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Winnipeg Free Press
26-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
What's up: Canada Day, Countryfest, Public Domain, art of bonsai, @&% Canada Day
All across the city, Canada Day parties will celebrate the country's 158th birthday with food, fun and, in many cases, fireworks. CHRIS GAREAU / THE CARILLON FILES Winnipeggers can see fireworks at several locations on Tuesday. CHRIS GAREAU / THE CARILLON FILES Winnipeggers can see fireworks at several locations on Tuesday. Transcona BIZ is presenting a two-part Canada Day festival. In the afternoon (1-5 p.m.) check out the Canada Day Market at Transcona Centennial Square (135 Regent Ave. W.), featuring local makers such as BB Tallow Skincare Co., Urban Tails, Shrugging Doctor Beverage Co. and Bet Toba. There will be face painting, games and balloon animals for the kids and, while supplies last, free hot dogs. At 9:30 p.m., the gates will open at Buhler Recreation Park (135 Murdoch Rd.) for the fireworks — bring your blanket or lawn chair and enjoy. Similarly, in south Winnipeg, the River Park South Community Association is presenting a two-part Canada Day celebration of its own. Festivities kick off at Burland Park (150 Burland Ave.) from 4 to 8:30 p.m., with balloon artists, face painting, a craft market, live music and food trucks (including Wagyu Wagon, Engocha Ethiopian Food and the Big Dawg Smokies). The party moves to Highbury Park (99 Highbury Rd.) after dark for the fireworks, which kick off around 11 p.m. near the retention pond. Those living in north Winnipeg can start celebrating Canada Day early at Canada Fest at the Tyndall Park Community Centre (2255 King Edward St.) Sunday and Monday from 4 to 9 p.m. and from 3 to 11 p.m. on Canada Day proper. The event will feature food trucks and stalls at the Food Park (including Kyu Grill, Lobster Bae and Popoy's Golden Chicken), live spray paint art, free zumba classes, prizes and fireworks on Canada Day after dark. In the west end of the city, Assiniboine Park's Summer Entertainment Series continues with a range of Canada Day activities taking place from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Entertainment on the Lyric Stage includes Mama Cutsworth, Zrada and Neighbour Andy, while food trucks, a bouncy castle and pop-up patio will be set up in the Lyric Field. The outdoor garden at The Leaf will host a citizenship ceremony, salsa dance lessons, fire and tobacco teachings. (For those desperate to catch some fireworks in west Winnipeg, Assiniboia Downs will be lighting up the sky with pyrotechnics after dark.) — Ben Sigurdson Chantelle Dione photo Opaskwayak Cree Nation's Desiree Dorion performs at Countryfest this weekend. Chantelle Dione photo Opaskwayak Cree Nation's Desiree Dorion performs at Countryfest this weekend. Giddy up, country fans — Countryfest is here. Perhaps counter-intuitively, Canada's longest-running country music festival kicks off tonight with … a rock show. The Rockin' Thursday Kick Off Party will be headlined by Vancouver rock band Default, as well as a few bands-as-bands, including Winnipeg's the Haileys as Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and Dauphin's own Kates Outlaw as the Tragically Hip. Canadian singer-songwriter Josh Ross is the Friday-night headliner and American performer Jordan Davis takes top billing Saturday night, both supported by a genre-spanning list of acts — including, on Friday night, singer-songwriter Desiree Dorion who, fun fact, grew up about two kilometres from the grounds of Countryfest. And for those who like their country a little more old school, John Michael Montgomery, Mark Chesnutt and Lonestar are all among the mainstage performers on Sunday. The festival also offers a host of activities, including line dancing, axe throwing and, because it's Dauphin, a perogy-eating contest. Tickets — including weekend passes and camping passes — and the full lineup are available at — Jen Zoratti ALLEN E. MEADOR PHOTO Lady of the Red performs tonight ALLEN E. MEADOR PHOTO Lady of the Red performs tonight Located next door to the former Good Will Social Club, Public Domain is gaining momentum a few months ahead of its one-year anniversary, with its events schedule filling up quickly on its newly launched On Tuesdays, the bar/pizzeria/smashburger headquarters/concert venue hosts its weekly chess club, with a DJ spinning tunes. On Wednesdays, the sign-up list for karaoke is calling. And tonight, there's good music on tap for only $10. Kris Rendina and the Woke Mob headline, with Monday Morning Quarterback (Kieran Bjornson) and Lady of the Red — the updated moniker for local songwriter Larysa Musick — opening. — Ben Waldman SUPPLIED The Bonsai Society of Winnipeg hosts its biennial exhibit at WAG- Qaumajuq this weekend. SUPPLIED The Bonsai Society of Winnipeg hosts its biennial exhibit at WAG- Qaumajuq this weekend. The Bonsai Society of Winnipeg is back for its biennial exhibit at WAG-Qaumajuq. This year's exhibit of tiny trees marks the 40th anniversary of the society, which consists of more than 100 local bonsai enthusiasts. Miniature trees and landscapes, artfully sculpted by society members, will be displayed throughout the gallery. The showcase opens tonight with a ticketed gala. Guided tours of the exhibition are scheduled to run Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. On Saturday, join bonsai artists Trieu Vo and Denis Girardin for a pair of tree-shaping demonstrations in the Ilipvik centre at 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., respectively. And on Sunday at 2 p.m., Bonsai Society members will host a presentation about the artform and the nuances of training trees in Manitoba's challenging climate. Visit for more information. — Eva Wasney It wouldn't be a Canada Day party without an anti-Canada Day party. If one were debating Winnipeg's most impactful OG MCs, Nigel Webber's rich Gritty City: An Oral History of Winnipeg Hip-Hop Music 1980-2005 provides ammunition for many sides. But if we're talking after 2005, the question's already settled: Winnipeg's Most. About 15 years ago, the North End rap crew earned tens of millions of streams for its party and thug anthems such as Bang Bang and All That I Know, forging a Prairie hip-hop consciousness that went well beyond the underground. The group — now made up of Charlie Fettah and Jon-C — has been in something like a reunion mode lately, and headline Monday's F@&% Canada Day show at the Exchange Event Centre. Also on the bill are CJ the Grey — a rapper from Cross Lake First Nation who may emerge as this generation's great Prairie boom bapper — Cypha Diaz and Pip Boy. Entry to the show is free before 10:30 p.m. if you RSVP and bring a charitable donation of food or clothing for Main Street Project and Spirit Horse Initiative. Admission is $20 after 10:30 p.m. — Conrad Sweatman
Winnipeg Free Press
08-05-2025
- Climate
- Winnipeg Free Press
Province cancels burn permits, bans back-country travel in wildfire-threatened areas
All provincial burn permits in the eastern and Interlake regions of Manitoba have been cancelled and a complete ban of motorized back-country travel in affected areas will go into effect Friday as wildfires persist. The restricted area is from Provincial Road 302 to Provincial Trunk Highway 12 to PR 317 to PTH 59 and PR 319, east to the Ontario border, and from the U.S. border north to Lake Winnipeg and the Winnipeg River. Restricted provincial parks include Whiteshell, Spruce Woods, Beaudry, St. Ambroise Beach, Stephenfield, Birds Hill, Lake St. Andrews and Lake St. George. A travel restriction map can be found on the provincial government's website. Motorized back-country travel, including ATVs and off-road vehicles, will be banned at all times. Any back-country travel to access remote residences through forestry roads, private roads or trails will require a travel permit. Anyone looking for a permit should contact their local Natural Resources and Indigenous Futures office. CHRIS GAREAU / THE CARILLON FILES Motorized back-country travel, including ATVs, will be banned at all times. The Manitoba Wildfire Service said Thursday that any provincial burn permits under the Wildfires Act that have already been issued in the region are cancelled and no new permits will be issued until the fires improve. Fines for disobeying the bans can result in fines up to $100,000. No burning permits will be issued for areas bordering communities where restrictions are already in place. Those wondering if their municipality is under a burning restriction should check with their local municipal office. Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. Up-to-date information on the wildfires, changes to restrictions and other information can be found online or on X (formerly Twitter). To report a wildfire, call 911 toll-free at 1-800-782-0076. Malak AbasReporter Malak Abas is a city reporter at the Free Press. Born and raised in Winnipeg's North End, she led the campus paper at the University of Manitoba before joining the Free Press in 2020. Read more about Malak. Every piece of reporting Malak 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.
