Festival du Voyageur

Last Sunday we headed to the Festival du Voyageur, Winnipeg's 10-day annual winter festival, with Pat, Darlene and Jayden. According to Wikipedia: "Voyageur" refers to those who worked for a fur trading company and usually travelled by canoe. This event is held in Winnipeg's French Quarter, Saint-Boniface, and is Western Canada's largest winter festival. The event celebrates Canada's fur trading past and her unique French heritage and culture through entertainment, arts and crafts, music, exhibits and displays." It's partly a celebration of Louis Riel, leader of the Metis people and founder of Manitoba. (The Métis are descendants of marriages of Cree, Ojibway, Saulteaux, and Menominee aboriginals to French Canadians, Scots and English, and are one of three recognized Aboriginal peoples in Canada.)

Snow sculptures were a highlight:






Gord and Dar had never been to the festival, mostly stemming from the fact that the Mennonites for years held themselves separate from the rest of the society around them, and old habits are hard to break.

Here's Piper posing beside her choice: some polar bears, of course!


Having fun sliding on the small ice rink...





Ice-climbing was on offer!


Taking a break in the warm food tent, enjoying the live music (lots of gigs and folky tunes). A highlight: rolling taffy! (Maple syrup poured onto snow and rolled around a stick.) I took some photos on Dar's camera, so will post them when I can...






A view of the Winnipeg skyline from the wall of Fort Gibraltar...



Gord below the North West Company flag. (The NWC erected the fort, and operated in direct competition with the Hudson's Bay Company).


Looking down into the courtyard:


Dar and I posing beside the wall of the fort...