‘Hope and love and beautiful music’: How Winnipeg Folk Fest brings people together – beyond the tunes

Four days. Eight stages. Seventy-two artists and bands.

And more than 75,000 people – a new record – descending on Birds Hill Provincial Park in Manitoba to listen to live music and party.

Winnipeg Folk Festival has meant so much to the attendees, artists, and volunteers who come to the park every year since the fest’s inception 50 years ago.

At the heart of the festival is Rich Hamon, who is known affectionately by festival goers as The Bubble Man.

Hamon, 74, has attended the Winnipeg Folk Festival for most of the last 40 years, adding to the vibe and atmosphere.

“I’m retired now, I’ve been retired since 2011,” Hamon told CityNews. “But when I was working, basically this was what you looked forward to 12 months in order to relax again, (and) learn how nice people are.”

Hamon, who lives in Pinawa, Man., makes the journey to the festival with his wife each year, bringing his hand-made bubble-making machine with him to the grounds.

It’s not an easy trek, either. The machine limits his movement, and in the heatwave that lasted the entire festival this year, it made moving around quite uncomfortable. But Hamon says it’s worth it, just to add a little magic to the festival.

“I always find it reassuring,” he said. “I like all of the people. Some of them have quirky habits, of course, we all do. But they’re all really nice people who come to Folk Festival.”

Hamon’s bubble machines work extra hard during the four-day fest.

“These were bought at Walmart or Zellers and whatnot,” he said. “I have 12 of these. The motors in them burn out after a while and I have to replace them. The other things need to be worked on. I have made them so I can add power from battery packs that I have in my belt here to run them, because the two little batteries in here would run out of steam. I’ve got probably almost two hours worth of bubble-making that I can do with these.”

Hamon is not an employee or a volunteer, but just a longtime Folk Fest devotee.

“I just love coming here and I get to do a job that isn’t really a job because I made it myself,” he said. “Nobody’s paying me and I’m not a volunteer, so I do this just because I love doing it. And just breathe in kindness and hope and love and beautiful music. So that’s why we came and also to meet our friends, again and again and again.”

Hamon explains how Folk Fest has turned into a family affair.

“Our kids grew up here and their kids have been out here a few times, too. So our grandchildren,” he said.

“We’re getting older, many of us are becoming not as mobile. So it really is the young people coming up now who don’t necessarily like quite the same music all of it that we do, but nonetheless. It’s important for them to be coming to the music festival.”

The festival is a longstanding summer event in Winnipeg. It started all the way back in 1974, which would technically make 2024 the 50th year. But because of COVID, it was the 49th annual Folk Fest.

“I think we were all kind of wondering what it would be like following the pandemic and I think the fact that we’re outside and for so many people, coming to Folk Festival is coming home, it’s something they really wanted to do,” said Valerie Shantz, the festival’s new executive director.

“So we had good crowds the first year back, we had excellent crowds last year, and this year it actually looks like again, we’re gonna be really up in numbers.”

The Winnipeg Folk Festival indeed celebrated a record-breaking 2024, drawing 76,500 people to Birds Hill Provincial Park, narrowly beating out the 2019 record of 76,000 attendees.

“In terms of audiences’ willingness to be here and continue to support the festival and wanting to be here, it’s going well,” Shantz said.

“For many people, the reason they come back year after year is not only kind of that opportunity for musical discovery, but community … It’s like a family reunion every year. Everybody getting back. Hearing what they’ve done in the last year.”

Shantz describes the music festival as a “choose-your-own-adventure.”

“So there is a lot of different kinds of music,” she said. “So people sometimes have an idea of what folk music means. And they don’t think it’s gonna be for them. Or they see just the main stage names that they know, and they think, ‘oh I don’t know if that’s for me.’ But the reality is, you come to the festival, there’s always at least 10 things you really want to listen to. Some of them you don’t even know you want to listen to them until you hear them.”

While the festival may only last four days, many of the hundreds behind the scenes – staff, volunteers, artists – work on it year-round. They make sure every second is as pleasant of an experience as possible for the thousands of concertgoers – whether there’s rain, shine, or a heatwave.

“Well, it takes 49 years to get here, right?” Shantz said.

Folk Fest is always a magical time for Shantz, whether she’s managing a crew of hundreds, or simply enjoying the festival.

“Every year, being here with my same friends, we do the tarp shuffle together, we do camping together,” she said. “It’s about the music but it’s also everything surrounding the music.”

Renowned musical artist, Ariel Posen, agrees there’s so much more to the event than what’s happening on stage.

“Everyone’s here and it’s a great opportunity for everyone to get together again,” Posen said. “And like, the music is kind of secondary. It’s just a hang and the entire aura of it is so special. So it’s like, the ultimate Winnipeg festival and event in my opinion. And everyone else that’s not from Winnipeg, they know there’s something in the water here … People know it’s a good one.”

For the singer-songwriter-guitarist, who has played his music all over the world, there’s nothing like coming back to his home city.

“Maybe it’s just familiarity and comfort from coming from all these years, but it just feels like home base,” he said. “It feels so welcoming and casual. It’s so professional and well taken care of. Everyone’s great. But it’s so just easy-going and everyone’s so relaxed and they take care of you and everyone’s just in the same mindset. So it just means like, happiness and peace and love and music. All those classic things. Truly that. Just a great hang.

“Something about it being home, you feel like just that more people are on your side. You travel all over the world and those people buy tickets because they want to see us, and we feel like they’re on our side. But there’s just something, home court advantage about playing at home that feels really good, you know?”

Posen’s connection to Winnipeg Folk Festival also runs through his family.

“My parents are musicians, they have a band called Finjan,” he explained. “They played the festival from its very beginning, so I spent my childhood here a lot. Spent my childhood at many other Folk Fests, too. And then once I was a working musician here, locally in Winnipeg, I’d been playing (Winnipeg Folk Fest) a lot with other bands and with other artists, or just attending. But this is the first time just as me, under my own name. Better late than never.”

Posen, who also acts as a mentor for a group of young musicians – including the children of people he looked up to growing up – says he arrived at the festival grounds and was greeted by “literally 200 friends.”

“I hope they just enjoy it, I hope, give them some memories to leave with,” he said. “Hopefully it rubs off on them enough that maybe next time we come through, some people that haven’t heard us join us next time. Just sets a nice memory for their festival experience.”

For many, Folk Fest is what a Winnipeg summer is all about. The experience. The crowds. The fact that for four days, a community is formed where people not only share the experience, they also look out for one another. That’s what’s truly at the heart of this festival, and that’s what’s kept it going strong for 49 editions.

“I absolutely love this place and adore it with all of my heart,” said Gabriel Portillo, who attended with a group of friends. “It is like, my opportunity to come and unwind from the whole year and finally get around all the people I’ve been missing and it’s perfect, honestly.

“Coming to the show, I think that the real reason why we’re all here and why we’re truly brought together is because of the music and to really be here and experience. That is a super beautiful thing.”

Kaitlin Bacon, who has been attending for a few years, was at this year’s festival with her friend Kara Nolan.

“It’s just the live music and at the campground, being with your friends at the campfire, it’s always just a good way to end the night and everything,” Bacon said.

“I’m new,” added Nolan. “I came two years ago, it was my first time. And many more to come. It’s incredible here.”

Attendee Alana Shlichting called the musical acts “background to more just like, everybody enjoying everyone’s company.”

It’s a sense of community that only those attending the festival can really understand.

“Everyone is so welcoming, everyone is so warm,” said Katie Wilson. “The atmosphere is amazing and then everywhere you go there’s something to listen to, and everyone is smiling. So I say (come to the festival), it’s great.”