Skip to main content

FESTIVAL du VOYAGEUR FROM CANADA!!










   The Festival du Voyageur ( Festival of the Traveller), is an annual 10 day winter festival which takes place in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada during February. "Voyageur" refers to those who worked for a fur trading company and usually travelled by canoe.
This event is held in Winnipeg's French Quarter, Saint-Boniface, and is Western Canada's largest winter festival. The event celebrates Canada's fur trading past and her unique French heritage and culture through entertainment, arts and crafts, music, exhibits and displays.






History

    The idea for the festival was first proposed in 1967, in celebration of Canada's centennial. However, due to a lack of sufficient funding from the city council, the proposal was not acted upon. In the summer of 1969, the mayor, Ed Turner, and the city council of Saint-Boniface granted their support under the condition that the Festival became an incorporated organization. Judge Robert Trudel became the first president of Festival du/ of the Voyageur. Festival du/of the Voyageur Inc. was Incorporated under the Companies Act of Manitoba on December 18th, 1969. It received a city grant of $35,000 but had to give back all profits up to the $35,000.



    At a press conference held January 13th, 1970, Mayor Turner announced that the city of Saint-Boniface would present a festival honoring the Voyageur of the fur trading era, in celebration of Manitoba's centennial. The first Festival du/of the Voyageur took place February 26th to March 1st 1970, at Provencher Park, with an estimated attendance of 50,000 people. The large number of attendees required an unforeseen level of expenditure by festival organizers; by the festival's conclusion, the organization had a debt in excess of $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.



   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". For the 1972 festival, Arthur D'schambault was elected president. He hired a number of financial and management directors (most of whom were anglophone). The festival ran from February 21st to 27th, and the profits amounted to $108.46.
Over the years, more additions were made to the festival. The symbol of a red toque (stocking cap) and a pair of boots was adopted in 1973, after a winning snow sculpture from the year before. Two "school" voyageurs were appointed in 1977, to visit schools and teach children about the voyageurs and the Festival.





    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. Log cabins were constructed in Whittier Park that could be left there year-round. These cabins formed the foundations of the historic reconstruction that became as Fort Gibraltar.

Comments

  1. Could you send me an email at efoidart@heho.ca so I can send you the correct image for the toque and boots please?

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have found the right image. Thanks again for your comment in getting it corrected.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

VANILLA PEACH COFFEE CAKE!!

Did you know that the fruit this summer is supposed to be the best it has been in years? Apparently, fruit loves hot weather. I personally have eaten more peaches and cherries this summer than I have in about five years just for that reason.  As I have been a little overzealous lately buying peaches and cherries I found myself with a few peaches that were going to be too ripe for me to eat on the same day. That is unless I wanted to have them for every meal plus a few snacks. So I decided to make this recipe for Vanilla Peach Coffee Cake.  Vanilla Peach Coffee Cake Adapted from  Allrecipes.com Batter: 2 eggs 1 C milk 1/2 C oil 1 tsp. vanilla 1/2 C  sour cream 3 C flour 1 C sugar 1 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. baking soda Topping: 5 or 6 large peaches, diced. 3 Tbsp. butter, melted 11/4 C brown sugar 1Tbsp. cinnamon 2 tsp. nutmeg 4 Tbsp. flour Vanilla Icing: 1 Tbsp. butter 1 tsp

PRESENT TOPIARY TO DECORATE YOUR PORCH AND FRONT DOOR!

   This comes from www.thatvillagehouse.blogspot.com .  I made something similar a couple years ago, without the pots.  It was about 6 feet high.  I got the inspiration from a Chirstmas dectoration that we bought at Target. This is a very good idea and make a great enterance to your home.  So here's a little something to thing about for next year.  Before you know it December will be here again.  You could also do something like this for an Easter theme.   Enjoy! A Merry Welcome! So here is my first Christmas project for the year!! I saw something similar at our church's Advent celebration & pretty much straight up copied it. I couldn't help it. It was love at first sight! I plan to make a 2nd stack to go on the other side of my door, so I'm not completely done, but I thought I would share it with you anyway. I started with 3 different sized boxes...9, 12 & 14 inch cubes. I used an ice pick to punch holes in each of them so that I could run

SAPPORO SNOW FESTIVAL FROM JAPAN!!!

     The Sapporo Snow Festival is a famous festival held annually in Sapporo, Japan, over 7 days in February.  Currently, Odori Park, Susukino, and Tsudome are the main sites of the festival.  The 2011 Yuki-matsuri dates are February 7th to the 13th.    The festival is one of Japan's largest and most distinctive winter events.  In 2007, about 2 million people visited Sapporo to see the hundreds of snow statues and ice sculptures at the Odori Park and Suskino sites, in central Sapporo, and the Satoland site.  The festival is thought to be an opportunity for promoting international relations. The International Snow Sculpture Contest has been held at the Odori Park sit since 1974, and teams from various regions of the world participate.      The subject of the statues varies and often features as event, famous building or person from the previous yer.  For example, in 2004, there were statues of Hideki Matsui, the famous baseball player who at that time pl