Province announces funding to bolster Folklorama pavilions, lower some admission costs

Winnipeg — The Manitoba government is spending $400,000 to support Folklorama pavilions and offset some admission prices at this summer’s festival.

Advanced Education, Skills and Immigration Minister Jon Reyes announced the funding Thursday morning at the Caboto Centre.

He said $300,000 will go toward Folklorama pavilions participating this year, as well as those who participated in 2019 but are not yet able to return for this year’s celebration because of the effects of the pandemic.

Reyes noted 2019 marked Folklorama’s 50th anniversary with its highest number of pavilions on record.

“Unfortunately, the cycle of continuity and the momentum has become a challenge due to the pandemic, and we recognize that the pavilion’s volunteer and financial capacity have both been affected by this,” Reyes said.

“However, we trust in the resilience and the commitment of Folklorama and its volunteers to rebuild and recover in the years to come and bring back the food, music, rhythm, dance, stories, folk art and cultural displays and above all, sense of community that is important to us all.”

Additionally, Reyes said $100,000 will be used to offset admission prices of the 9:45 p.m. shows on Monday and Tuesday nights to help boost attendance.

Folkorama executive director Teresa Cotroneo said after a two-year pause, the significance of this year’s festival has become increasingly apparent in the preservation of Manitoba’s ethnocultural communities.

“Two summers have now passed without our iconic festival and though we miss the excitement and sense of community that it brings, its absence is about so much more than that for our pavilions and their respective ethnocultural communities, many of whom have not been able to generate significant revenues without Folklorama,” Cotroneo said.

“Funds that are made in a pavilion during the festival remain in that community, and are often the largest fundraising opportunity of the year for those organizations.”

Folklorama is Manitoba’s largest multicultural festival, and is attended by thousands of Manitobans, as well as hundreds of visitors from across Canada and the world.

The province said it generates more than $12.9 million in economic benefits for Manitoba.