Many Worlds Festival continues at The Forks Market

The Forks Market has always been a cornucopia of cultures.  A simple task of choosing which place to grab a quick lunch can have you deciding between Chilean empanadas, Indian curries, or Mongolian stirfry.  The shops upstairs are just as diverse.  Shop owners come from Czech Republic, China, Africa and Ireland to name a few. 

At the beginning of November The Forks Market kicked off its first annual Many Worlds Festival.  Celebrating the distinctive cultures you’ll find at The Forks Market, the first weekend included a unique fashion show showcasing fashions found in The Market, and around the world. 

This past weekend kicked off the entertainment portion of the month long festival appropriately titled, Entertainment of the World. 

Provided by Folklorama Talent the incredible list of performers this weekend included Winnipeg Steel Orchestra, Chile Lucha y Canta, Buena Clave Latin Duo, providing a little  Joie de vivre’ was L’ensemble folklorique de la Riviere-Rouge, Viva Brasil and closing out this weekends performers was Duo Trans Andino. (photo credit: Rhayne Moore, brass-petals.com)

This coming Saturday and Sunday features perfomances from McConnell School of Dance, Ena Sutton Highland Dancers, Sol de España – Spanish Folk Dancers, Zoloto Ukrainian Dance Ensemble, Ariya Afrika and Bola Oriyami,  Evans Coffie’s Coffieman and Jay Stoller of Bafana

In addition to the great line up of entrainment, food will play a large role in the festivities.  November 23 and 24 visitors can sample worldly delights found in The Forks Market with their own tasting passport.  Or take in one of the themed wine and cheese evenings featuring French or Italian wines.

We've even got some fun crafts planned for the kids.  Each weekend Crafting with Cheryl has paired a fun and unique craft to compliment the entertainment found in The Market.  Last weekend  was festive maracas, this weekend’s craft features a hanging castle room decoration and a Star of David.

Many Worlds Festival runs in The Forks Market through to December 1, a complete listing of events can be found on our web site theforks.com.

Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries Folklorama Kick-Off

The Folklorama season is nearly upon us, and there’s no better way to ignite the cultural spirit than with the Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries Folklorama Kick-off, which will be hitting the Scotiabank Stage on July 27 with a full day of cultural activities and entertainment.

The fun gets going at 4:00 p.m. with the MTS Ethnic Market, which brings more than a dozen ethnic vendors together, stocking ingredients, household items and other goods from around the world for sale. Kids’ activities and giveaways will also be set up throughout the day, ensuring that there’s something for everyone to do.

1031 Virgin Radio’s Chrissy Troy and CTV’s Karen Rocznik host the mainstage show, which gets underway at 7:00 p.m. with a dazzling display of colour and culture as more than 180 Ambassadors from all 46 of Folklorama 2013’s pavilions take the stage in the Ambassador Parade.

Following the Ambassador Parade, settle in for an evening of vivid cultural entertainment with local and international performing groups from nine different Folklorama pavilions, including Manitoba Korean Dance Group (Korean Pavilion), Beatriz Barceló and Sol de España Spanish Folk Dancers (Pabellón de España – Spain Pavilion), Africa Pavilion Dancers (Africa Pavilion), Tamil Pavilion Dancers (Tamil Pavilion), Chile Lucha y Canta (Chilean Pavilion), Rozmai Ukrainian Dance Ensemble (Ukraine-Kyiv Pavilion), Brady Academy of Irish Dance (Celtic Ireland Pavilion), and Viva Brasil (Brazilian Pavilion). Spanish songstress Osdalgia and her band Voces Mixtas will also be arriving directly from Cuba to round out the evening. The Festivities will conclude with a presentation from Archangel Fireworks at 10:45 p.m.

For more information on the Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries Folklorama Kick-off and the 2013 Folklorama Festival, visit www.folklorama.ca.