Canadian artists perform at human rights museum RightsFest

A little rain didn't put a damper on the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR) headlining concert at the Forks Saturday night.

Bruce Cockburn, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Shad and others take stage following rain delays

CBC News Posted: Sep 21, 2014 11:58 AM EDT | Last Updated: September 21, 2014

RightsFest attendees talk human rights at CMHR opening weekend event

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A group of people waited out the cold and rain Saturday to take in the likes of Ashley MacIsaac, Bruce Cockburn, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Marie-Pierre Arthur and Shad at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights opening weekend concert.

A little rain didn't put a damper on the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR) headlining concert at the Forks Saturdaynight.

Smiles, gasps as first visitors enter Winnipeg's human rights museum

Ashley MacIsaac, Bruce Cockburn, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Marie-Pierre Arthur and Shad performed at the opening weekend RightsFestevent.

Canadian hip-hop artist Shad performed along with several others following a rainy afternoon Saturday at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights opening weekend concert RightsFest. (Joey Senft)

Andraea Sartison went to the show with her friends.

Sartison said the celebration marks a special moment to think about human rights in our lives.

It's a wonderful celebration of human rights in Canada, in Winnipeg and a great time to start a conversation about what we need to improve on so everybody in the world has human rights, said Sartison.

Several other performers had their sets postponed Saturday evening due to weather.

Local act Sierra Noble was scheduled to play around 4 p.m., but her show ended up beingcancelled due to rain.

One group slated to play who pulled out of Saturday's concert voluntarilyis A Tribe Called Red.

The DJ group cancelled its appearance over concerns its members have about the museum's representation of aboriginal issues.

The group released the following statement Friday explaining their decision:

Human rights are great for society. We appreciate the work the museum has been doing to bring attention to global issues. Unfortunately, we feel it was necessary to cancel our performance because of the museum's misrepresentation and downplay of the genocide that was experienced by Indigenous people in Canada by refusing to name it genocide. Until this is rectified, we'll support the museum from a distance.

Nearly 9,000 members of the public scored free tickets to check out the museum Saturday.

The museum fully opens to the public Sept. 27.

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Canadian artists perform at human rights museum RightsFest

Bruce Cockburn, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Shad and others take stage following rain delays

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