Folklorama from home: Winnipeg multicultural festival goes virtual

Winnipeg's long-running multicultural festival returns this year, virtually.

The festival's organizers announced Tuesday that the event will offer three days of online programming, dubbed Folklorama Fusion, this August.

Folklorama's executive director, Teresa Cotroneo, said the COVID-19 pandemic is the reason for the online approach,saying that indicators pointed to another year where producing a full festival is not possible.

The 2020 festivalthe 51st year for Folkloramawas cancelled due to the pandemic. Instead, Folkloramaran a community scavenger hunt and promoted different areas of the city.

This year's Folklorama will run from Aug. 6 to8.

Performances will be streamed live on YouTube from Winnipeg's Burton Cumming Theatre. The programming will be free and the schedule is available online.

Each night will showcase different cultures and continents. Aug. 6 will feature performances from Asia and Africa, Aug. 7 will showcase the Americas and Aug.8 will focus on Europe.

The actual show will start at 7:30 p.m. each night but a live stream will start at 7 p.m. and show behind-the-scenes interviews with performers and entertainers for that evening.

"Instead of it actually just being one traditional pavilion, it would be more like being out at a festival where you are taking a tour of some of the different cultures," said Controneo. Profiles of artists and performers are available online,as is a virtualethnocultural marketplace.

The year will also introduce an ethnocultural food week, which will allow you to order food from partnering local restaurants.

The long-running multicultural festivalstarted in 1970, originally intended as a one-time eventto celebrate Manitoba's centennial. Itbecame a yearly event and is now the world's largest and longest-running festival of its kind, organizers say.

Though this year's festival willbe online, the traditional pavilions will return eventually, said Stan Hall, the chair ofFolklorama's board of directors.

"While it will look very different this year, we are excited to start planning our traditional 2022 festival," said Hall.

The 2022 festival is scheduled for July 31 to Aug. 13.