Festival Campground

Over 6,000 festival friends camp in the Festival Campground. The Festival Campground is known for its late night animation and jams. If you need quiet to sleep, you might want to consider staying in our Quiet Campground.

Tent Camping

One of the best parts of camping is watching the evolution of an empty prairie field turn into an intimate city of tents. The majority of the campground is designated for tents, and a smaller separate area for RVs. Vehicles (including camping vehicles) are prohibited in the tenting grounds.

RV Vehicle Ticket Required in 2012 – Sold Out

The RV Vehicle Tickets required to camp in the RV area of the Festival Campground are sold out for 2012, but there is still plenty of room to camp in the Quiet Campground’s RV area.

The Festival Campground has a specific area for Recreational Vehicles (RVs) including trailers, campers, or camping vans. The popularity of RV camping is growing and last year we were definitely at capacity! Since the RV area can’t be expanded easily, and we want to ensure there is a space for everyone who comes to the Festival Campground with an RV, we are introducing a RV Vehicle Ticket in 2012.  The $10.00 ticket is valid only with a Festival Campground Ticket, and only one RV Vehicle Ticket is required per RV (not person). With your RV Vehicle Ticket in-hand, you’ll know there is a spot for you whenever  you arrive.

Upon arrival at the Festival Campground Box Office, your RV Vehicle Ticket will be exchanged for an RV Vehicle Pass. Please ensure that this pass is displayed on your dashboard during the entire festival. A team of volunteers will then direct you to your parking spot. RV spots can not be reserved or held – they are assigned to vehicles in the order they arrive. So, if you want to park next to a friend, try to be in line together – we’ll do our best, but even then we can not guarantee that you will be parked side-by-side.

• Only vehicles registered as a camping vehicle are permitted.
• Sleeping in your car, an unconverted van, or box truck is not permitted.
• Once parked, RVs cannot be moved except when vacating the campground.
• Vehicles pulling trailers must leave the camping area after parking and positioning the RV.
• There are no in/out privileges.
• The special needs parking area is for designated patrons.
• One tent per vehicle is allowed in the RV area.

The RV Vehicle Ticket is $10.00 including tax and fees, and available at the Winnipeg Folk Festival Music Store and Ticketmaster while supplies last.   Maximum one RV Vehicle Ticket per person.

Campground Orientation

Get acquainted with the campground when you arrive. Note the location of port-a-potties, water taps, pathways, and landmarks. The campground looks very different at night!

Campground Services

There are outhouses, portable toilets, water taps, picnic tables and fire pits for communal use. Firewood can be purchased on site. No electricity is provided. No generators please. Campers are welcome to use the coin-showers and coin-laundry facilities at the Birds Hill Provincial Park Campground. Take our free shuttle to the shower!  Schedules are available at Campground Central, RV Gate and posted at bus stops.

Take the FREE Shuttle!

Help us reduce traffic by leaving your vehicle parked and walking to the festival site. Take a ride on the free Campground Shuttle bus, no donations please. Buses leave every half-hour from marked bus stops along the trailhead paths and run from all three campgrounds to the festival site. Schedules are available at Campground Central, RV Gate and posted at bus stops.

Wheely Green Rickshaws

Take advantage of the free rickshaw service on Wednesday and Thursday as you load in, and Monday as you load out. Look for Wheely Green rickshaws in and around the parking lots and trailheads – flag one down and they’ll help you schlep your gear!

Wagon Share

The Wagon Share crew is bigger than ever! They will be waiting with their happy yellow wagons to help you transport your things from your car to your campsite. Look for the folks with the “Sunshine Fleet” of yellow wagons on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and give ‘em a big smile and thank you!

Conscious Camping

Respect Mother Nature and help us continue this legacy of eco-consciousness in the campground. Respect your neighbours and the environment! Leave only your footprints. The creatures that live at the park year round thank you, as do the volunteers who clean up the garbage left behind.

Remember, this is our home for five days – keep it clean! Campground volunteers will provide you with bags: BLACK for garbage and CLEAR for recyclables and empties.

Attention smokers: nobody likes to step barefoot on a lit cigarette. Practice the “pinch and pocket” habit; don’t butt out your filter on the ground. Pinch off the end and dispose of it properly.  Free cigarette snuffers are available at Campground Central, and Audience Services on the festival grounds.

Campground Enviro Headquarters

Swing on by the New Enviro HQ located at trailhead 2 (see campground map).

Drop off recyclables at the new Enviro HQ or at the depots located throughout the campground: pop cans, plastic bottles, beer cans, and beer bottles. The Campground Enviro crew uses recyclables for campground improvements (such as fire pits, port-a-potties and shelters).

Bring your empties and recycling and win some prizes! Cheer them on as they endeavor to help YOU stay green and clean at the festival. Don’t be shy, say hello. The Enviro volunteers would love to talk trash with you!

Remember: CLEAR BAGS ARE FOR RECYCLABLES AND EMPTIES and black for garbage.

Leave only your footprints!

Campground Composting

Our Composting Crew will be provide composting bins and information near the food area at trailhead 2 daily. To prevent contamination, composting bins will only be available while the crew is on shift. Satellite compost depots will also be set-up in RV and Volunteer camping.

Drop by the new Campground Enviro Head Quarters, say hello, and find out more about the composting program from volunteers. Your feedback makes this a better community!

Please use this service responsibly and respect wet waste for what it is. Food compost only. No personal waste or gray water disposal please.

Monday Morning – Load Out How You Loaded In

No vehicles are allowed in the campground on Monday morning to load out. It has become a safety concern and risk to campers, not to mention the “un-green” line-ups of idling vehicles. Pack-out by foot, wagon, bike, or ask your new festival buddies to help you schlep out. Wheely Green (pedicabs) will also be on hand to help you move your gear. Don’t forget – you can start packing up on Sunday!

Keep your wristbands on until you leave the park for good.

Remember: the campground closes at noon on Monday.

Campground Central

Campground central is located in zone 1B. This is where you’ll find:

• the campground newsletter;
• shuttle schedules;
• garbage and recycling bags;
• a cell phone and battery charging station.
• Pick up a copy of the campground newsletter and campground shuttle schedules. Or maybe you just need an extra garbage or recycling bag for your campsite? Charge your cell phone or camera battery – a limited number of outlets will be available for campers to use. The charging station is un-supervised, so please stay nearby while waiting for your phone to juice up! Don’t bogart the plug!

Help to make the campground a safe and happy place! Please:

• no fireworks, fire sticks or fire batons;
• no fires allowed outside designated fire pits;
• no pets;
• no household furniture;
• no amplified music;
• no unauthorized distribution of printed materials;
• no commercial vending;
• no glass;
• no burning or collecting scavenged wood.

Fireworks

It is illegal and dangerous to set off fireworks in the park. Persons found setting off fireworks can receive a fine of up to $10,000 or be imprisoned for up to six months! Fireworks are dangerous to your fellow campers, people can be seriously injured, or cause tent fires and forest fires. Please report any fireworks to a Safety Crew member.

Message Board

Trying to hook up with a buddy? Leave a message on the campground message board. There are message boards at the main campground entrance and another along the pedestrian pathway in zone 1A. This hand-crafted message board is courtesy of Lee and Annie!

Drugs and Alcohol

Be smart.
Look after each other.
Drink responsibly.

Alcohol is not allowed outside the Festival Campground boundaries; this includes Pope’s Hill, trailheads, parking lots and Festival Campground drive.  Fines can be up to $200.  Keep your drinking to the campground.

Campground Art & Animation Areas

Communal gathering is an important aspect of the campground experience and the we encourage performance-based, structural, educational and aesthetic projects that facilitate interaction and participation among our campers. From organized performance art, to Tipi villages, to pirate ships – these projects create a magic ambience and provide a communal space for campers to gather. Each year, we work with selected groups who apply with Campground Art & Animation project proposals. Not bound to the walls of a gallery, our campgrounds allow ideas to take on a larger-than-life quality.

2012 Food Vendors

Check back in the spring to see who will be selling delicious food in the campground!

Safety

Camp near your friends, mark your property and your tent, and take your valuables with you when leave. If you’re not camped near your friends, make friends with those who are camped near you. If you lose something, check out the ‘lost and found’ at Safety Headquarters at the Festival Campground entrance gate. The festival is not responsible for lost or stolen items.

There will be Festival Campground Safety volunteers, professional security, park officers and RCMP in the campground, on the hill and at the campground checkpoints. They are here to create a safe camping environment. Please be respectful and make sure your wristband is visible as you walk by the checkpoints. If you see someone acting irresponsibly in the campground, please contact a Safety crew volunteer (the folks in the blue reflective vests). Please continue the spirit of communal responsibility!

First Aid

24 hour First Aid Services is located in zone 1B (next to Campground Central). They are here to help if a medical situation arises. If you notice someone who looks like they need medical attention, please contact the nearest volunteer.

Poison Ivy

Poison Ivy This grows in wooded areas. It may vine on trees or fences, spread along the ground, or grow as a shrub. Leaves vary in size, dull green in summer, with smooth, toothed or lobed edges. Be cautious of all plants with three leaves and stay on marked trails.