Folklorama pavilions require financial gamble, hard work: volunteers

Performers at the Celtic Ireland pavilion.

It takes a village to put together Folklorama pavilions each year as everything from the food to the stage is all done by volunteers.

Every summer, communities get one week to show off their countries and culture at the event.

Philip Brady has been volunteering for nearly 20 years at the Celtic Ireland pavilion.

“I see the kids on the stage and I see the smiles on their faces. I see how much fun they’re having throughout this entire week and I think I can’t take that away from them,” he said.

Brady, who is the pavilion's coordinator, knows how it feels to dance on stage - he was a Lord of the Dance river dance performer.

“And I did that for years and then I came back to Winnipeg and started teaching dancing and it kind of blew up. Lots of kids wanted to learn Irish dancing,” he said.

However, putting on a pavilion comes at a cost.

Brady said he hopes the pavilion will break even this year.

“I do this for the kids, you know. It’s a big challenge. It’s a big financial gamble. Every year we don’t know if we are going to do well or not,” Brady said.

If they want to run again the next year, planning starts early.

“The Folklorama process actually starts the day after Folklorama,” said Tanya Williams, director of Folklorama’s marketing and communications.

“People start gathering ideas, start putting things down on paper. Then the member organizations of Folklorama actually apply for a licence,”

It takes a lot of hands to make Folklorama dreams a reality.

“Eight thousand volunteers put in over 300,000 hours a year. That’s incredible,” Williams said.

Brady is hopeful all those hard-working hours will pay off.

“As soon as they walk in here, I want them to feel like they’ve been transported right back to Ireland,” he said.

“We have a replica pub right from Ireland - the Temple Bar.”

Performances at the Celtic Ireland pavilion, along with many others, continue throughout the first week of Folkorama.

A full list of events can be found online.