The first Winnipeg fRee* festival took place twenty years ago on July 15th of the year 2000 at the meeting of the Red & Assiniboine rivers, also known as the Forks. The first festival ended at night when the police arrested numerous festival goers. There was a second fRee* festival at the same site, on July 14th, 2001. The second festival ended without any intervention by authorities. There were no more festivals after 2001.

The videos & images on this site are an evolving archive of these events.

Twenty years later, it is crystal clear that the festival was missing the main point. The place where the two rivers meet carries a spirit of freedom and cooperation. The fRee* festival channeled this and celebrated it. However, what the fRee* festival neglected to understand was that the spirit of the place is an indigenous one and it is being suppressed. Until the indigenous people of Canada obtain justice for the historical and ongoing genocidal policies targeting their communities, there will be no freedom worth celebrating. First there must be justice, then there must be healing, and only then can we know freedom.

Either we are all free, or no one is free.