With the removal of COVID-19 restrictions, many Manitoba summer traditions have been able to continue — or in some cases, start back up after two years of unforeseen time off.
Among those traditions: summer festivals.
With the Jazz Winnipeg Festival and the Winnipeg Folk Festival now in the rear-view mirror and big events like the Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival on the horizon, festival season is in full swing, but the return to local stages hasn’t been without a few bumps along the way.
“I think one of the things we learned this year is letting go of some of the little things,” Folk Festival executive director Lynne Skromeda told Global News.
“There were certain things that weren’t quite to the level of standard that we wanted them to be, but it didn’t impact people’s good time.
“Sometimes the things behind the scenes aren’t going quite as smoothly… but as long as there’s music on the stages and there’s people in the audiences that are seeing each other and having a good time, that’s what matters in the end.”
Skromeda said one of the unforseen challenges for this year’s festival, which wrapped up Sunday at Birds Hill Park, was coordinating artists’ travel while airports around the world struggle with delays and cancellations.
“Changing flight schedules meant that some of the artists missed their slots where they were supposed is supposed to perform, so we had to make some adjustments there,” she said.
“We had a few cancellations altogether, between illness and people not being able to get here on time — but we have lots of great local talent that was able to stand in for that. So, so that was really good. And we learned that people really will want to support the festival and come do what’s needed.”
Despite a few hiccups, one of which was the nationwide Rogers outage, the festival — one of Manitoba’s marquee summer events — drew 74,000 people to the provincial park over the four days of music.
Along with large-scale events like Folk Fest, communities across the province play host to smaller, growing festivals throughout the summer.
One of those, the upcoming Bankside Music Festival in Letellier, Man., had an entirely different problem on its hands when preparing for its July 22-23 event.
“I guess the big challenge this year was the Red River,” Bankside’s Richard Houle told Global News.
“We’re the Bankside Music Festival — we’re on the banks of the Red River. We’re right adjacent. So this spring, the venue and the camping area was completely underwater for about three weeks.
“We’re prepared for that kind of thing, but you never really know what Mother Nature is going to throw at you. And when the Red River comes up, it leaves a heck of a mess. You know, we got a lot of cleanup to do.”
Houle said the festival — which highlights hard rock, punk and metal bands, along with other genres — has been able to get the area cleaned up and ready for an audience, but it took until the end of June for things to really dry up.
The five-year-old Bankside festival is also dealing with a very different level of resources than a huge event like Folk Fest, but Houle said it’s been a learning experience every year, unexpected challenges or not.
“It’s not a big corporation who puts this on — these are just a bunch of musicians, a group of friends who are basically doing this, you know?
“Hands-on, DIY, basically. So it’s got a lot of challenges. We’re just trying to do our best to make this the best experience for everybody who comes.”
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