Festival du Voyageur marks return to in-person festivities with new activities

He-ho! Festival du Voyageur is back, and after going virtual last year, the annual event in Winnipeg is returning with a mix of in-person and online activities.

Officially kicking off on Friday, the ten-day event is boasting many new features to mark its return to in-person festivities.

"It's absolutely important to have some excitement. It's not enough to just say we're back. We wanted to be back but with some new things," said Darrel Nadeau, executive director of Festival du Voyageur.

A mobile music venue is among the latest additions.

Guests will now be able to enjoy live music while standing outside.

"That for us is really a great COVID legacy," said Nadeau. "It's an asset that's going to last 20 years. We're able to do outdoor in the winter, in the summer on the rooftop as well."

The trailer can support a full band --speakers and all-- and keeps musicians and instruments at a warm temperature while performing in the cold.

The company that created the stage says the build was a unique one to tackle.

"Incredible challenge. The biggest challenge was actually the timeline," said Otto Kemerle, COO of International Truck Body. "It was an idea in September, and we basically built it in four weeks, something that we usually take about 12 weeks to build."

Also new this year is the Infinity Fire.

"It's going to gather about 50 people around these warm fires, and the symbolism is the joining of First Nations and voyageurs together," said Nadeau.

The two fire pits inside the infinity-shaped seating area will be lit in a special ceremony.

"So our opening ceremonies are going to feature elders lighting one fire and voyageurs lighting the other fire," added Nadeau.

Even with the new additions, festival organizers say all the classics will still be there.

"We have maple toffee on snow. You have the horse rides, snowshoe adventures, as well the big toboggan slide. We have the snow sculptures," noted Nadeau.

According to Nadeau, with the amount of snow Winnipeg has seen this winter, it's a great year for snow carving.

"This is my fifth year at the festival, and I've never seen this much snow. We've had no problem having enough snow to have sculptures. That means we have more sculptures than ever here at Voyageur Park."

There are seven large sculptures inside the park grounds and numerous smaller ones on top of the others scattered around the city.

Festival du Voyageur also has a host of online concerts and activities again this year.

Organizers say they chose to make it a hybrid event to ensure everyone can participate in some way.