Festival du Voyageur
February 17-26, 2012
Welcome to our Winter Festival section | Winter Festival of Lights Niagara Falls | Montreal High Lights Festival | Winterlude | Le Carnaval de Quebec
If it is a sense of grande histoire that you are after, then the Festival du Voyageur (festivalvoyageur.mb.ca) is for you. For 10 days every February, the Festival du Voyageur celebrates the history, culture and discoveries of the voyageurs (travellers) of late 17th-early 18th century Eastern Canada (then called New France). The Voyageurs were fur traders who emerged from the coureurs des bois (the "runners of the woods") – the fur traders who operated without the permission of the French authorities.
However, for the legitimate fur trade industry to remain profitable (which was headquartered in Montreal), the authorities needed to absorb these illegal coureurs into the official trade. So a system was created wherein to be a coureur des bois, you had to have a permit which meant that you had to work for a trade merchant. It was this second generation of coureurs, working for legitimate fur trade merchants, that became known as voyageurs. They manned the canoes that carried goods and supplies to outposts where they were traded for furs. Winnipeg, the capital of Manitoba and the home of the Festival, was one such outpost, originally named Fort Rouge when it was first established in 1738.
Today, the festival, which is held in Winnipeg’s French quarter (Saint Boniface), celebrates the breath-taking beauty of winter and the joie de vivre of the fur traders who established and expanded the French Canadian presence in Western Canada. With a variety of events to entertain, educate and celebrate, there’s something for everyone.
Check out Cheapflights Canada’s Hotel Picks in Winnipeg for the Festival du Voyageur:
- The Marlborough Hotel
- Place Louis Riel Hôtel
- Victoria Inn
- Viscount Gort Hotel
- Inn at the Forks
- Delta Winnipeg
Search and compare: cheap flights to Winnipeg