Hé ho! 2025 Festival du Voyageur line-up announced

Details have been released on what to expect from this year’s Festival du Voyageur.

Dust off your ceinture fléchée and practice your mightiest ‘hé ho!’

Festival du Voyageur is set to return in a matter of weeks, and organizers have unveiled the full lineup for the 56th annual celebration.

Among the artists taking the stage are Alex Kusturok, Men in Kilts, The Barr Brothers, Jill Barber, Corb Lund, and more.

Ça claque! and Ensemble folklorique de la Rivière Rouge will also get the dance party going inside the festival’s bustling tents.

“We get to open this year on Valentine’s Day, so that’s really exciting,” said festival executive director Breanne Lavallée-Heckert.

“There’s going to be a lot of new things to check out that night including for the first time, we’ll be doing Pride Night on the first opening night.”

The 2025 festival will also debut “L’shed à Léo”—an exhibition of objects and photos celebrating the festival’s beloved mascot, Léo la Tuque.

Festivalgoers can also take interactive, self-guided tours for the first time this year, allowing users to discover more about life in the fort in 1815.

“It’s a completely new way to interact with Fort Gibraltar and with the interpreter,” Lavallée-Heckert said.

Also new this year – an outdoor lounge with bonfires, a beverage shack, art, and a daytime ice sculpting workshop.

Festival favourites like snowshoeing, sleigh rides, snow tubing, competitions, and more will also return to Voyageur Park.

Ice sculptures will also make their triumphant return after mild weather at last year’s festival melted hopes of erecting the chilly carvings that year.

“For us, celebrating that love for snow is really important, and we’re really excited to bring that back to the city this year,” Lavallée-Heckert said.The festival runs Feb. 14 to 23.

Details can be found on the event’s website.