Campground Art & Animation Areas
2013 ANIMATION AND ART TO DISCOVER
Communal gathering is an important aspect of the campground experience and we encourage performance-based, structural, educational and aesthetic projects that encourage interaction and participation among our campers. These projects create a magical ambience and provide a communal space for campers to gather. Each year, we work with selected groups who apply with campground Art and Animation Project proposals. Not bound to the walls of a gallery, our campgrounds allow ideas to take on a larger-than-life quality!
ADVICE BOOTH: ROVING
Cari and Erica bring the rolling advice booth back to the campground this year bright and early Wednesday morning. This mobile counselling service staffed by conscience angels, one red and one white, offers both lighthearted to hysterically funny advice. They will be roaming the admission line-ups entertaining the waiting campers.
BETTY AND SUNDANCE: ROVING
Back after a one year hiatus, Betty and Sundance – the two frolicking centaurs – will be trotting through the campground and Festival grounds bringing joy and warm smiles to folks both young and old.
BIG GAMES: ZONE 1B
Do you ever find that board games are, well, boring? Well fear not, campers, because guaranteed BIG laughs and BIG fun await you with BIG Games. Use these larger-than-life game pieces to sink your opponent’s battleship, spell that winning word, or knock down some dominos. So roll the die and take your chances at the Big Games arena. New this year: Big Guess What!, Big Twister, Big Cribbage, and the main attraction –The Folk Fest Feud. Sore losers not allowed!
CASTLE BOYS: ZONE 2
A new twist on a popular theme – SPACE BARN. The Castle Boys’ new and improved barn will look much like it did in 2004. Warm light will illuminate the structure for open jam sessions and our Thursday night talent show. On Friday and Saturday night, however, a different glow will emanate from the barn. A bright, cool blue light will shoot out every door and window, calling people to see what is happening inside. When the stage curtains open their in-house band, the Flat City Folk, will start the show dressed as friendly aliens and will play a set of rip-roaring old-time country songs! Then, local funk band, The Afterparty, will play a set of their own songs mixed in with some sci-fi-inspired tunes. Don’t forget to attend our sing-along on Sunday night to round out the Festival!
CYCLOTROPE CIRCUS: ZONE 1B
This series of three interactive kinetic sculptures fosters an appreciation for animation, recycling and bicycle culture. A form of zoetrope, an optical kinetic apparatus that was one of the first forms of moving image animation, viewers spin the cylinder and see the sequential images inside create and illusion of motion by animating a series of still images.
DINING TABLE: ZONE 1A
The Festival is an environment where everyone comes together and, after four days, feels like a big family. Nothing brings a family together more than a huge dining table where everyone can sit down and share each other’s company. This 34 foot long dining table provides a space where many people can gather for potlucks, card games, drinks, conversations and company. The table unites people and the environment while enhancing overall atmosphere.
FLAMING TROLLEY’S: ZONE 4
The Flaming Trolley’s Circus brings together a wide variety of performances, activities and other unique acts. Check out the campground parade complete with stilt walkers, elephant puppeteers, and a marching band. Look for the eclectic Bedouin-style circus tent where activities such as hula hooping, slacklining, acrobatic yoga and capoeira delight and captivate campers throughout the day. Tuckered out from the day’s festivities? Then stop by the nighttime chill tent where you can rest on a pillow sipping spiced chai while listening to acoustic music, hearing some poetry, watching belly dancers or chuckling along to a puppet show.
FOLK FESTIVAL SUNDIAL: ZONE 1B
This project is an analemmatic sundial that requires a person to complete! Stand on the platform and see where you shadow falls on the surrounding markers. A great way to tell if you are in time for that important event – be it yoga, tarp run or the circus parade!
HULA TREE: ZONE 1B
This interactive landmark offers a fun physical art form that all ages can enjoy. Passersby are encouraged to pick a hoop and try hula hooping. If you don’t know how to hula, or want to learn new tricks the Hula Tree folks will be happy to help. You can also attend their workshop to improve your skills or even join our hula jam to show of your moves!
GRAVITY STILL WORKS FIRE CIRCUS: POPE’S HILL
Gravity Still Works is a fire performance troupe specializing in circus-themed events that believes in the extraordinary power of play to heal as well as fulfill and enrich people’s lives. Their show is a gift to campers and they play hard to make sure that everyone likes their gift. Also be sure to check out their exciting workshops during the day so you can find your inner performer!
*Professional dancers produce these performances with safety technicians on hand. Please respect the performance area boundaries.
JUKE JOINT HIDEAWAY / HOUSECOAT REPOSITORY: ZONE 2
Experience a little piece of Times Change(d) at the Juke Joint Hideaway. The good folks at the Juke Joint invite you over for late night jams featuring well known local roots/folk musicians Andrew Neville, Jamie Buckboro, Ben Roscoe, Gabriel Fields and many more! What’s even better then listening to great music? Wearing a housecoat of course! Participate in the Housecoat Depository – a green project that uses recycled housecoats as an opportunity for campers to form a community inspired by the pursuit of leisure and alternative clothing.
MIST WORLD: ZONE 2
This arch will provide an interactive play-like environment while rehydrating campers and cooling them to reduce the effects of heat. Make it part of your daily commute to and from the Festival site. Hours vary based on weather.
MORNING YOGA: POPE’S HILL
Start your day the yogi way as you stretch and strengthen your mind, body and Festival spirit in the campground! Yoga classes are held in the bowl of Pope’s Hill. Bring your towel, some water and embrace the day.
MUSHROOM HUNT: EVERYWHERE
Ceramic mushrooms that represent the fun and whimsical attitude of the Winnipeg Folk Festival were created in the community of Solheimar Iceland by people with cognitive disabilities. The mushrooms showcase their wonderful capabilities and talents. As people enjoy their time in the campground they may discover one – and the great news is that you get to keep it! If you are lucky enough to find more than one, pay it forward by leaving it to be found by someone else.
SING-ALONG: POPE’S HILL
A sing-along of epic proportions will be taking place on Thursday evening following Main Stage at Pope’s Hill. All voices and instruments welcome! Bring your fellow choristers to take part in a weird and wonderful sing-along session. Don’t worry about memorizing the words – lyrics will be displayed on video screens. Hosted by Flying Fox and the Hunter Gatherers and friends!
MIND OF A SNAIL’S SHADOW PUPPET SHOW
What happens when you take a snail’s advice to “always follow your heart?” Part spellbinding shadow puppet show and part live musical performance, Mind of a Snail’s Against Gravity is a hilarious and mind-bending journey to the highest highs and lowest lows. Unlike a traditional shadow puppet show our performers are visible throughout the show while they use an overhead projector to project colourful images onto a large screen at the rear of the stage. We create a live soundtrack with beat-boxing, guitar and help from the audience.
THE T-SHIRT RESTYLE PROJECT: ZONE 4 (New Location!)
Feel like the fashionable Festival-goer that you are when you participate in this crafty and sustainable clothing project. Come in rags and leave in riches when you bring in your old T-shirt or decorate a donated one found at the craft station. Folks can stitch, remix and reinvent their shirt with recycled materials such as beads, paints, buttons and other baubles. Trade ‘em at the Trading Post or flaunt your unique designs around the Festival for all to see.
TRADING POST: ZONE 2
The Trading Post is looking for traders willing to exchange commodities and goods. There is always that one item that every camper forgets back at home, but don’t worry – the Post will have you covered. Regardless of what catches your eye, you are bound to leave the Trading Post with a smile. Look out for their “Big Trade” items that will be circulating daily. They trade songs, stories, crafts, food and everything in between, but no cash allowed. If you forgot something at your tent, ask about their hourly bike rental service to get you there faster.
VINTAGE FLASH: ZONE 1B
Welcome to Vintage Flash, the Festival Campground’s very own “tattoo parlour.” This structure is inspired by the early days of modern tattooing and will take you back to a time when sailors roamed the seas and getting ‘Mom’ tattooed on your arm was actually cool. Vintage Flash is also the exclusive distributors of the Winnipeg Folk Festival tattoos, including one exclusively for Festival Campground patrons designed by our art team! Stop by the shop, hang out with our artists and maybe even get yourself, temporarily, inked.
VINYL VILLAGE: ZONE 1B
Come visit the Vinyl Village (under the hut by Trail 1B) to share the music, entertainment, inspiration and community in the campground. Wednesday afternoon the music will begin and continue in the afternoons and evenings until Sunday. Come visit the Village to find out who will be playing, and when you can showcase your talent or join in a jam. Hosts, as well as instruments (guitars, piano, mandolin, accordion, trumpet, flute, various percussion, washtub bass) will be available to help out with the jamming. Bring your instruments, your voices, friends and your Festival spirit!
An Important Update Regarding Campground Art and Animation in 2013
March 29, 2013
We realize there is lots of buzz about this year’s Art and Animation Program in the Festival Campground and hope the following provides some insight for everyone.
Over time, the campground arts and animations program has unintentionally grown from humble beginnings into a large, expensive and unsustainable construct. Animators have, in their passion and enthusiasm, pushed to bigger projects and larger groups, which in turn has placed unreasonable demands on those same animators. Budgets in the thousands, hundreds of hours and passes were never the intent of the program. Each year we receive numerous applications and evaluate them based on their uniqueness, creativity, and alignment with the Festival’s core values of inclusiveness and respect. Not everyone who applies is accepted – while we would love to say yes to everyone, we have a set amount of resources (including space and budget) to work with.
This year we received requests for passes and cash support that was almost twice as much as was spent last year, and we realized it was time to look at the program – where it came from, and what its reason for being is, today. We came to understand that the financial remuneration and free access passes were never meant to pay for animations, and cover budgets – instead they were an honorarium – a token of appreciation for the passion and creativity the animators have shown.
It also appears that we may have created a culture whereby official Festival support has suppressed others in the Festival Campground community from pursuing creative and fun activities and/or projects — inadvertently alienated people who might be keen on doing something but felt that, without the official authorization of the Festival, they could not. We want to dispel those paradigms and encourage everyone in the Festival Campground to be expressive and creative and animate their Festival experience to their heart’s content.
The Festival Campground at the Winnipeg Folk Festival is truly a unique place and being part of its community every year is the highlight for summer for many of us. Its important to remember that while the Festival’s art and animation participants contribute to this, the Festival Campground was a unique place before the Festival began supporting animators as we have in recent years. For decades campers created a funky and interesting atmosphere as an extension of themselves, simply to create a community that embraced their love of music. We are are hoping to return to this pureness of intention and where the magic was created organically by a greater number of campers, simply through their desire to create.
We hope this helps provide some insight into the plans going forward within the Festival Campground. Since there is a lot of misinformation circulating about this year’s program , we also want to take this opportunity to clarify the facts:
• There has been no reduction in the number of animations projects in 2013 – we are planning for 18 projects, the same number as 2012.
• There has been a reduction in the number of animators (people), to 100 from 123 in 2012, but this is primarily due to approving smaller projects. Some returning projects had their numbers increased, others reduced and others had no change.
• The Festival is still hosting art projects in the Festival Campground and on the Festival Site. There will be five in Festival Campground in 2013 , the same number as 2012.
• There are no new bans on anything. There are some new, or perhaps we should say now enforced, rules in regards to access and camping before the Festival begins. These are needed to meet the terms of our agreements with Birds Hill Park/Manitoba Conservation, and to ensure fairness for everyone involved, including our patrons who pay full price for tickets and expect to receive equal opportunity at campsites. We will be assisting the approved animators to work within those requirements.
We hope this answers your questions – please contact us anytime if you have additions comments or questions.