Good, Bad, Ugly of Folk Festival

Birds Hill Park- Look around the world, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a festival where more than 10,000 people gather to see a flame-haired Italian woman squeeze the bagpipes, shaggy Scotsmen try out African tunes and a band of smiling Puerto Ricans play the music of their homeland.

       In a testament to the open-minded nature of the Winnipeg Folk Festival audience, another massive crowd came out to Birds Hill Park to witness one final day of globe-spanning roots music.

       On the menu on last night’s Mainstage was Italian electro-folk band Fiamma Fumaria, Scottish globetrotters, Shooglenifty and Puerto Rico’s Plena Libre, with Canadian sonstress Sarah Harmer due after press time.

       This lineup was emblematic of a weekend where music diversity, a record crowd and the first great weather of 2004 made for an amazing weekend, despite some nasty campground incidents that left festival organizers considering big changes for next year.