American folk duo Shovels & Rope perform at the Winnipeg Folk Festival on Friday, July 11, 2014. (TED GRANT / CHRISD.CA)
Winnipeg Folk Festival organizers are giving themselves a round of applause after another successful year, despite a drop in attendance.
The 41st annual, five-day festival wrapped up Sunday at Birds Hill Park, attracting 44,222 visitors. Last year’s festival brought out 57,000 people.
Despite a rainy Saturday and Sunday, events went on as planned, with performances by The Sheepdogs, JUNO award winners The Strumbellas, Boy & Bear and Mexican Institute of Sound, to name a few.
Headliner Bonnie Raitt opened the festival on Wednesday night to an overwhelming reception.
The new campground entrance procedure sped things up considerably for the nearly 6,000 eager campers, organizers said. New parking procedures also made for a smooth exit from the park at the end of each evening.
Folk Fest by the numbers:
- 3,057 volunteers
- 5,778 campers in the two Winnipeg Folk Fest campgrounds (in addition to those camping in the Birds Hill Provincial Park Campground)
- 310 cyclists rode to the festival in the Bike Ride to Site assisted ride on Wednesday morning; 143 cyclists rode home on Monday morning
- Total cumulative paid attendance was 44,222 (7,904 Wednesday / 8,074 Thursday / 9,012 Friday / 9,681 Saturday / 8,551 Sunday)
- Kids 12 and under cumulative attendance was 4,479
