Winnipeg is huge and great. It's relatively flat, slightly rolling terrain. I haven't been since '96 which had an incredible lineup of Celtic talent.

Black Walnut's comments about the main stage setup are well taken. It is a very large field and you will want to ensure access to a decent spot. It's well worth the trouble--being a prairie location it has that BIG HUGE SKY over it, which adds drama to great musical performances. Nobody can forget, for example, 1978, seeing the sun come out at the end of a very rainy day for about sixty seconds as it finally found the tiny gap between the clouds and the western horizon, bathing Stan Rogers in this unnatural light and giving twenty thousand wet people a minute to remember forever.

And given the scale of talent at Winnipeg, the numerous workshops (various musicians sharing a stage with some kind of a thematic connection) are of A++ calibre.

You want to take decent raingear, just in case. When it rains, the show goes on. '96, though, had this awesome light show of thunderclouds passing over all weekend, and it never really rained.

You won't regret going. It's more than worth the hassle. If I were you, I'd look into smaller festivals in your area too, which are a lot easier logistically and can produce just as magical an effect.

Bill