![The Forks Winnipeg2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/The_Forks_Winnipeg2.jpg)
The Forks (french: La Fourche) is a historic site, meeting place, and
green space in
downtown Winnipeg located at the
confluence of the
Red River and the
Assiniboine River
The Assiniboine River (''; french: Rivière Assiniboine'') is a river that runs through the prairies of Western Canada in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. It is a tributary of the Red River. The Assiniboine is a typical meandering river with a sing ...
.
The Forks was designated a
National Historic Site of Canada
National Historic Sites of Canada (french: Lieux historiques nationaux du Canada) are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment on the advice of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC), as being ...
in 1974 due to its status as a
cultural landscape that had borne witness to six thousand years of human activity. The site's grounds are open year-round.
History
6,000 years ago
Numerous archaeological digs have shown that early Aboriginal groups arrived at The Forks site around 6,000 years ago. The digs conducted between 1989 and 1994 discovered several Aboriginal camps. Artifacts related to the bison hunt and fishing were unearthed. Evidence showed that
Nakoda (Assiniboins),
Cree,
Anishinaabe
The Anishinaabeg (adjectival: Anishinaabe) are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples present in the Great Lakes region of Canada and the United States. They include the Ojibwe (including Saulteaux and Oji-Cree), Odawa, Potawat ...
(Ojibwa) and
Sioux (Dakota) visited the site.
Seasonal migration routes from northern forests to southern plains featured the Forks area as a rest stop, and the location became a key transcontinental trade link.
The Assiniboine River has followed its modern course for approximately 700 years. The Assiniboine River formerly met the Red River near the present-day mouth of the
La Salle River
The La Salle is a river in Manitoba, Canada, with its source near Portage la Prairie and terminating in the Red River in Saint Norbert (southern Winnipeg). The La Salle River flows mainly through agricultural land. It is a slow-moving, meanderin ...
.
1734–1760
European fur traders arrived at the site and initiated trade with the local peoples, using the Assiniboine people as fur trade middlemen.
1738–1880
European
European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to:
In general
* ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe
** Ethnic groups in Europe
** Demographics of Europe
** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...
s arrived by canoe in 1738.
La Vérendrye erected
Fort Rouge, the first of a long line of forts and trading posts erected in the area. The
Red River Colony
The Red River Colony (or Selkirk Settlement), also known as Assinboia, was a colonization project set up in 1811 by Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk, on of land in British North America. This land was granted to Douglas by the Hudson's Bay ...
and the forts were all established near The Forks. The area remained the hub of the fur trade up until the 1880s. At that time, grain production became Western Canada's principal industry and the main transportation for that industry was rail rather than waterways.
During the smallpox epidemics of 1781–1782, over half of the area's aboriginal population died. At this time over 1,000 Aboriginal men, women, and children were buried in The Old Aboriginal Graveyard at The Forks.
From 1760 to 1821, the
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business di ...
and
North West Company competed for furs. Both companies used The Forks to store and ship supplies and furs. By 1821, competing fur companies were amalgamated into the Hudson's Bay Company.
1886–1923
The rail yards of the Northern Pacific and Manitoba Railway Company, the Canadian Northern, the Grand Trunk Pacific Railroad and the Canadian National Railway were dominant facets of the Forks site, and this era is responsible for some of the buildings still standing at The Forks.
The Forks Market was formed by joining together the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway stable and the Great Northern Railway stable and Johnston Terminal was originally known as the National Cartage Building.
The Manitoba Children's Museum is housed in what used to be the
Northern Pacific Northern Pacific may refer to:
* Northern Pacific Airways, an upcoming airline
* Northern Pacific Field Hockey Conference, an NCAA Division I conference
* Northern Pacific Hockey League, an American Tier III junior ice hockey league
* Northern Pac ...
and
Manitoba Railway Company's Buildings and Bridges (B & B) Buildings.
Union Station
A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...
is still in operation.
1870–1920
Across the Prairies the Canadian government began actively promoting immigration, settlement and railway development in the late 1800s. The Canadian government erected two immigration sheds at The Forks, each accommodating up to 500 people.
The Forks today
Following the opening of the Forks National Historic Site in 1989,
the Forks became the location of an interpretive park, and later public space for celebrations and recreation, revitalized historic and new buildings containing shops and restaurants, as well as a skateboard park and historic port. The Forks attracts over four million visitors each year.
Facilities
The Forks Market
![The Forks Market, Winnipeg Manitoba](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ad/The_Forks_Market%2C_Winnipeg_Manitoba.JPG)
Beginning as two adjacent stables for competing rail companies, the horse stalls were joined together by a courtyard and bridges and became what is now known as The Forks Market.
The Forks Market features a six-storey tower with viewing platform, which is accessible by stairs or elevator and features interpretive panels with information on the site's history.
The market also comprises two storeys of vendors selling everything from fresh fruit, bread, meat, and wine to cigars and aromatherapy products to crafts and artworks from 300 local and Canadian artisans.
[
In mid-2016, the Forks completed a $2.5-million renovation of the food hall into a feature called The Common, including a new beer and wine kiosk.
Outside, located directly in between The Forks Market and Johnston Terminal, The Forks Market Plaza features fountains, canopies, dancing programs, several open performance spaces and patios.] In the winter, the Plaza is home to an artificially-cooled skating rink, under a canopy and lights.
Johnston Terminal
Across the courtyard from the Forks Market is the four-storey Johnston Terminal building. It was built in 1930 as a warehouse and freight-forwarding facility erected by Carter-Halls-Aldinger Company, and cost an estimated $134,700. After a substantial addition in 1930, the warehouse was at the time one of the largest in Winnipeg, containing over of usable space. It was occupied by National Storage and Cartage until 1961, and was leased to the Johnston National Cartage Company for the next 15 years. Vacated in 1977, the building was unoccupied until the redevelopment of the site into The Forks.[ The developers, Artis REIT, continue to own and manage Johnston Terminal.
The building is now home to a variety of specialty boutiques and stores, offices, a café, and ]The Old Spaghetti Factory
The Old Spaghetti Factory is an Italian-American-style chain restaurant in the United States and Canada. The U.S. restaurants are owned by OSF International, based in Portland, Oregon, while the Canadian restaurants are owned by The Old Spaghett ...
. The basement of the building hosts the Johnston Terminal Antique Mall, which hosts more than 30 consigners and of new merchandise brought in daily.
Travel Manitoba Visitor Information Centre
Travel Manitoba Visitor Information Centre is the visitor information centre
A visitor center or centre (see American and British English spelling differences), visitor information center, tourist information center, is a physical location that provides tourist information to visitors.
Types of visitor center
A visit ...
for Manitoba, offering travel counselling and trip planning services. The centre also acts as a meeting point for the "6,000 Years in 60 Minutes!" Parks Canada interpretive program offered throughout the summer months.
Manitoba Children's Museum
Located next to the Oodena Celebration Circle, the Manitoba Children's Museum is a non-profit, charitable children's museum
Children's museums are institutions that provide exhibits and programs to stimulate informal learning experiences for children. In contrast with traditional museums that typically have a hands-off policy regarding exhibits, children's museums fea ...
featuring twelve permanent galleries. Originally opened at a different location in 1986, the museum's moved to its current building at the Forks in 1994.[ The museum is now housed in the former Kinsmen Building, which is the oldest surviving train repair facility in Manitoba, having been built in 1889.]
The museum underwent $10 million in renovations in 2011, including the addition of the Buhler Welcome Centre.
Manitoba Theatre for Young People
The Manitoba Theatre for Young People (MTYP) is a theatre for children and young adults, located at the Canwest Performing Arts Centre in The Forks, Winnipeg. The location provides of space for the theatre to use towards its missions of producing entertaining professional theatre, providing training in theatre and portraying the experience of Canadian children.
MTYP's Theatre School offers Fall, Winter, and Spring sessions, as well as Spring break and Summer camps, including classes for children as young as three years old. MTYP offers free acting, performing and film training classes to Winnipeg's Aboriginal youth between the ages of 12 and 18.
Canadian Museum for Human Rights
The Forks is the location of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (the first national museum outside of Ottawa). Its construction was completed in 2014.
The site for the museum is one of archaeological importance relating to First Nations history.
Inn at the Forks
Inn at the Forks is a five-storey hotel located at the Forks. It has 117 guest rooms and suites, meeting and reception space for up to 200 people, fitness facilities, and features The Current Restaurant & Lounge and Riverstone Spa. The hotel features natural slate floors in the main lobby, glass vanities in the suite washrooms, heated floors, and a water wall in the spa.[
The Inn at the Forks project was the first Canadian application of the "Redi-Maid" system that links ensuite occupancy sensors, lighting and mechanical system controls to staff PDAs with the goal of maximizing energy efficiency. The hotel was completed with a construction cost of $16 million in May 2004.]
Winnipeg Rail Museum
The Winnipeg Rail Museum is located at the historic Union Station
A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...
adjacent to the Forks. It is home to the Countess of Dufferin
The ''Countess of Dufferin'' was the first steam locomotive to operate in the Canadian prairie provinces and is named after Hariot Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, Countess of Dufferin (later Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava), the wife of the Earl o ...
steam locomotive, the first locomotive to enter western Canada
Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West or the Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a Canadian region that includes the four western provinces just north of the Canada†...
.
Outdoor features
The Forks features numerous outdoor facilities, sculptures, and landscape features open to the public.
Arctic Glacier Winter Park
During winter, the following skating rinks, trails and snow park structures are erected at the Forks.
* The Plaza Skating Rink
* An Olympic-sized Skating Rink
* Rink under Scotiabank Stage
* 1.2 km of skating trails
* The Snowboard Fun Park
* The Toboggan Run
In January 2008, the Guinness Book of World Records recognized The Forks as the home of the longest skating rink in the world. The 8.54-kilometre-long Assiniboine Credit Union
Assiniboine Credit Union (ACU) is a credit union based in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
ACU was formed in 1943 by 15 employees of the Winnipeg Electric Company who got together to form the credit union. They named the new credit union after the street thei ...
River Trail on the Assiniboine River
The Assiniboine River (''; french: Rivière Assiniboine'') is a river that runs through the prairies of Western Canada in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. It is a tributary of the Red River. The Assiniboine is a typical meandering river with a sing ...
and the Red River is almost 1-kilometre longer than the previous record-holding rink. The 7.8-kilometre long rink on the Rideau Canal in Ottawa, Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
had lost its World Record title which it had held since 1971. Then in 2008 the rivers beat their own record which made the longest rink go to about 9.3-kilometres. The Rideau Canal still held the record for the "world's largest naturally frozen ice rink" by the Guinness Book of World Records because "its entire length receives daily maintenance such as sweeping, ice thickness checks and there are toilet and recreational facilities along its entire length". In 2013, the Assiniboine Credit Union River Trail lost its record to the Lake Windermere Whiteway at Invermere
Invermere is a community in eastern British Columbia, Canada, near the border of Alberta. It is the hub of the Columbia Valley between Golden to the north and Cranbrook to the south. Invermere sits on the northwest shore of Windermere Lake an ...
, British Columbia.
The length of the skating trail at The Forks changes each year, depending on river and ice conditions, although a concerted effort is made to make it as long as possible. In the winter of 2010/2011, conditions on The Assiniboine River made it impossible to safely create skating westward, so the path extended instead south on the Red River. Essentially, the water level and the weather at the time of freeze-up will impact the way the ice forms (see frazil ice
Frazil ice is a collection of loose, randomly oriented ice crystals millimeter and sub-millimeter in size, with various shapes, e.g. elliptical disks, dendrites, needles and of an irregular nature. Frazil ice forms during the winter in open-wate ...
, for example), how stable it will be, and how smoothly it can be made for skating. Much of the local river ice in Winnipeg in the winter of 2010/2011 was too rough to form a skating surface. There is also a skating trail made overland which is not impacted by river conditions. There are also walking and ski trails running parallel to the skating trail.
''Warming Huts: An Art + Architecture Competition on Ice'' is an open competition endorsed by the Manitoba Association of Architects. Started in 2010, the first iteration of the competition saw five local architects building outdoor structures to protect people from winter weather. In 2011, competition was opened up to international participants and included work by Frank Gehry's firm Gehry Partners. The competition has been awarded a Downtown Merit Award from the International Downtown Association.
Assiniboine Riverwalk
The Assiniboine Riverwalk follows along the Assiniboine
The Assiniboine or Assiniboin people ( when singular, Assiniboines / Assiniboins when plural; Ojibwe: ''Asiniibwaan'', "stone Sioux"; also in plural Assiniboine or Assiniboin), also known as the Hohe and known by the endonym Nakota (or Nakod ...
riverbanks from underneath Esplanade Riel
Esplanade Riel is a pedestrian bridge located in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It was named in honour of Louis Riel.
It is a side-spar cable-stayed bridge which spans the Red River connecting downtown Winnipeg with St. Boniface; it is paired with a vehic ...
to the grounds of the Manitoba Legislative Building The Manitoba Legislative Building (french: Palais législatif du Manitoba), originally named the Manitoba Parliament Building, is the meeting place of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba, located in central Winnipeg, as well as being the twelfth pr ...
.
The Riverwalk is often closed due to river flooding in springtime. From the construction of the walkway to the summer of 2011, the walkway has been submerged beyond access for part of the summer for 16 out of 21 years.
Broadway Promenade
The Broadway Promenade is a pedestrian walkway
A sidewalk (North American English), pavement (British English), footpath in Australia, India, New Zealand and Ireland, or footway, is a path along the side of a street, highway, terminals. Usually constructed of concrete, pavers, brick, stone ...
connecting the Esplanade Riel
Esplanade Riel is a pedestrian bridge located in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It was named in honour of Louis Riel.
It is a side-spar cable-stayed bridge which spans the Red River connecting downtown Winnipeg with St. Boniface; it is paired with a vehic ...
pedestrian bridge to Union Station
A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...
and Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
. Designed by Scatliff+Miller+Murray, the design incorporates two pathways which cross the site. One pathway re-established the historic Broadway/ Provencher Boulevard connection, and the other is a winding pathway representing pre-European contact era.
Esplanade Riel
Named in honor of Louis Riel
Louis Riel (; ; 22 October 1844 – 16 November 1885) was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and a political leader of the Métis people. He led two resistance movements against the Government of Canada and its first ...
, Esplanade Riel is a pedestrian-only side-spar cable-stayed bridge
A side-spar cable-stayed bridge may be an otherwise conventional cable-stayed bridge but its cable support does ''not span the roadway'', and is instead cantilevered from one side. The Esplanade Riel illustrated is located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, ...
which spans the Red River connecting downtown Winnipeg with St. Boniface, and it is paired with a vehicular bridge, the Provencher Bridge The Provencher Bridge (french: Pont Provencher) is a set of paired bridges—a four-lane vehicular bridge and a suspended pedestrian bridge (called Esplanade Riel)—across the Red River in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
The bridge links downtown Winnipeg w ...
.
Co-designed by architects Guy Préfontaine and Étienne Gaboury of Gaboury Préfontaine Perry Architects Inc., Esplanade Riel is the only bridge with a restaurant in North America, and since July 2015 is occupied by Mon Ami Louis. Former leasees include Salisbury House, a local Winnipeg chain restaurant, and Chez Sophie.
Festival Park and Scotiabank Stage
The Scotiabank Stage is an outdoor stage with adjoining greenspace, built along the Broadway Promenade.
In 2012, the signature events at the stage included Winnipeg's Pride Parade festival, Aboriginal Day Live hosted by APTN, Canada Day activities and the Folklorama Kick-Off.
The Forks Historic Port
Positioned along the Assiniboine Riverwalk, the historic port offers river vessel docking and rental, as well as access to the Splash Dash Water Bus.
During times of flooding Splash Dash Water Bus employs a movable ramp and floating dock system that allows it to operate in high water conditions.
Historic Rail Bridge
Built in 1888, the rail bridge was abandoned and eventually converted into a lighted crossing for pedestrians, cyclists and skaters. The mural on the side of the rail bridge is entitled "Jackson Beardy – Woodlands Group of Seven Tribute", and was painted in 2006 for Graffiti Gallery's Winnipeg International Mural Festival. The 30-foot wide and 20-foot tall mural pays tribute to Cree artist Jackson Beardy
Jackson Beardy (July 24, 1944 – December 7, 1984) was an Indigenous Oji-Cree Anishinaabe artist born in Canada. His works are characterized by scenes from Ojibwe and Cree oral history and many focus on the relationship between humans and natur ...
as well as the other members of the Indian Group of Seven.
Oodena Celebration Circle
Oodena Celebration Circle is a natural shallow amphitheatre
An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...
located between Johnston's Terminal, the Manitoba Children's Museum, and the Red River Riverwalk. ''Oodena'' is Ojibwe for 'centre of the city'. Commissioned in 1993, the site was designed by the firm of Hilderman Thomas Frank Cramm. The location features sculptures, a sundial, interpretive signage, a naked-eye observatory, and a ceremonial fire pit.
The circular amphitheatre is in diameter and deep. The excavation for the site unearthed what is referred to by local archaeologists as "the archaic horizon," a 3,000-year-old layer of soil rich in artifacts.
There are 8 unique steel armatures that rest on cobblestone formations surrounding the bowl.[ Each armature points at a specific constellation, according to dates and times indicated on the panels surrounding the central stage.][ Sighting rings on the armatures identify specific stars within the constellations.][ The supporting cobblestone formations bear inscriptions of various legends about the stars their armatures focus upon.][ The amphitheatre marks the vernal and autumnal equinox and the summer and winter solstices.][ "The south armature features a shadow rod that casts ]solstice
A solstice is an event that occurs when the Sun appears to reach its most northerly or southerly excursion relative to the celestial equator on the celestial sphere. Two solstices occur annually, around June 21 and December 21. In many countr ...
shadows on ground markers, the west armature is fitted with a wind sculpture, and the northeast armature features an aeolian harp." (Hilderman Thomas Frank Cramm – Oodena Celebration Circle)[
The site has been used as a meeting grounds for such varied events as "No Stone Unturned", a free concert in honour of Manitoba's missing and murdered women, as well as the 2011 opening night location for THIN AIR, the ]Winnipeg International Writers Festival The Winnipeg International Writers Festival is a Winnipeg, Manitoba based organization that puts together an annual literary festival known as THIN AIR. The festival program runs for a week each fall, and there are also several off-season events reg ...
and as the meeting location for Winnipeg's Zombie Walk 2012.
Pan Am Games Monument
Located beside the Inn at the Forks, the Pan Am Games Monument recognizes the governments, companies and individuals who supported the 1999 Pan American Games
The 1999 Pan American Games, officially the XIII Pan American Games or the 13th Pan American Games, was a major international multi-sport event that was held from July 23 to August 8, 1999, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and surrounding towns and ...
in Winnipeg. The monument served as the flame cauldron for the games. The 1999 Pan Am Games mainstage concerts were held at the Scotiabank Stage and Festival Park.
Garden and orchard
The Forks has a prairie garden, which is a natural wild garden with over 10,000 plants in over 150 native plant
In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often popularised as "with no human intervention") during history. The term is equ ...
species, including 38 prairie plants such as prairie crocus
''Pulsatilla nuttalliana'', known as American pasqueflower, prairie pasqueflower, prairie crocus, cutleaf anemone, or simply pasqueflower, is a flowering plant native to much of North America, from the western side of Lake Michigan, to northern ...
, wild iris, bergamot, purple prairie clover, and wild columbine.
In collaboration with Winnipeg-CORE, the public orchard at The Forks contains 61 fruit trees including apple, apricot, cherry, pear, and plum, which the public can pick to eat from when the fruit is ripe. There are as many as 75 fruit bearing shrubs packed with all types of berries to pick from during the summer days.
There are also many education sessions through Winnipeg-CORE that are open to the public, as part of The Fork's Target Zero initiative.
Skatepark
Officially opened 30 June 2006, "The Plaza" is the largest urban skate plaza and bowl complex in Canada. Announced in 2005, it was built with money donated from the J.W. Burns Family Foundation. The skatepark includes a skate plaza, and an 'bowl complex'.
The design features 'skateable' artwork, and is built to tolerate the regular use and enjoyment of skateboarders and cyclists. The park was also designed to integrate into the urban architecture of the city. It was designed by landscape architecture firm van der Zalm + associates inc. of Vancouver, BC with key team members, New Line Skateparks and Scatliff Miller Murray as the local landscape architects.
"Skate Patrol" are experienced skateboarder staff members that tour the park from dawn to dusk to educate skaters on the park's etiquette.
In winter, this area features a small snowboarding facility.
In 2006, the park was visited by professional skateboarder Tony Hawk
Anthony Frank Hawk (born May 12, 1968), nicknamed Birdman, is an American professional skateboarder, entrepreneur, and the owner of the skateboard company Birdhouse. A pioneer of modern vertical skateboarding, Hawk completed the first documen ...
to shoot scenes for his movie release ''Secret Skatepark Tour 3''.
Other features
![Rail Cars at The Forks in Winnipeg Manitoba](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/Rail_Cars_at_The_Forks_in_Winnipeg_Manitoba.JPG)
* "Balance of Spirit Within" is a granite stone sculpture weighing approximately 10 tonnes, and is located on the north side of the Forks Historic Rail Bridge.
* There are often buskers
Street performance or busking is the act of performing in public places for gratuities. In many countries, the rewards are generally in the form of money but other gratuities such as food, drink or gifts may be given. Street performance is pra ...
in and around The Forks. Buskers perform at stations known as "Busk Stops". They are paid by donation, but are prohibited from suggesting donation amounts or requesting contributions. There is an annual competition called the "Scotiabank Busker's Festival" at which it is decided who will be allowed to Busk.
* The posts on the canopy between The Forks Market and Johnston Terminal have bands on them to commemorate the peak water levels of major floods. Starting from the bottom of the posts, the bottom marker represents the 1950 flood, the middle marker represents both the 1852
Events
January–March
* January 14 – President Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte proclaims a new constitution for the French Second Republic.
* January 15 – Nine men representing various Jewish charitable organizations come tog ...
and 1997 floods
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...
, and the top the flood of 1826
Events January–March
* January 15 – The French newspaper '' Le Figaro'' begins publication in Paris, initially as a weekly.
* January 30 – The Menai Suspension Bridge, built by engineer Thomas Telford, is opened between the island ...
. The flood line markers on one of the posts have historic plaques with information on the floods they represent.
* The "Peace Meeting Site" is a landscaped resting area along the Broadway Promenade, featuring Aboriginal and European elements, notable for having two gigantic Adirondack chair
The Adirondack chair is an outdoor lounge chair with wide armrests, a tall slatted back, and a seat that is higher in the front than the back. Its name references the Adirondack Mountains.
The chair was invented by Thomas Lee between 1900 and 190 ...
s.
* Just outside The Forks Market are two completely restored turn-of-the-century rail cars. One car is for display, while the other is home to "Sugar Mountain Express", a candy store.
* The Variety Heritage Adventure Playground is an educational play structure for children, featuring water park elements.
* "Wall Through Time" is a sculpture depicting the history of the Forks, which features two bronze shells and a limestone centrepiece. The sculpture is located on the western edge of a major North American archeological find.
Events
The Forks hosts over 200 third-party and signature events throughout the year, most of which are free.
Canada Day
Canada Day at the Forks is an all day event, with activities happening throughout the Forks grounds, and culminating in a fireworks show.
Salsa Sundays
Salsa Sundays is a weekly event run at the Forks under the canopy during the summer, featuring free dance instruction and demonstrations set to live Latin music and DJ mixes.
Winnipeg International Children's Festival
The Winnipeg International Children's Festival is a children's festival held annually at The Forks National Historic Park. Founded in 1983, it was held at Assiniboine Park, then at Kildonan Park
Kildonan Park is a park in the West Kildonan area of northern Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
Established in 1909 as a park, it features the Peguis Pavilion, Rainbow Stage, the Witch's Hut, an Olympic-sized outdoor swimming pool, duck pond, and so ...
from 1984 through 1989, and eventually moving to its present location in 1990. The festival is made up of over 30 acts, held over four days, totalling about 120 performances.
Future projects
The following projects are part of the ten-year revitalization plan for The Forks.
* Rail Side Lot
* Upper Fort Garry Heritage Park
* South Point
* Promenade Lighting Strategy
* The Forks Sculpture Program
* Waterfront Vision
Climate
References
External links
The Forks
Children's Museum
Winnipeg CORE
Canadian Museum for Human Rights
Inn at the Forks
Manitoba Theatre for Young People
{{DEFAULTSORT:Forks
Culture of Winnipeg
Neighbourhoods in Winnipeg
Tourist attractions in Winnipeg
National Historic Sites in Manitoba
Historic districts in Canada
Assiniboine River
Red River of the North
Downtown Winnipeg