Tourism Winnipeg

eW Th peg Folk Festival: Ch inni ris Do u gla s Winnipeg St o ry Ideas Rock and Roll Legends From underground acts to the biggest names in the world, Winnipeg's burgeoning music scene has fostered talent in spades. Rock and roll legends can often credit their fame to the backwater clubs and camaraderie of Winnipeg's musicians. In 1970, American Woman topped international music charts and was the number-one-selling single in the world. Winnipeg rock 'n' rollers The Guess Who, who penned the tune, went on to become one of Canada's largest cultural exports. That year, they sold more albums than any other band in the world, including The Beatles and The Doors. A breeding ground for some of the world's most widely recognized talent, Winnipeg's musical history is so complex that on any given night in 1965 you might have Burton Cummings and the Deverons playing in the North End; Randy Bachman with Chad Allen and the Expressions playing in Crescentwood; Neil Young and the Squires playing in River Heights and Fred Turner playing with Pink Plumm in Earl Grey. Other artists that have found their footing in Winnipeg include: Joey Gregorash, Oscar Brand, Fresh I.E., Chantal Kreviazuk, Eagle and Hawk, Fred Penner, The Weakerthans, Remy Shand, The Watchmen, the Pumps/Orphan, Kilowatt, The Wailin' Jennys, Steve Bell, McLean & McLean, Tom Jackson and Loreena McKennitt, among others. Held in Bird's Hill Park in early July just outside Winnipeg, The Winnipeg Folk Festival is one of North America's premier music festivals. The festival's cumulative attendance now exceeds 80,000 and includes thousands of visitors outside of Manitoba and performers from across North America and the world. New for 2013 is the opening of Festival Village. Learn more about Winnipeg's musical past on a Magical Mystery Tour, where you'll see the homes of Neil Young, Randy Bachman, Terry "Seasons in the Sun" Jack, and Burton Cummings, along with other points of interest complemented with music, vintage photos and storytelling. Today, Winnipeg's music scene is unlike any other in the world with a strong circle of classical, children's and French-Canadian performers. It is also considered the centre of urban aboriginal music in North America with the annual Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards held at MTS Centre. Heros, Capers and Tales Stories almost too good to be true wait at every turn. Discover Winnipeg's connection to James Bond, Winnie the Pooh and a whole host of other divine and dastardly characters. In 1914, a First World War Winnipeg Captain, Harry Coleburn, took a black bear cub to England as his regiment's mascot. When Coleburn shipped out for France, he donated the bear, named Winnie after his home town, to the London Zoo. Author A.A. Milne and his son Christopher Robin loved "Winnie" and Milne crafted the beloved stories about a boy and his honey-loving bear—Winnie the Pooh. The biggest gold heist in Canadian history was carried out at the Winnipeg International Airport in 1966 by the "Flying Bandit," Ken Leishman, a bank robber, prison escape artist and folk hero. The Golden Boy, a four-metre statue that sits atop the Manitoba Legislative Building, is a symbol of the province with his sheaf of wheat representing the richness of the land and his torch calling to youth to help lead the way to the province's future. The statue was cast in France in 1918 and spent the duration of the First World War in the hold of a commandeered ship before arriving in Halifax for delivery to Winnipeg. Sir William Stephenson statue The legend began in the working class neighbourhood of Point Douglas where Sir William Stephenson—the man they called Intrepid—was born in 1897. Little was he to know that his escapades in the Second World War would inspire writer Ian Fleming to create one of fiction's most suave and debonair characters, James Bond. For more information or to arrange a media visit, contact Nisha Tuli at 204.954.1993 or nisha@tourismwinnipeg.com 11

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