The Festival du Voyageur is an annual 10-day

winter festival A winter festival, winter carnival, snow festival, or frost fair is an outdoor cold weather celebration that occurs in wintertime. Winter festivals are popular in D climates (see Köppen climate classification) where winter is particularly long ...

that takes place in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The event is held during each February in Winnipeg's French quarter, Saint-Boniface, and is

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– ...

's largest winter festival. It celebrates Canada's fur-trading past and unique French heritage and culture through entertainment, arts and crafts, music, exhibits, and displays. The word "

Voyageur The voyageurs (; ) were 18th and 19th century French Canadians who engaged in the transporting of furs via canoe during the peak of the North American fur trade. The emblematic meaning of the term applies to places (New France, including the ' ...

" refers to those who worked for a fur-trading company and usually travelled by

canoe A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle. In British English, the term ...

. In the case of Festival du Voyageur, the title of "Official Voyageur" is given to ambassadors of the festival.

History

The idea for a winter festival to celebrate Manitoba's Francophonie was first proposed by Georges Forest, who became the first official "Voyageur" in 1967. The proposal was put forth to the then-

City of St. Boniface St-Boniface (or Saint-Boniface) is a city ward and neighbourhood in Winnipeg. Along with being the centre of the Franco-Manitoban community, it ranks as the largest francophone community in Western Canada. It features such landmarks as the St. Bo ...

, but the city's offer was insufficient. In the summer of 1969, mayor of St. Boniface Ed Turner, along with city council, granted their support under the condition that Festival became an incorporated organization. Judge Robert Trudel became the first president of Festival du Voyageur. Festival du Voyageur Inc. was incorporated under the ''

Companies Act of Manitoba A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared go ...

'' on 18 December 1969. It received a city grant of $35,000 but had to give back all profits up to $35,000. At a press conference held on 13 January 1970, mayor Turner announced that the city of Saint-Boniface would present a festival honouring the Voyageur of the fur-trading era, in celebration of Manitoba's centennial. The first Festival du Voyageur took place that year from February 26 to March 1, at Provencher Park, with an estimated attendance of 50,000 people. Acting as an 'ambassador' for the event, Georges Forest promoted the event by wearing clothing that represented the Voyageurs. This initiated the tradition of "Official Voyageurs", which continues to this day. The 1970 festival lasted four days and featured the walk down

Provencher Boulevard Route 57 is a major road located in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It connects the suburbs of St. James and St. Boniface with the West End and the downtown core. Route description Route 57 begins as Dublin Avenue at Route 90 in the St. James Industrial ...

, the Governor's Bal and the Voyageur Trading Post. A large number of attendees required an unforeseen level of expenditure by festival organizers; by the festival's conclusion, the organization had debt in excess of C$40,000. To remedy their financial situation, the organizers held horse races as a fundraiser in conjunction with the 1971 festival. The 1971 festival was a success, drawing nearly 200,000 guests. However, instead of resolving the financial situation, the fundraiser pushed the organization further into debt. The snow sculpture that won the 1971 event was of a pair of boots and a toque. This sculpture inspired the creation of a mascot, Léo La Tuque, who was introduced in 1972 and became the trademark of Festival du Voyageur. Grants from the city of Winnipeg and the Secretary of State allowed the Festival to make arrangements with their creditors. The name was changed to "Festival du Voyageur" (the "of the" was dropped). For the 1972 festival, Arthur D'Eschambault was elected president. He hired a number of financial and management directors (most of whom were

anglophone Speakers of English are also known as Anglophones, and the countries where English is natively spoken by the majority of the population are termed the ''Anglosphere''. Over two billion people speak English , making English the largest language ...

). The festival ran from February 21 to 27, and the profits amounted to C$108.46. Two "school" voyageurs were appointed in 1977, to visit schools and teach children about the voyageurs and Festival. In 1977, construction began on wooden log cabins in Whittier Park to accommodate the festival. The log cabins were constructed to be left there year-round. In 1978, the organization had accumulated enough surplus funds to make Whittier Park the permanent site of the festival. Provencher Park had become too small for the growing number of attendees. These cabins formed the foundation of the historic reconstruction that became known as Fort Gibraltar. In 1981, the Festival du Voyageur purchased an empty warehouse, located at 768 Taché Avenue, for administrative offices and to be used for an additional venue. The building became known as the Rendez-Vous and eventually came to include a bar named Le Canot. From February to October 2001, a large house was constructed in Fort Gibraltar for the event. The house is called the Maison du Bourgeois. The Rendez-Vous building on Taché was put up for sale in 2003, and sold in 2006. New administrative offices were found in a building at 233 Provencher Avenue, and it came to also feature a store called the Boutique du voyageur. In 2005, a year-round interpretive centre was built in Fort Gibraltar. In 2011, The Festival was awarded the

Award of Excellence – Promotion of Linguistic Duality The Award of Excellence – Promotion of Linguistic Duality (also called the Award of Excellence for the Promotion of Linguistic Duality) is given annually by Canada's Commissioner of Official Languages. It is given to groups or individuals which a ...

by the Commissioner of Official Languages

Graham Fraser Graham Fraser (born 1946) is a Canadian former journalist and writer who served as Canada's sixth Commissioner of Official Languages. He is the author of several books, both in English and French. Early life and education Fraser is the son o ...

for its contribution to the vitality of the Franco-Manitoban Community.

Attendance

Current operation

In 2010, Festival du Voyageur Inc. (FDV Inc.) received $438,174 from

Industry Canada Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED; french: Innovation, Sciences et Développement économique Canada; french: ISDE, label=none)''Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada'' is the applied title under the Federal ...

's two-year Marquee Tourism Events Program (MTEP). In 2011, the festival saw 1,151 volunteers donate 14,393 hours of work. The festival currently employs 13 full-time permanent staff and at the festivals peak employs roughly 200 people. The typical annual attendance is 100,000 people across all ten days of the festival. The 2013 festival saw approximate revenue of $2.9 million. In 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Festival du Voyageur offered virtual programming and broadcast its concert events over YouTube and Facebook.

Partners

, organizations affiliated with the Festival du Voyageur include: * Official partners:

Bell MTS Bell MTS Inc. (formerly Manitoba Telecom Services) is a subsidiary of BCE Inc. that operates telecommunications services in Manitoba. Originally established as Manitoba Government Telephones after the Government of Manitoba purchased the Manito ...

, Caisse Groupe Financier, and

Canada Life The Canada Life Assurance Company, commonly known as Canada Life, is an insurance and financial services company with its headquarters in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The current company is the result of the 2020 amalgamation of The Great-West Life Assura ...

(French: ''Canada Vie'') * Official sponsors:

Université de Saint-Boniface The Université de Saint-Boniface (USB) is a French-language public university located in the Saint Boniface neighbourhood of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. An affiliated institution of the University of Manitoba, the university offers general and sp ...

, Liquor Mart Centre Culturel Franco-Manitobain, and Conseil jeunesse provincial. * Media sponsors: ICI Manitoba, Winnipeg Free Press, Pattison, Unis TV, La liberté, and

CTV CTV may refer to: Television * Connected TV, or Smart TV, a TV set with integrated internet North America and South America * CTV Television Network, a Canadian television network owned by Bell Media ** CTV 2, a secondary Canadian televisio ...

* "Friends of Festival:" Wawanesa Insurance,

CN Rail The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN ...

, Éducatrices et éducateurs francophones du Manitoba, Qualico Communities, Roquette,

Asper Foundation Asper may refer to: *Asper (') breathing mark in romanization of Greek * Asper (surname) * Asper, Missouri, a ghost town *Aemilius Asper, Latin grammarian *Aspron, a type of late Byzantine silver or billon coins *Akçe, an Ottoman silver coin, si ...

, and Assurart * Funders: governments of Canada, Manitoba, Winnipeg, and Quebec; Winnipeg Arts Council; FrancoFonds; Musicaction; Foundation Assisting Canadian Talent on Recordings; and Safe at home MB

References

External links