How Festival du Voyageur offers Manitobans a chance to connect to their heritage

CTV’s Danton Unger has more ahead of Festival du Voyageur’s launch on Friday.

The 56th annual Festival du Voyageur officially kicks off Friday, bringing with it a chance for some to reconnect with their heritage and culture.

As the event gets underway, opening ceremonies and all sorts of voyageur fun is planned throughout the week, including learning Anishinaabe methods for maple tapping or taking a tour of Fort Gibraltar.

“My personal favorite is the spy tour, where you get to pretend to be a spy from the Hudson’s Bay Company sent to get some recon intel on the Northwest Company’s fort. So, lots of really fun stuff,” said Breanne Lavallée-Heckert, the festival’s executive director.

With the many activities also comes the chance to connect with Manitoba’s heritage.

“To celebrate the history of the Francophone culture and community here, and also to honour and acknowledge the Métis peoples and our languages and culture [that] exists here as well,” said Lavallée-Heckert.

For some, like veteran Devin Baudry, it’s a chance to learn more about their own culture.

“[The year] 2000 is when I found out that we were a Métis,” Baudry said.

This is Baudry’s first time at Festival du Voyageur

He grew up in British Columbia and never knew about his heritage.

“My father ran away from home when he was 14 years old,” he said.

“He never talked about it. He never told us where we where we were from, or what our heritage was.”

In the years since discovering his Métis past, Baudry says his life changed, including getting involved in Métis culture and proudly wearing his sash and growing his hair.

“Now I got no hair, so the braid is not there anymore, but I still wear my sash with pride,” he said.

Baudry is looking forward to celebrating his culture at festival.

Festival du Voyageur starts Friday and continues through to the 23rd.

More information can be found online.