winnipeg Folk Festival in Birds Hill Park, Saturday evening.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS
                                The crowd enjoys Fontine playing the main stage at the Winnipeg Folk Festival on Thursday.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS

The crowd enjoys Fontine playing the main stage at the Winnipeg Folk Festival on Thursday.

MATT DUBOFF PHOTO
                                Wolf Parade performs at the Winnipeg Folk Festival, Friday evening.

MATT DUBOFF PHOTO

Wolf Parade performs at the Winnipeg Folk Festival, Friday evening.

Report Error Submit a Tip

More Stories

Puzzles Palace

1 minute read Monday, Jul. 27, 2026

To solve our puzzles, please subscribe with this special offer: |

Woman who saved child, father from Red River uncomfortable with hero label

Scott Billeck 6 minute read Preview

Woman who saved child, father from Red River uncomfortable with hero label

Scott Billeck 6 minute read Wednesday, Sep. 2, 2026

A Winnipeg woman who’s been hailed as a hero by police for saving a father and his young child from the Red River says she doesn’t feel like one.

“I’m a mom… and I would do it again,” said Jayclyn Morrissette, who was walking with her neighbour through St. John’s Park on Aug. 24 when they spotted a young girl flailing in the nearby river. “I was meant to be there and that was supposed to happen.”

Morrissette, who spoke to the Free Press Wednesday after police released details about the rescue, said she and her neighbour began looking for the child’s parents and found them at the nearby playground searching for her.

Morrissette waved them over. The father, who she said could not swim, jumped into the river first and immediately began to sink.

Read
Wednesday, Sep. 2, 2026

Former Gilbert Plains CAO forged doc’s note to get out of court: RCMP

Erik Pindera 4 minute read Preview

Former Gilbert Plains CAO forged doc’s note to get out of court: RCMP

Erik Pindera 4 minute read Updated: 12:12 PM CDT

A former rural municipal official awaiting sentencing for stealing more than $500,000 from community coffers has been accused of forging a fake doctor’s note to get out of attending court.

Amber Fisher, the former chief administrative officer for the Rural Municipality of Gilbert Plains, pleaded guilty to one count of theft over $5,000 last year.

Dauphin RCMP say investigators learned Fisher, 42, had submitted the note indicating she would be unable to attend court for her Sept. 2 sentencing, after she was seriously injured in a vehicle collision on July 22.

Fisher’s lawyer submitted the note to the court and the judge adjourned her sentencing to a later date.

Read
Updated: 12:12 PM CDT

The ‘Buy Canadian’ trade war challenge

Editorial 4 minute read Preview

The ‘Buy Canadian’ trade war challenge

Editorial 4 minute read 2:00 AM CDT

“Buy Canadian,” they tell us, as trade tensions escalate between Canada and the United States. “Elbows up,” the pithy slogan advises again and again, in response to the latest daily affront from increasingly unbalanced U.S. President Donald Trump.

Read
2:00 AM CDT

Neighbours relieved after fire strikes Quickie Mart

Morgan Modjeski 4 minute read Preview

Neighbours relieved after fire strikes Quickie Mart

Morgan Modjeski 4 minute read Wednesday, Sep. 2, 2026

As Janina McNaughton watched the Quickie Mart on River Avenue go up in flames on Tuesday, she felt relieved.

“The first thing I see is flames, like a fireball of flames inside,” McNaughton said about watching the blaze from her bedroom across the street.

On Wednesday, the bright green building, at 292 River Ave., was boarded up and charred on the outside.

Crews from the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service responded at 8:13 p.m. Tuesday to battle the blaze, said the city in a news release. It was under control within the hour.

Read
Wednesday, Sep. 2, 2026

Adorable accoutrements for the school year

AV Kitching 5 minute read Preview

Adorable accoutrements for the school year

AV Kitching 5 minute read 2:00 AM CDT

By now, with only a handful of days left before summer holidays draw to a close, the back-to-school essential kit lists will be landing in inboxes throughout the province.

Read
2:00 AM CDT