![\"Logan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/cbc.ca\/0bd04306eec0eec689b7f30ecdc3dce9.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\nThe director of the 2026 Winnipeg Folk Festival says the event will go ahead rain or shine, as heat prepares to clamp down Winnipeg and surrounding areas.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Organizers are urging festival-goers trekking out to Birds Hill Park Provincial Park to prepare accordingly, drink lots of water, aim for the shade, and stay tuned into heat-related updates through the festival’s mobile app.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“We ask people to pay attention to their bodies,” said executive director Valerie Shantz. “If (you’re) not feeling good, head over to our first aid tent, they’ll help you out.”<\/p>\n
Wednesday. Environment Canada issued a special weather statement indicating that a “long duration heat event” is expected to hit Winnipeg and much of southern Manitoba throughout the weekend.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Temperatures are expected to hover in the mid-30s, with humidex values reaching as high as 45 on Sunday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Though this isn’t dampening Gavin Doyle-Gould and Logan McConomy’s spirits. They’ll be camping out at the festival for the first time together.<\/p>\n
“We’re ready, we’re used to it,” said McConomy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
(Kevin Nepitabo\/CBC)<\/p>\n
Doyle-Gould dismissed the idea there might be a threshold where it would be so hot that they would consider leaving.<\/p>\n
“No, I’m 21, I’m in my prime,” he said.<\/p>\n
Both Doyle-Gould and McConomy say they will be taking the necessary precautions against the heat so they can have a good time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Sunscreen, water, shade when you can get it \u2013 you’ve got to scout out the areas where you can get shade at the stages, camp there and you’re good,” said McConomy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Then just move with the shade as the sun goes down.”<\/p>\n
‘Best time ever’<\/p>\n
This year is the 51st for the festival, and for the first time, tickets sold out in advance of opening day.<\/p>\n
“We will have full capacity at the event this year, which is fabulous,” said Shantz.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Valerie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/cbc.ca\/b643301771fd530afa441c4ad5dc9b96.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n
Valerie Shantz, executive director of the Winnipeg Folk Festival, says they’re not considering any major adjustments to the schedule with the coming heat. (Kevin Nepitabo\/CBC)<\/p>\n
Shantz says full capacity at the venue, Birds Hill Provincial Park, is 20,000 people each day \u2013 15,000 festival attendees and 5,000 staff, volunteers, and performers.<\/p>\n
At this stage, she says they aren’t considering any major adjustments to the schedule to accommodate the heat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“I think that would be unfair, we have artists who have been travelling from all over to get here,\u00a0 we have an audience who’ve traveled from all over to get here. So right now our plan is, you know, go rain or shine,” said Shantz.<\/p>\n
“We just try and keep our audience as informed as we can through the app so they can make the right choice for them as individuals,” she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For long-time folk-fester, Zafar Sacranie, it’s a place to connect with friends who he hasn’t seen in years.\u00a0He first attended in 2011.<\/p>\n
It’s about connections, renewing connections, and feeling connected to nature and music,” said Sacranie. “It’s the best time ever.”<\/p>\n
![\"Zafar](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/cbc.ca\/f6973e9c56d811efc34cf597862917d2.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n
(Kevin Nepitabo\/CBC)<\/p>\n
He says he too is prepared for the weather.<\/p>\n
“Drink lots of water, take time in the shade, you know, get good sleep and wear some sunscreen,” said Sacranie.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“You gotta just be prepared for all of the elements, but you know, if you’re connected to nature and you’re listening to the wind and you’re watching the sky, you’ll be OK.”<\/p>\n
The festival wraps up Sunday night.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The director of the 2026 Winnipeg Folk Festival says the event will go ahead rain or shine, as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":792652,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194296],"tags":[49,48,279746,14881,116794,279744,22073,279745],"class_list":["post-792651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-winnipeg","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-drink-lots-of-water","tag-environment-canada","tag-provincial-park","tag-valerie-shantz","tag-winnipeg","tag-winnipeg-folk-festival"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=792651"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792651\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/792652"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=792651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=792651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=792651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}