Campground Photo Gallery

Communal gathering is an important aspect of the campground experience and the Festival encourages performance-based, structural, educational and aesthetic projects that facilitate interaction & 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, the Festival organizers work with selected groups who apply with Campground Animation & Exhibition project proposals. Not bound to the walls of a gallery, our campground allows ideas to take on a larger-than-life quality.Types of projects that we are seeking include (but not limited to):

• visual art (including theatre/dance/performance/ritual)
• green art projects (promoting sustainable culture & recycling in the campground, or constructed from recycled materials)
• interactive community art projects & workshops
• temporary communal structures (social sculpture)
• signage and/or way-finding sculpture

Click to read the 2010 Campground Art & Animation Call for Submissions

Deadline: May 1, 2010

Below are some photos and descriptions of animation projects from past festivals.  The Winnipeg Folk Festival Campground is participatory - your experience is what YOU make of it.  If you have an idea for a project in the campground let us know!  Our aim is to support our creative community, so let us know who you are and what you do.  Email Rebecca at rwinkworth@winnipegfolkfestival.ca

 Campground Art & Animation

Download the 2009 Festival Campground map (105 kB jpeg file).Here is a listing of some of the art & animation taking place in the campground in 2009.  Show your gratitude – stop and thank these folks who put in a lot of time & energy to bring these projects to the campground.  If you have an idea for a project, please email info@winnipegfolkfestival.ca with the subject “Campground Animation Idea”.

Red Willow Tipi Village (zone 4)

The Red Willow Tipi Group are pleased to be a part of the Festival Campground and have brought an amazing, interactive display to the campground.Through the entire festival, the group will have a visual arts display including painted tipis, naturally tanned bison hides and traditional tipi crafts.  There will also be a solar-powered video and film display.  It’s interactive! So come up-load your favourite folk fest pictures or movies and have it displayed on the tipi screen!This year there will be a ‘Healing Tipi’ for those faithful campers who need some prairie spa treatment.  Be the first one to wash your folkie feet in a soothing foot bath.  Or experience aroma therapy while you enjoy some free massage treatment.  The ‘Healing Tipi’ will be open during daylight hours Thursday through Saturday.If you want to come and contribute some of your artistic talents, come visit and participate in painting the official Winnipeg Folk Festival tipi and liner. Artists will be working on projects during the day from Wednesday through Saturday.On Saturday, starting at 11am, Tipi Joe and the rest of the group will be hosting a tipi raising workshop.  Come learn, share or practice your tipi raising skills.  Saturday night will feature the Tipi Village celebration feast. Campers will have a chance to sample authentic prairie cuisine.  Organic roast bison, pickerel and bannock are on the menu so bring some pot luck to add to the celebration!Finally, on Saturday night the Tipi Village will be hosting a ceremony blessing to celebrate the completion of the Winnipeg Folk Festival tipi.  Help us celebrate the local Aboriginal singers and drummers and get your Pow Wow dance moves ready.

The Castle (zone 2) by the Castle Boys

The Castle Boys are back with another spectacular structure that will blow your mind.  The Castle Boys are a volunteer based artist collective, which have been providing installations for 8 years.  They create an alternative world, which reflects historical facts all the way to the fine details, re-creating fashion, music, dance, and architecture.  Each theme we create comes to life for one week suspending us in that place of time.Wednesday, Satori Fitness will be hosting Wellness Days, with the 8th Annual Soccer Tournament and Introduction to Sandbag Training. At night we will have our Talent show/open non-mic on Thursday. Surprise bands on Friday and Saturday night. Sunday night will be our annual sing along. All shows start shortly after main stage musical performances.The Castle Boys have yearly events as well; so if you’d like to be added to their information list please join the group ‘Castle Boys’ on Facebook. They are also looking for others who wish to contribute and encourage you to contact them. Those who wish to provide photography, food or a hand to help load up the trucks on the Monday following the festivals, please come join them.

Hat A La Huge (zone 1B) by Karl Simmons

New to the campground: Hat A La Huge!  Constructed by Karl Simmons, this 2-story structure houses a performance stage on the lower level and an observation deck on the second level.Karl and his rabbits invite you to stop by with your instruments and make some musical memories on stage. The lower level jam area will be open all day and night for the entire Festival weekend.The observation deck will only be open when the RABBIT is present.  The rabbits are your friends.  NO RABBIT= NO ACCESS.   The observation deck will primarily be open during daylight hours.

Element Sircus (zone 4)

Fresh from Solstice celebrations the Element Sircus - in conjunction with The Flaming Trollies Marching Band and Ragpickers Antifashion Emporium – bring a smattering of sircus to the Festival Campground!  Look for the eclectic circus tent wherein you can make a mask, elaborate on your costume, make your own puppet or watch a shadow puppet show in the Tipi Theatre!A craft area will be open during daylight hours and check out the chalk board for planned workshops.  Stilt walkers and giant parade puppets will appear before your eyes!  Listen for the Marching Band who will be parading through the campground.  Drop by to learn & share traditional circus skills, too!

The Trading Post (zone 2)

Forget some tent pegs? Have too much spaghetti sauce?  Lose your bandana?  Take a walk to the Trading Post and swap items for fair trade.  You’ll likely walk away with what you need! Items range from camping supplies to food to clothing…and everything in between!  No cash allowed!

Juke Joint Hideaway (zone 2)

Experience a little piece of Times Change(d) at the Festival this year and stop by the Juke Joint Hideaway.  The good folks at the Juke Joint invite you over for late night jams led by musicians Jason Nowicki (from the Perpetrators), Josey Krahn, Matt Allen, Vince Andrushko and Andrew Neville.

Panspermia, by Curtis DeMeyer (zone 2 @ the tree-break)

The idea of Panspermia is that life was spread all around the universe like seeds of creation, including the advent of Earth.  This theory would also posit that alien life on other worlds is a near certainty. The idea of Panspermia spreading life is similar to the way that Folk Fest spreads a tradition of amazing music from all over the world, as well as spirit and fellowship in the event and especially in the Festival Campground.

Yoga Classes (base of Pope’s Hill)

Feeling like you need to unwind after last night’s festivities?Yoga Classes provided by Stafford Street Hot Yoga (Amanda Ing) and South Moon Studio (Chrissy Merritt) every morning in the bowl of Pope’s Hill.Classes run Thursday through Sunday from 9:30-10:30am.  Bring your towel, some water and embrace the day.

Fire Spinning Performances (base of Pope’s Hill)

*These performances are produced by professional dancers with safety technicians on hand. Please respect the performance area boundaries.*Friday (Thursday night) 1am – Wildfire Dance Productions will perform a tribal collective dance-off on stage Thursday night.  Bring your drums to play along on the hill!Saturday (Friday night) 1:30am - The Fire Pyxies are back for another spectacular fire show accompanied by beat-boxing, banjo and washboard bass.Sunday (Saturday night) 1am - Wildfire Dance Productions bring you another performance featuring sword dancing, live music and some wild fire moves.

Poi Spinning Workshop (base of Pope’s Hill)

Ever wonder how to spin fire?  Stop by on Friday afternoon from 5-7pm and get a personal lesson on poi from the Fire Pyxies at the base of Pope’s Hill.

Hula Hoop Tree (zone 1B)

Did you know July 9, 2009 is International World Hoop Day?  Get your hula on at the Hula Hoop Tree hosted by the Fire Pyxies during daylight hours.

2008 Festival Campground Preview

By Joel TrenamanCamping at the Winnipeg Folk Festival is always an eye-opening, whirlwind experience. It would take a real effort to be bored amidst the clusters of tents, even if the only thing to do was stroll around the makeshift village of 5,000 on a sunny day. And yet the festival organizers continue to expand the range of activity and entertainment options to be found throughout the days and nights of the festival. The Campground Exhibition and Animation Project encourages art displays, performances, theme camps, and other projects that continue to add to the participatory spirit and communal atmosphere of the festive environment.Fire is not to be toyed with, unless you are a member of the Fire Pyxies or Wildfire, fire-spinning groups that have been crowd favourites at the Pope’s Hill stage in recent years. Campers can learn to spin poi (without fire) at free workshops during the day.Also returning to the festival campground are the spirited, creative gentlemen known as the ‘Castle Boys.’ Their pirate ship, complete with masts that reached for the sky, was the 2007 edition in a series of — let’s call them party installations — to grace the grassy environs of zone two. What exactly they are planning for this year is a guarded secret, but word is that aside from performances by the “Castle Band,” teams of campers will be able to compete to become the “Athletic Champions of Festival Campground 2008.”

It is hard to miss the traditional tipis dotting the festival campground. This year the Red Willow Tipi Group will not only be erecting six of the shelters, but are planning a construction workshop in hopes of spreading the word about the value of the art form.A new initiative for 2008 is the Fireside Lounge and Housecoat Depository, supported by the Times Change(d) High & Lonesome Club, Winnipeg’s roots music homestead. Each night from midnight to the wee hours, Manitoba musicians such as Romi Mayes, Andrew Neville, Grant Siemens and friends will host campfire jam sessions open to everyone looking for a vibe different than the sometimes-frenetic camper drum jams. And yes, they will be wearing stylish housecoats.These are just some of the features of Festival Campground 2008.