Festival du Voyageur fever

St. Boniface

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/02/2025 (539 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

‘Heho!’

It’s almost time for Festival du Voyageur.

The 56th edition of the iconic winter event will run from Friday, Feb. 14 to Sunday, Feb. 23 at different locations across the city. As always, the festival’s hub will be Voyageur Park at Fort Gibraltar (a.k.a. Whittier Park, at 866 Rue St. Joseph.).

“I’m really excited,” said Breanne Lavallée-Heckert, Festival du Voyageur’s executive director, as she discussed the annual celebration of Manitoba’s francophone history and culture, giving a nod to some of FDV’s new features this year.

These include L’shed à Léo, an exhibition of objects and photos that Léo la Tuque, Festival’s mascot, keeps in his shed from festivals of yesteryear; interactive self-guided activity tours of Fort Gibraltar, which will have festival-goers interact with, and discover more, about life in the fort in 1815; a new outdoor lounge with bonfires, a beverage shack, art, information panels on maple syrup production, and a daytime ice-sculpting workshop.

“It’s great that Léo will be sharing all his little treasures,” Lavallée-Heckert said, noting one such artifact is a large red sash adorned with little buttons that celebrate the legacy of Festival du Voyageur, dating back to its first edition, which encompass the act of “looking back, while also looking to the future.”

New, self-guided tours will give guests the chance to embark on an independent, choose-your-own-adventure visits, and a number of tours will be available, titled — hidden objects, who’s who?, what do you do?, and spy.

“These new tours will give visitors to Festival du Voyageur a new chance to engage with Fort Gibraltar and explore it in new ways,” Lavallée-Heckert said.

“We’re also setting up a new outdoor lounge area. It’s part of the park in a way we’ve not used that space before, utilizing trees and lights.”

Of course, music will once again be front and centre at Festival.

Shows by Ça claque! and Ensemble folklorique de la Rivière Rouge will help get visitors’ toes tapping, and there will also be performances by more than 100 artists, including The Barr Brothers, Corb Lund, Leif Vollebekk, Jill Barber, Roman Clarke, Ami Cheon, and Al Simmons.

“It will also be another great year for Indigenous programming, and Louis Riel Day (which falls on Feb. 17 this year) is always a great time at Festival du Voyageur,” Lavallée-Heckert said.

Activities on that holiday Monday will include a vendors market, Maarsh aek lii Michif: an infinity fire led by Union nationale métisse Saint-Joseph du Manitoba, and a bannock babes brunch.

There will also be an event called Métis Perspectives on Lake Winnipeg: a presentation and dialogue led by the Lake Winnipeg Indigenous Collective.

Add to the mix historical interpretations presented by Université de Saint-Boniface; fiddle, jig, and pea soup competitions; a playground with snow tubing and games; horse-drawn sleigh rides and snowshoeing; maple taffy; food kiosks; an international snow sculpture symposium; and souvenirs and merchandise — and there really should be something for everyone at the nine-day event.

Because Festival happens to start on Valentine’s Day this year, there will also be a number of Pride-themed events that day.

Visit heho.ca for more information.