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BROOK JONES \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n
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Folk Fest attendee Jayme Halbritter, 34, from Minneapolis, Minn., takes a sip of water while holding a parasol to try to keep cool on an extremely hot summer day while Yag\u00f3dy performs on the Snowberry Field Stage at the Winnipeg Folk Festival at Birds Hill Provincial Park on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not an unusual number of calls for us or other events of our size,\u201d festival executive director Valerie Shantz said.<\/p>\n
Programming carried on as planned despite the forecast at the sold-out music festival, which was predicted to see an estimated daily attendance of 20,000 people, including paid ticketholders, volunteers and artists.<\/p>\n
Long lines formed at water taps and visitors seeking shade were tucked under umbrellas, tents and along treelines during daytime performances.<\/p>\n
Cary Bilcowski was standing in the shade offering to spritz passersby with his battery-powered mister.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt helps keep me and the people around me cool,\u201d said Bilcowski, who has earned the nickname \u201cMist Guy\u201d over his 20-plus years of attending the festival. \u201cEvery year kind of feels like the hottest year when you\u2019re in it, but this one is up there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSome shade and the breeze helps,\u201d said Russ Klingaman of Florida from under an umbrella at the beer tent Sunday. He and his wife Mary have been coming to the festival since 1999.<\/p>\n
\u201cYesterday was tough,\u201d Mary said of Saturday, which reached 33 C.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t BROOK JONES \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Folkies hunker down in the shade in front of the Little Stage in the Forest while watching Olive Klug perform on Sunday.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s brutal. It\u2019s hard at some points of the day \u2026 we\u2019re definitely moving from stage to stage less.\u201d<\/p>\n Their friend Louise Penner is also a four-day attendee; this was her second festival.<\/p>\n The Boston resident relies on cold beverages, a hand fan and a cold cloth on the back of the neck to stay cool.<\/p>\n \u201cI lived in Texas for three years without air conditioning, so basically you just get wet and stay wet.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBeer,\u201d Rob Schneider of Wisconsin joked when asked for his tips.<\/p>\n His friend Brenda Wong was at her second festival. She was coveting the battery-powered air-conditioned vest she\u2019d seen a man wearing the previous day, but the Los Angeles resident wasn\u2019t letting the heat get her down.<\/p>\n \u201cI could go to a great music festival (in California) and I would still be like, \u2018Meh, it\u2019s no Winnipeg.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t BROOK JONES \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Noa Swartz, left, and friend Jacquelyn Saracuse try to keep cool using an umbrella, as they make their way to the front gate of the Winnipeg Folk Festival, Sunday.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s the only time that phrase is ever, ever said,\u201d Schneider said with a laugh.<\/p>\n For Ryan Wiebe and Shawn Vidal, co-owners of Pop Cart, a mobile popsicle stand with six outlets at the festival, the heat is a blessing and a curse.<\/p>\n Frozen treats are a natural choice when the mercury soars, but lower attendance owing to extreme heat negatively affected Sunday sales.<\/p>\n \u201cWe always have a cart at the kids stage,\u201d Vidal said. \u201cWe just moved it because there\u2019s nobody there.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWho\u2019s bringing their kids out in 37-degree heat?\u201d Wiebe asked.<\/p>\n \n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t The company also lost about 4,000 popsicles when its 12-foot mobile refrigeration unit failed on Saturday night.<\/p>\n \u201cWe showed up this morning to find a bunch of our stuff soupy,\u201d Wiebe said.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t BROOK JONES \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Miles Bruns, 32, who is from Madison, Wis., tries to keep cool by using an outdoor shower on the grounds of the Folk Fest.<\/p>\n Pop Cart\u2019s custom insulated carts, filled with dry ice, have held up to the high temperatures, however.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re thrilled and so thankful to be here,\u201d Wiebe said. \u201cFor a lot of people, we\u2019re like an institution at the festival.\u201d<\/p>\n eva.wasney@winnipegfreepress.com<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Eva Wasney Eva Wasney is an award-winning journalist who approaches every story with curiosity and care.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0 Read full biography<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Jill Wilson Jill Wilson started working at the Free Press in 2003 as a copy editor for the entertainment section.<\/p>\n
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