매니토바/위니펙 소식

Winnipeg Folk Festival 의 뒷얘기...

작성일 2008.07.13 23:03

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Birds Hill Provicail Park에서 열렸던 제35회 Winnipeg Folk Festival 이 오늘 끝났습니다.

지난 목요일(7월10일)부터 4일간 열린 Festival 기간동안 천둥우뢰, 강한 비바람을 동반한 폭우가 와서 안좋았을 것 같은데, 오늘 일요일날 유료 입장객만도 12,462명이었다고 하고, 또 이전 최고기록도 갱신했다고 합니다.

위니펙 프리 프레스에 따르면 올해 축제 총참가인원이 45,325명이었는데, 이전 최고 기록인 2006년도의 45,205명 을 넘어서는 것이라고 합니다. 또한 이 기록은 축제기간중 폭우 등 기상이 안좋은 상태에서 달성된 것으로 행사주관자에겐 무척 인상 깊을 것 같습니다.

이 축제에는 매니토바주(위니펙시)의 많은 젊은 이들이 참여하고, 또 축제에 참가하는 정감도 우리와 다르기때문에 별로 흥도 나지않고 재미도 없을 것 같아서 관심을 기울이지 않았는데, 내년에는 한번 시간을 내서 가봐야 할 것 같습니다. 왜 많은 Winnipeger 들이 이 페스티발에 열광(?)을 하는지...

다음은 위니펙 프리프레스에 올라와 있는 글입니다.

Folk festival draws record crowd
By: Rob Williams

Updated: July 13 at 11:02 PM CDT

As the sun set on the 35th annual Winnipeg Folk Festival, there couldn't have been a more perfect song than Waterloo Sunset.

Festival slide show (축제 슬라이드 쇼 보기)

Former Kinks frontman Ray Davies opened his mainstage headlining set with his band's classic ballad as a glorious Sunday came to an end.

Davies' appearance, combined with a beautiful sunny day with a slight breeze at Birds Hill Park, drew a record crowd to the festival Sunday with 12,462 paid customers flocking to the site, helping the Folk Fest achieve a cumulative weekend attendance record of 45,325, beating the previous mark of 45,205 set in 2006. (The Folk Festival counts all day four pass holders four times).

The record was set despite a low turnout Saturday when rain and a strong wind kept day-trippers away and forced the festival to move the evening mainstage entertainment to the Green Ash stage -- the first time in its history organizers ever had to abandon the mainstage because of weather.

That wasn't an issue Sunday as music fans enjoyed a great day marked by sunshine and a wide array of musical choices.

At the Big Bluestem stage a collection of 15 of Willie P. Bennett's friends, collaborators and former band mates -- including members of Winnipeg's D. Rangers, Nathan and Andrew Neville and the Poor Choices -- paid tribute to the late singer-songwriter with a collection of his old-time country anthems.

Elsewhere, the Oy What a Freilach! klezmer and Eastern European workshop had a large crowd -- and one giant inflatable alien -- dancing in the sun. The alien eventually made his way over to the Art City parade to march through the site with marshals Washboard Hank, Al Simmons and more than 300 children and their parents decked out in homemade costumes.

"We don't have a clue which way this parade goes," Simmons said before eventually leading it to the Prairie Outdoor Exhibition.

The music store was packed with line-ups 20 people deep purchasing albums from festival performers, while outside the tent, the new autograph session tent had fans getting up close and personal with more than 10 artists.

"We've done it in the past on a smaller scale with one or two artists, but we decided this year to put more of a focus on getting people to meet the people who make the music and people really seem to be enjoying it," said store manager Andy Morton.

The huge crowd of happy faces enjoying the diverse lineup and entertainment options brought a smile to the face of executive director Trudy Schroeder.

Schroeder was marking her final year with the festival after 10 years leading the organization.

"I found this year I've been quite sentimental. There is something very wonderful being right in the centre of something like this," said Schroeder who is taking a similar position at the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra later this summer. "It's a very resilient organization and there's a huge amount of love for it from the people who attend it. It's a very important part of their year and they want to bring their friends."

It is a very important part of the summer for many people, including myself. This is the 15th year I've attended and once again was exposed to some fantastic music, made new friends, reunited with old ones (some I only see at the festival) and shared some good laughs.

Here's a look at some of the highlights.

Mainstage highlights:

Local indie-rockers the Weakerthans, hip-hop reggae soul party band Michael Franti & Spearhead, Brazilian dance band Forro in the Dark, R&B soul group the Dynamites featuring Charles Walker, sacred steel rockers Robert Randolph and the Family Band, Tex-Mex practitioners Calexico, Eastern European party band Balkan Beat Box, political Afrobeat group Seun Kuti and Egypt 80, and former Kinks frontman Ray Davies.

Buzz acts in the beer tent:

Little Miss Higgins, Lau, Basia Bulat, Balkan Beat Box, the Acorn, Geoff Berner, John Boutte.

Top sellers at the music store:

Michael Franti & Spearhead, Dobet Gnahore, Balkan Beat Box, Calexico, Jim White, Abigail Washburn, Forro in the Dark.

Best new feature:

The secondary beer tent at the Big Bluestem stage was a hit with people who wanted to enjoy a beverage and listen to music at the same time.

New city slogan:

"If they build a stadium in South Point Douglas they should call it "One Stupid City," Weakerthans frontman John K. Samson, mainstage, Thursday.

It's called satire, people:

Geoff Berner's proposed theme song for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, "The Dead Children were Worth It," split the crowd during his mainstage tweener set Thursday.

Culture clash:

"This is how you say, a battle of the accents," Les chaffeurs a pieds (Quebec) multi-instrumentalist Benoit Fortier to the members of Scottish band Lau during the Poutine and a Pint workshop, Sunday, Big Bluestem.

Welcome to Manitoba

"Is that crab?" 81-year-old Tennessee legend Charlie Louvin to a volunteer backstage serving the 81-year-old perogies topped by friend onions.

Best T-shirt:

"You stink, and you're a terrible drummer...hippy."

Best name for a menu item:

Tornado Potato, a full potato spun into a whirlwind on a stick.

Best costume:

There were many outstanding entries this year, from a pink unicorn hat to an inflatable alien to Al Simmons' amazing peacock coat, but for sheer weirdness we'll give this on to the two guys in the campground dressed like giant raspberries challenging each other to a roll-off competition down Pope's Hill.

Best campsite:

When in doubt, the place to hang out was Flaccid Jack's a five meter high saloon made of wood and vapour barrier material complete with a full stage, piano, swinging doors, a chuck wagon and tower.

It could be like this all the time:

"It's a beautiful West Coast day," Erin Waterman said Saturday while huddling under the beer tent with hundreds of other people trying to avoid the rain.

Oops

Wilderness Supply has a tent at the festival, not Mountain Equipment Co-op. Incorrect information appeared over the weekend.

Rob.williams@freepress.mb.ca