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This article was published 26/12/2024 (591 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ring in 2025 with Manitoba-made bubbly

• Shrugging Doctor Beverage Company, 483 Berry St.
• Tuesday, 7 p.m. to 2 a.m.
• Free

The folks at Shrugging Doctor Beverage Company are waking from their holiday slumber to reconvene at the winery and tasting room to help Winnipeggers toast the new year.

Shrugging Doctor’s free New Year’s Eve shindig gets underway at 7 p.m. and will feature live music, deals on cocktails and shots, a special charcuterie board and dessert and, naturally, a countdown to midnight.

The Winnipeg-based producer of award-winning cider, mead, hard seltzers and grape and other fruit wine will also be pouring plenty of its own wares, of course. Wine flights will be available all night, including vino made from grapes grown right here in Manitoba. This includes its sparkling white, which will be on special for half-price all night.

While admission is free, it’s recommended you book a spot in the tasting room in advance.

— Ben Sigurdson

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New Year’s Day at The Forks

• Various locations around The Forks site
• Wednesday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
• Free

Start 2025 off right with a day filled with live music, games, crafts, drag performances, storytelling, yoga and movement classes and outdoor activities at Winnipeg’s meeting place.

“Dive into winter and the new year by making it your resolution to have more fun, activity and community connection in 2025,” said Sara Stasiuk, CEO of The Forks North Portage, in a media release.

Inside The Forks Market, you can enjoy several family-friendly drag performances — featuring artists Cake, Hari V, Ruby Chopstix, Contessa LeStrange, C.L.A.M, Menno Simmone, Lady Fortuna and Local Honey — curated by Synonym Art Consultation, with DJs J. Jackson and Kilusan spinning.

Adrienne Shum and fellow instructors will be leading free yoga and mobility classes in the event space on the second floor (registration is recommended; visit theforks.com), and kids and kids at heart can play board games and do crafts in the second-floor lounge.

Outside, take in musical performances by the Canopy from the likes of Quinton, Kwait, Kelly Bado, Morgan Grace and Jade Turner, and maybe slap on some skates to take a spin around the rink while you’re at it. Or join elder Barbara Nepinak around the fire inside the teepee for drumming and stories.

For a full list of activities, click here.

— Jen Zoratti

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Ring in the new year with … murder!

• Ballroom at the Fairmont Winnipeg, 2 Lombard Pl.
• Tuesday, 7 p.m. to 1 a.m.
• Tickets: $172 at Eventbrite

Ring in the New Year with a night of glamour, intrigue and mayhem at this 1920s Murder Mystery New Year’s Eve Show.

Hosted by Slixer Events at the Fairmont ballroom, the immersive, interactive experience promises to transport you to the world of flappers, jazz and speakeasies — where secrets lurk in every shadow.

At a prohibition-era soirée gone awry, guests will step into character as the mystery unfolds. Be prepared to mingle with suspicious characters, follow cunning clues and piece together the puzzle to solve a scandalous crime before midnight strikes.

Will you be the one to crack the case?

The evening pairs a three-course dinner with live entertainment and dancing until the wee hours.

Dress in your best 1920s attire and toast to 2025 as the clock counts down to the big reveal. ID required for alcohol.

— AV Kitching

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The New Meanies

• Pyramid Cabaret, 176 Fort St.
• Saturday, 8 p.m.
• Tickets: $34 at Showpass

In the 1990s, nearly every kid had a copy of Much Music’s Big Shiny Tunes, tuned into Much Music on TV at home and in the car begged their parents to switch the dial from CBC to FM pop radio.

But that didn’t mean they escaped CanCon. They revelled in it, as CRTC-bound stations fed them a steady stream of Canadian alt-rockers such as Our Lady Peace, Matthew Good, the Tea Party, Sloan, Bran Van 3000, Danko Jones, Barenaked Ladies, the Tragically Hip, Age of Electric, Wide Mouth Mason and the New Meanies.

In case you forgot, the New Meanies are from Winnipeg. If you’re of a certain age, you probably haven’t forgotten their single Letting Time Pass, which was all over radio and TV in the late ’90s.

Hopefully, the four-piece lets that tune rip at the Pyramid on Saturday, with local rockers the Bloodshots opening.

A couple of decades ago, tens of thousands saw the New Meanies tour with acts including Deep Purple, Dave Matthews and Alice Cooper.

While they perform more sporadically today, they still command a loyal following and promise a proper weekend bash in a year where NYE unfairly falls on a Tuesday.

— Conrad Sweatman

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Snowed in at the Gas Station

• Gas Station Arts Centre, 445 River Ave.
• Saturday, 8 p.m.
• Tickets: $20; click here for more information

You may not think getting snowed in isn’t any fun at all, but Club Soda will do its best to change your mind on Saturday at the Gas Station Arts Centre.

Once the doors close on Snowed In: A Cozy Improv Show, the local improv troupe — Jesse Bergen, Luke Cecelon, Kristen Einarson, Monique Gauthier, Cuinn Joseph, Kevin Ramberran and Kerri Woloszyn — will imagine a piece of long-form improv built around the barricaded conceit.

Directed by Caity Curtis, the holiday-themed show features musical contributions from Winnipeg-born, New York-based pianist Ben Sellick, who recently conducted Handel’s Messiah at New York Central Church. Hallelujah!

— Ben Waldman