Hazy shade of summer
Audiences were treated to the first ever local performance by roots favourites Gillian Welch and David Rawlins, as well as a host of acts from across North America and the world.
Weekly
A weekly look at what's happening in Winnipeg's arts and entertainment scene.
Legacy performers from the first years of the fest included folk icon Bruce Cockburn, bluegrass duo Cathy Fink & Marcy Marx, guitarist David Essig and spoken-word artist Peter Paul Van Camp.
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS
Fred Penner opens the 50th Winnipeg Folk Festival at Birds Hill Park on Thursday.
The weekend wrapped up with Winnipeg diva Begonia, R&B legend Mavis Staples and acclaimed soul-pop outfit Lake Street Dive.
JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS
Folk fans soak up the sun on Sunday afternoon.
JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS
JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS
British indie-rock duo Supalung performs at Big Bluestem stage on Sunday afternoon.
JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS
The smoky air doesn't stop most audience members from shaking their tailfeathers.
JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS
The Green Ash stage is packed on Sunday.
JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS
Stephen Fearing (left) and Tom Wilson of Blackie and the Rodeo Kings
JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS
Jake Vaadeland and the Sturgeon River Boys played the Snowberry Field stage Sunday.
JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS
Stephen Fearing (left) and Tom Wilson of Blackie and the Rodeo Kings
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Vancouver Sun
13 minutes ago
- Vancouver Sun
Immigration minister won't say if Canada considering barring rap groups Bob Vylan, Kneecap
OTTAWA — A prominent Jewish organization is pushing for Canada to deny entry to two bands being investigated in the U.K. after their appearance at a popular British music festival last month. In late June, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs asked the ministers of public safety and immigration to bar Irish rap group Kneecap and English punk rap duo Bob Vylan. 'I respectfully urge your offices to review the admissibility of the individuals involved with Kneecap and Bob Vylan and to assess whether their presence in Canada aligns with our country's legislation around hate speech,' vice-president of government relations David Cooper wrote in a letter to the ministers. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. Avon and Somerset Police launched a criminal probe after reviewing video footage of their performances at the Glastonbury festival in the U.K. on June 25. Bob Vylan led a chant of 'death to the IDF,' in reference to Israel's military, at the Glastonbury Festival. One member of Kneecap had previously been charged with a terrorism offence for allegedly displaying a Hezbollah flag at an earlier performance. CIJA says those incidents violate 'Canadian hate speech laws' and contradict 'our core values.' It's urging supporters to write to the government in support of the ban. In his letter to the government, Cooper said allowing 'performers who glorify terrorism or incite hatred to enter Canada and perform here would send a deeply troubling signal.' Kneecap is scheduled to play in Toronto and Vancouver in October. The U.S. State Department revoked the visas issued to the members of Bob Vylan on June 30. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said on social media that the U.S. acted due to the 'hateful tirade at Glastonbury, including leading the crowd in death chants.' 'Foreigners who glorify violence and hatred are not welcome visitors to our country,' he said. Liberal MP Anthony Housefather welcomed the U.S. visa decision and said that same day that Canada should follow suit. He said he also raised the issue with Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree. 'To me neither of these performers … should be admissible to Canada. And they should be refused should any request for entry happen,' Housefather said in an interview on Monday. He said 'it's clear we need certainty that they can't enter the country to incite hatred in Canada.' On Sunday, a group of Indigenous leaders who are part of the Indigenous Embassy Jerusalem urged the entertainment companies Live Nation and MRG Group not to allow Kneecap to perform. 'Allowing them to play would not only be a violation of the peace treaties signed by First Nations leaders, but would openly glorify terrorism and hatred,' they said. A spokesperson for Immigration Minister Lena Diab said the government cannot comment on individual cases due to privacy legislation. People seeking to enter Canada have to meet requirements under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, Matthew Krupovich said. 'Each case is assessed individually. Entry to Canada may be refused for a number of reasons, including concerns related to security, human or international rights violations, or criminal activity,' he said. In a statement, CIJA said it had not heard back from either Anandasangaree or Diab and that the situation raises questions about whether Canada's existing laws will be applied to block the admission to Canada of foreigners who glorify violence. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here .
Edmonton Journal
an hour ago
- Edmonton Journal
Emma Watson banned from driving for six months
Emma Watson has reportedly been banned from driving after she was caught speeding, according to multiple news outlets. Article content The British actress, 35, best-known for her role as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter series was 'driving her blue Audi at 38 miles (61 km) per hour in a 30-mph zone in England,' BBC reports. The incident of speeding took place on July 31 last year. Article content Article content Article content In a separate incident, actress Zoe Wanamaker was also banned from driving for six months after caught speeding. The 76-year-old played the character of Madam Hooch, a Quidditch teacher, in the popular movie franchise. Wanamaker was driving at '46 miles an hour in a 40-mile zone of the M4 motorway in southeastern Berkshire last August,' AFP reports. Article content Article content Article content The two cases of speeding were dealt with separately and was attended by neither of the stars. They were each charged £1,044 (approximately CAD$1,925) as per the proceedings carried out in lower magistrates court in the town of High Wycombe, England. Article content Watson had been studying at Oxford University when she was caught speeding. 'Her lawyer told the court that although she was a student 'she is in a position to pay the fine,'' AFP reports. Article content
Winnipeg Free Press
10 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Plenty of daylight to find amid sea of humanity at Birds Hill Park
Opinion 'Got to kick at the darkness till it bleeds daylight' — Lovers in a Dangerous Time, Bruce Cockburn 'The line between us is so thin, I might as well be you' JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS It's hard not to leave the folk festival feeling a bit better about humanity. — Chinese Bones, Robyn Hitchcock A couple of choice lyric lines stuck out as I baked under a smoke-filled sky at the Winnipeg Folk Festival's Big Bluestem stage this weekend. That first one earned an affirmative roar from the packed-to-bursting audience at Cockburn's Saturday afternoon performance. The second slipped by almost unnoticed during Hitchcock's Sunday workshop with his Nashville neighbours and Americana icons Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. Both speak to what makes the now 51-year-old festival such a treasured gift to the tens of thousands of people who make the pilgrimage to Birds Hill Provincial Park every year. I don't need to tell you there is a lot of darkness out there, but for four days Birds Hill was bleeding daylight. Through alchemy both calculated and sublime, the regular rules of engagement were suspended: walls fell away, boundaries softened or dissolved (in a good way) and strangers who might otherwise look at each other with wariness found friendship on common ground. Call it the Folk Fest Effect. Walking into the beer tent Saturday afternoon, I caught the eye of a judge and said hi. She quickly reached over and put a hand on my shoulder then just as quickly pulled it away, laughing as she said: 'I was going to give you a hug, but that probably wouldn't be professional.' Probably not, and she might have been joking about the hug, but had that hug landed I would not have been shocked. Hugs are so reflexive at folk fest the odd slip is easily forgiven. Earlier that day, I heard someone call my name. It was a college classmate I hadn't seen in over 30 years. We didn't hang out much back then and we were by no means close, but we fell into a warm, lengthy chat, touching on matters both light and dark and our concerns for the future. The conversation was winding down when my friend paused to hesitantly ask: 'Soo, should we… hug?' We looked at each other and the answer was obvious. 'Of course, it's folk fest.' We hugged. And then we talked some more. We could have bumped into each other in a coffee shop and had a perfectly pleasant conversation, but it wouldn't have been the same. There's something about folk fest and its sense of community that invites a desire for connection. For years, no visit to the festival was complete until I saw Dancing Woman. I never knew her name or where she was from, but every year I could count on seeing her leaping, gliding and swaying by a workshop stage in rhythmic communion with the music. Seeing her always made me smile. Then one year she wasn't there. She was absent the next year too, and the one after that. She was back this year, back like she'd never been gone, still grooving, still dancing like it was the only thing that mattered. Between workshops, I told her it was good to see her again. Explaining her absence, she said she was from Minnesota and had moved to the East Coast for a few years. Our interaction was brief and we didn't exchange names, but I'm glad I talked to her. I hope she was, too. Back in the beer tent Sunday, my wife and I shared a table with an American scientist who apologized for their 'piece of shit president' and the damage he has done to the relationship between our two countries. We shared gripes and laughs, reminding each other that we're not so different. Don't get me wrong, the festival isn't perfect. Despite the folk ethos of inclusivity and a truly diverse musical lineup, the audience remains overwhelmingly white and largely privileged, but that's more likely a societal issue, not one of the festival's own making, and a topic for another column. Still, it's hard not to leave the festival feeling better about humanity and just a wee bit more optimistic about the future. Wednesdays Columnist Jen Zoratti looks at what's next in arts, life and pop culture. Every year the festival ends with an audience sing-along of The Mary Ellen Carter, Wild Mountain Thyme and Amazing Grace. It's a tradition I have generally eschewed, too cool for school, choosing instead to ditch the fest for a quick getaway. The older I get, the more I feel my resistance weakening. I want to feel connected to other people. It is just 358 days until the 51st Winnipeg Folk Festival. Dean PritchardCourts reporter Dean Pritchard is courts reporter for the Free Press. He has covered the justice system since 1999, working for the Brandon Sun and Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 2019. Read more about Dean. Every piece of reporting Dean produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
