Sioux Valley Dakota Nation cancels 2026 Winterfest, citing lack of planning time, funds
CBC
Sioux Valley Dakota Nation says its annual Winterfest celebration has been cancelled for 2026, with the southwestern Manitoba First Nation's newly elected chief saying there was not enough time or funding to plan the four-day festival.
Jennifer Bone, who was elected chief last month in a vote that has been disputed by the outgoing chief, said planning for the festival usually starts at least six months in advance.
But prior to Sioux Valley’s mid-November election, there was no work done to plan and find sponsorship for the event, she said in a phone interview Wednesday.
"We really want to hold a successful event, and we just felt that we didn't have enough time to accomplish that," said Bone. "It was a very short time frame, time crunch, to get things done."
In an online notice posted Monday, Sioux Valley leadership said the decision to cancel for 2026 was made "after careful consideration," but added they forward to welcoming everyone back" for a 2027 festival.
The annual Winterfest event, held at Brandon's Keystone Centre at the beginning of the year, sees thousands of people from across Canada and the United States come together to celebrate Indigenous culture.
The festival includes hockey, volleyball, and basketball tournaments for youth and adults, as well as cultural programming like a powwow, jigging and moccasin games.
The 2025 festivities ran from Jan. 30 to Feb. 2, but in October 2024 online posts, Dakota Nation Winterfest organizers said because of "substantial" financial loss, some of the planned events, including a powwow and talent show, would be postponed.
The cancellation this year of events like the powow was "a big disappointment for a lot of the people," said Bone.
Winterfest is normally "a weekend where … you connect with friends and relatives from the different communities," she said.
Bone said Sioux Valley's leadership is in conversation about holding a smaller event within the First Nation for people who were planning on attending Winterfest in the new year.
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