The Manitoba prairie sings its own song, one that recalls French voyageurs, fur traders, the history of the Métis Nation and its doomed hero Louis Riel. These prairies are so vast and still that you can hear the wind whistling as it races over brilliantly flowering mustard, barley and wheat crops. Fierce sunsets drop beneath a horizon of patchwork fields, lakes and arrow-straight highways. When the stars appear in the vast night sky, they seem brighter than anywhere else.
Where prairies give way to the Precambrian Shield, you can beachcomb for gigantic freshwater clamshells; try the sandy shores of exotic Black Island. Arctic tundra edges up to Hudson Bay in Churchill, the “Polar Bear Capital of the World.” Ride in protected tundra buggies to view massive polar bears that weigh up to 2,000 lbs and stand 10 ft tall. Watch for the blue, green and white Northern Lights up here, too. Local legend says that if you whistle, they’ll dance down to earth.
Fans of Canada’s unique sense of humor can kick off festival season at the annual CBC Winnipeg Comedy Festival. Enjoy an unforgettable performance courtesy of the world-renowned Royal Winnipeg Ballet. Gaze at the “astronomic” entertainment at Manitoba Museum’s Planetarium, or explore the museum’s full-size replica of the 17th-century ship Nonsuch. For fiddling, fireworks and authentic Franco-Manitoban joie de vivre, head to St. Boniface for Festival du Voyageur, “the world’s largest kitchen party.”
