Festival returns to barge as skies clear

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This article was published 28/08/2010 (5856 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINNIPEG – The River Barge Festival at The Forks is back on the barge, after rain caused performers and spectators to take shelter under a canopied area this afternoon.

“Heck yeah, it’s still going on. We’re not backing down that easily,” said an energetic Dominic Lloyd, organizer and project manager for Winnipeg Cultural Capital of Canada 2010.

Clearing skies mean the last few acts of the evening will be performed in their rightful place on the barge at the docks.

The rain and slight location change earlier set performances back up to half an hour, said Lloyd. “We’re a little behind schedule, but we’re clawing our way back," he said Saturday afternoon.

The outdoor music festival is one of many arts events in Winnipeg this year to celebrate Winnipeg being federally recognized as a cultural capital. Lloyd said roughly 6,000 people were out last night to see the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and homegrown fiddler Sierra Noble.

And while the crowd of roughly 50 out midafternoon Saturday doesn’t come close to Friday night’s attendance, it’s a hearty bunch, according to Lloyd.

“It’s a small but determined crowd,” he said. “They’re enjoying it. I think they’re glad to be here.”

The River Barge Festival continues tonight with performances by:

• Imaginary Cities at 6:30,
• Digging Roots at 8 and
• Luke Doucet and the White Falcon at 9.

Entertainment continues tomorrow starting at noon. The last performer, Fred Penner, appears at 4 p.m. Sunday.