The return to Birds Hill Park after three long years was nothing short of magical. Thanks to all of you, our near record-breaking return to a full Festival was nothing short of amazing.

A Festival three years in the making saw an overall attendance of 74,000 for the 47th edition of the Winnipeg Folk Festival held from July 7-10, 2022. Compared to the last record-breaking festival in 2019, which reached attendance of 76,000. This made 2022 the second best attended Winnipeg Folk Festival in its history.

Throughout the Festival’s nine stages there were 98 concerts and 38 workshops over the 4-day Festival. Special projects this year included Neil Young’s Harvest 50th Anniversary Celebration featuring Manitoban artists and Mitch’s Sunday Feast, a tribute to our late founder Mitch Podolak hosted by his son, Leonard Podolak.

76 artists performed 120+ hours of music in more than 30 musical genres including Americana, rock, bluegrass, country, folk, indie-folk and singer-songwriters. Folkies enjoyed Main Stage acts such as Japanese Breakfast, Jerry Harrison & Adrian Belew, Dervish, Portugal. The Man, Tash Sultana and so much more.

This year, we brought artists from all over the world. In addition to Canada, we welcomed artists from Australia, Brazil, Cameroon, Colombia, Denmark, Ireland, Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, United Kingdom, United States of America and Venezuela totalling 12 countries. A special shoutout to Ukraine with local Ukrainian experimental group Zrada.

Thanks to our volunteers’ commitment, generosity, and enthusiasm it was an unforgettable Festival!

• We welcomed more new volunteers to the volunteer family than ever before.
• A record eight 40-year volunteers were celebrated at this year’s Milestone Ceremony.
• Pronouns were added to our access passes to better support our community.
• In 2022 on Sunday night, we set a new record of 27 minutes from last performance to completely emptying the parking lot! With the rest of the nights exiting in under 40 minutes. Big shout out to our traffic teams and the new traffic lights.

Some great sustainability wins in our Festival Campground this past summer and even on the Festival site side with less compost collection you all chipped in and helped us keep waste down!

• Campers reduced their landfill waste by 5.5 tonnes from 2019.
• Campers diverted 36% of their waste from the landfill which is an increase from 25% over the last three Festivals.
• Overall waste per attendee was down to 1.2lbs – the lowest since tracking began in 2007. Thank you for helping keep the park clean!

“My mom, Justina Rempel Giesbrecht, absolutely loved the Winnipeg Folk Festival. She depended upon it to fuel her heart and mind. She attended 40 Festivals, her last one at age 85. She passed away this spring at 90 and as I reflect upon where I saw her ‘come to life’, it was always at the Festival. Thank you for the space and place you gifted my Mom. Forever grateful.”

– Kathy Giesbrecht, Donor & Attendee

“My favourite part is the feeling of pure bliss that encompasses the entire festival. It’s a place where you can be your true self, fully and wholeheartedly.”

– Folkie

“You guys ROCK!!! despite so many challenges faced, words cannot express the incredible weekend that I had as a volunteer and how overjoyed I am to be back with my Winnipeg Folk Fest community.”

– Volunteer