Thousands flock to The Forks to celebrate Canada Day in Winnipeg

CBC News

· Posted: Jul 01, 2025 7:09 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hr ago

Thousands of radical flocked to The Forks successful Winnipeg for Canada Day celebrations connected Tuesday. 

Winnipeggers were joined by visitors from crossed the state and continent to instrumentality portion successful the family-friendly events, which ran from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. CT connected Tuesday. 

The programming included creation battles, a skateboard objection from Píhtikwé Skatepark, a hoops tourney with Winnipeg Sea Bears, carnal exhibits with FortWhyte Alive, philharmonic performances, and a handmade market, among different activities. 

Jessica Drakul, who is primitively from Newfoundland but present calls Winnipeg home, said The Forks is "the spot to beryllium connected Canada Day."

"I consciousness similar contiguous is simply a fantastic time to observe each the things that we person managed to marque existent successful this country. When you travel to The Forks, you're besides celebrating the Indigenous past of this country, which is truthful important," Drakul said. 

According to The Forks, the solemnisation has been fixed the sanction Wáhkóhtowin by Two-Spirit Kokum Charlotte Nolin. Nolin said the sanction reflects the value of kinship and communal responsibilities to attraction for 1 another. 

Red River Métis lawyer Victoria Perrie has been moving to bring Indigenous events to the Forks for the Many Nations, One Heartbeat program that ran for the 11 days betwixt National Indigenous Peoples Day connected June 21 and Canada Day connected Tuesday. 

"What we've been doing is celebrating each of the antithetic radical who unrecorded successful what is present called Manitoba," Perrie said. 

Perrie said each time of the programme highlighted a antithetic pact portion wrong the province, celebrating the section people, civilization and lands. She said the bid culminated connected July 1, celebrating each the newcomers who telephone these lands home. 

"Being Canadian to maine means being capable to subordinate to 1 different successful a bully mode and being welcoming to each people. Being Canadian contiguous means being Indigenous and being a portion of the wider cloth of Canada," Perrie said. 

Patience Tokulak-Mai Moussa, who moved from Nigeria to Winnipeg much than 20 years ago, said she loves the state and information of surviving successful Manitoba. 

"This is our home," she said astatine The Forks connected Tuesday, aft visiting the Royal Canadian Mint. 

"We're arrogant Canadians."

Michele Montgomery and Tim Montgomery, who were visiting Winnipeg from Texas, told CBC News they consciousness similar "closet Canadians."

The American mates has spent each Canada Day successful Winnipeg for the past 3 years, driving for 2 days with their dogs and bicycles to bask the cooler upwind compared to their scorching Dallas summers. 

"We privation to enactment Canada and we conscionable emotion it here," said Michele. "I consciousness much astatine bid here." 

"We emotion your state and don't instrumentality it for granted due to the fact that it's a wonderful, fantastic spot to be," said Tim, adding they secretly cheered for the Jets successful their playoff bid against the Stars. 

Welcome ceremonial for Gazan families

People visiting The Forks for Canada Day had the accidental to bask unrecorded euphony each time long. 

Leonard Sumner, who is from Little Saskatchewan First Nation, said that arsenic a First Nations performer, helium didn't turn up celebrating Canada Day. 

But erstwhile helium was asked to execute astatine The Forks, helium thought it was a large accidental to officially invited 2 families that were displaced by the ongoing Israel-Hamas warfare successful Gaza and came to Winnipeg for aesculapian care. 

"I've organized a small ceremonial to invited them to our assemblage and bash a small broad ceremonial and conscionable fto them cognize that they're invited present by the First Nations people," Sumner said. 

In January, provincial officials welcomed an 11-year-old boy who could not get the aesculapian attraction helium needed owed to the conflict. In May, a 2nd kid from Gaza arrived to entree life-changing medical attraction successful the province.

"I conscionable wanted to marque them consciousness invited and invited them to their caller home, which is simply a portion of our territory," helium said.