What’s up

Party at the ballpark

• Blue Cross Park, 1 Portage Ave. E
• Friday, 4-9:45 p.m.; Saturday, 3-9 p.m.
• Tickets $76-$600 at goldeyes.com

Blue Cross Park will be alive with the sound of contemporary country music and throwback hip-hop tracks this weekend.

The third annual Country Rising and Tacos and Tequila festivals take place on the field of the local ballpark this Friday and Saturday, respectively.

The Country Rising lineup includes country-rap headliner BigXThaPlug, as well as Kalsey Kulyk, Corey Kent, Dylan Monroe and Redferrin. Ticketholders can also test their mettle with a mechanical bull ride and hay bale toss.

Saturday’s Tacos and Tequila Festival is headlined by Atlanta rapper T.I., with performances by Fat Joe, Too $hort, Petey Pablo, Frankie J and Murphy Lee. Vendors will be serving tacos and tequila-based cocktails. Catch the lucha libre wrestling show and chihuahua beauty contest between sets.

Both events are cashless, with general admission and VIP ticket tiers available.

— Eva Wasney

 

Wienerfest

• Valley Gardens Community Centre, Outdoor Rink No. 3, 218 Antrim Rd.
• Saturday, 1-3 p.m.
• Free

Now in its third year, Wienerfest — a celebration of all things dachshund — promises plenty of four-legged fun for dogs (of all kinds) and dog people alike.

Pet-friendly vendors, a raffle and a play area for pups will be on offer, but the main draw of the event is, of course, the wiener dog races. See the speediest sausages in town compete for their place on the podium.

Proceeds from the raffle will go to K9 Advocacy Manitoba. Attendees will also be able to meet adoptable rescues looking for their forever homes.

— Jen Zoratti

 

Mocktail Week

• Various locations
• To Aug. 24
• Free admission

Gone are the days when those abstaining from alcohol had to choose between coffee, water or soft drinks. Non-alcoholic beer continues to expand in popularity and quality, an increasing number of non-alcoholic spirits continue to pop up, while non-alcoholic wine … well, it continues to exist.

But the tastiest and most fun no-alcohol drinks are created in the minds of bartenders and mixologists: mocktails.

Whether the aim is to mimic an existing cocktail or create a new alcohol-free flavour sensation, mocktails have exploded. And Mocktail Week celebrates some of the province’s best non-alcoholic sippables, with innovative takes on exciting new booze-free drinks.

Mocktail Week is presented by Drink Sense, a program spearheaded by Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries to help those looking to build “healthier relationships with alcohol” and “build more inclusive environments for those who choose not to drink.”

The event kicked off on Aug. 15 and runs through to Monday, Aug. 24, with 16 establishments taking part and offering a range of non-alcoholic concoctions ranging in price from $4-$14. In addition to a dozen of offerings in Winnipeg, those participating outside the city include Interlake Brewing Co. in Gimli, Forum & Bistro in Steinbach, Grandpa’s Cafe in Blumenort and Foxtail Cafe in Wasagaming.

Among the mocktails on offer as part of the promotion: the Shirley’s Temple at Shirley’s Restaurant (135 Osborne St.), featuring vanilla bean-infused orange cordial, grenadine and orange and lemon juices; the Radiant Raspberry at the Wood Tavern (112 Marion St.), featuring clarified raspberry basil punch and Undone Zero Proof Gin; and Calypso’s Solitude at Patent 5 Distillery & Tasting Room (108 Alexander Ave.), which includes non-alcoholic gin and vermouth, as well as lime juice, guava nectar, lavender syrup, saline solution and Ms Better’s vegan foamer.

For a complete list of participating establishments and details on the mocktails see drinksense.ca.

— Ben Sigurdson

 

Bonsai Society of Winnipeg Members’ Display

• Masonic Memorial Centre, 420 Corydon Ave.
• Saturday 11 a.m.-8 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
• Free entry

The annual event showcases bonsai displays from 33 artists, featuring more than 150 bonsai in varying stages of development.

Visitors are invited to experience the full gamut of what it takes to make a small, collected tree specimen into a finished bonsai.

Also on display will be a collection of suiseki or viewing stones. The Japanese artform encourages the appreciation of these small, naturally formed stones, which suggest mountains, lakes, waterfalls and other scenes of nature.

Visit bonsaiwinnipeg.ca for more information.

— AV Kitching

 

Head to the library

• Various

With a few weeks to go before the school bell’s first ring, it’s an opportune time to renew your relationship with the public library: put that book on hold, settle in for a study sesh, or, if you’re at Flin Flon Public Library, make a contribution to a sweet community art project to mark the transition of the seasons.

“Right now, we’ve got a medium mixing bowl full of decorated popcicle sticks,” says the library’s Saxanee Pelletier, who with co-workers will collect the ingredients for a piece of permanent wall art until an Aug. 29 deadline. “We’re hoping to have our new masterpiece up by September.”

Today, in Winnipeg, the St. John’s Library (500 Salter St.) is hosting an afternoon English-Cree rhymetime, song and story event for children and their families. Masinahikewina Nehiyanewin runs from 2 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. Elsewhere, the Fort Garry Library (1360 Pembina Hwy.) will see an influx of future city planners, architects and engineers when it hosts a 6 p.m. drop-in Duplo playtime.

Meanwhile, the Winnipeg Public Library’s summer reading club — for kids of all interests, ages and abilities — continues until Sept. 5, with participating readers receiving a free bilingual reading kit.

And parents, if you’re behind on your summer Goodreads goal, (which is fine, we promise) who says the Baby-Sitters Club graphic novel, Dog Man or the latest by Mo Willems isn’t applicable to your running total?

— Ben Waldman

 

MCO’s Concert on the Veranda

• Seven Oaks House Museum, 50 Mac St.
• Saturday, 11 a.m.
• Free

While the classical music tends to slow down in the summer months, the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra has long thrown pop-up concerts around town through July and August.

More often than not, this is a chance to see the MCO in smaller ensembles — performing not just chamber music, but folk and pop music.

This includes its Concert on the Veranda series at Seven Oaks House Museum, now in its fifth year, which promises classical big guns like Beethoven and Holst alongside energetic fiddle tunes and more.

The concert’s also perfectly set. Unfolding at the Seven Oaks House, built for the prominent Scottish-Métis Inkster family in the 1850s, the Concert on the Veranda nods to the fiddle cultures of the Red River era while also showing off the classical chops that make the MCO one of Canada’s premier chamber orchestras. Guided tours are also available.

— Conrad Sweatman