Festival du Voyageur lineup promises fun in the snow
57th edition to run Feb. 13 to 22
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This article was published 21/01/2026 (242 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
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The 57th edition of Festival du Voyageur will be held from Feb. 13 to 22 at Whittier Park and other official festival sites.
“This year, one of our themes is connection to place,” Breanne Lavallée-Heckert, Festival du Voyageur’s executive director, said recently.
Photo by Emma Honeybun
Breanne Lavallée-Heckert, Festival du Voyageur’s executive director is pictured outside the organization’s office recently. The 57th edition of Festival du Voyageur will be held from Feb. 13 to 22 at Whittier Park and other official festival sites.
“We’re reopening Maison Chaboillez, which has been closed for the last two years. It’s a really important building for us, and it was the first building Festival du Voyageur put up in Whittier Park.”
“We’re really excited, as it’s a meeting place, and somewhere where we hold kitchen parties. It’s super exciting to have the space reopened.”
Noting that Voyageur Pride Night, featuring Velma Jones, will be held on Feb. 20, Lavallée-Heckert pointed to the lineup of artists at this year’s event including the Barn Boys — who’ve been the “talk of the town around Winnipeg” — as well as many other acts including TOPS, Five Alarm Funk, Katie Tupper, Dwayne Gretzky, Neighbour Andy, Jeremie Albino, LGS, Le Diable à Cinq, Damien Robitaille, and many more.
There will also be performances by local talents including l’Ensemble folklorique de la Rivière-Rouge, Les G-Strings, Men in Kilts, Ivan Flett Memorial Dancers, Ila Barker, JD Edwards Band, Sweet Alibi, and Attica Riots.
Lavallée-Heckert said visitors to this year’s event can also expect to see lots of Indigenous programming, and on Feb. 16 — Louis Riel Day — the Bannock Babes drag performers will be front and centre in Maison du Bourgeois, and there will also be a Métis parade. Visitors are also encouraged to make crafts in the teepees, check out the hide-tanning demonstrations in the winter trading camp, and share stories at the Infinity Fire.
Traditional favourites such as the pancake breakfast (free to the first 200 people on Feb. 22), horse-drawn sleigh rides, snowshoeing, and ice-sculpting will and there will also be “bière brûlée”— heated beer from a beer spike from the fire, that caramelizes the flavour of the beer, which will be held in partnership with Nonsuch.
“Especially with reopening Maison Chaboillez, our connection to place this year and community is a big part of it,” Lavallée-Heckert said. “We want people to come and experience Voyageur Park, and it’s our immense privilege to put it together. We encourage people to embrace the weather and come and enjoy it.”
“As always, we’re grateful to our team for putting this together. There’s a lot going on in the world at the moment, and this is a chance for people to embrace, community, language and culture.”
Go online at heho.ca for more information.
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