Winnipeg’s largest cultural festival is already halfway through, and a new week is bringing a new set of pavilions for people to check out. From Aug. 4 to 10, Folklorama had 19 pavilions located in different pockets of the city, including the first-ever Ghana pavilion.
“(The Ghana pavilion) did outstanding for their first run of show,” said Folklorama executive director Teresa Cotroneo. “Lots of energy, lots of group tour activity, people coming in from outside of the city, and really, really solid attendance throughout the week. “The energy of Folklorama was definitely apparent throughout the city,” Cotroneo said.
Starting Sunday, 19 new pavilions are popping up. That includes the inaugural Latin American pavilion, which hopes to highlight communities that haven’t been represented before. “Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador – some of the smaller communities that don’t have a pavilion.
So we’re very excited about that as well,” said Cotroneo. Cotroneo also said the festival is a way to showcase Winnipeg’s deeply-rooted cultural diversity. “I think that it’s important for us to really be able to look at the different cultures that are represented in the city and to learn a little bit more about some of the really, really special things that perhaps we take for granted,” Cotroneo said.
“It’s really nice to be able to explore some of the different communities and their traditions,” she continued. “They take so much pride in that beautiful intang.