The GentleFolk Present: New Festival Guidelines

Hello, all you Gentle Friends! This is The GentleFolk, reporting with some fresh, new guidelines to make sure this year is your BEST GentleFest YET!

WHAT is happening with GentleFest?!

Holy smokeroonies, this community is EXCELLENT! We have hosted FIVE WHOLE YEARS of the most incredible weekends of our lives. From silly, fun animations and workshops to out-of-this-world festival themes to big sweaty party dance floor vibes, we have watched this community grow and obsess over genuine connection and supporting local music and art. We absolutely LOVE you.

We want to share with you a brand new GentleFest!

END SCENE - Roll the Credits!

We want to give a sincere, loving THANK YOU!!! to Ignite Retreats for their radical compassion, intuitive trust, exquisite curiosity, and love of PLAY that we have shared together for the last 5 years. They have been instrumental in our growth as professionals, festival goers, and human beings. They have shared their home with us and the outer reaches of this incredible community. We are so thankful for them and all of the extremely hard work they have invested into us. Thank you. From the bottom of our hearts.

We part ways with Ignite Retreats as a venue but never as festival family <3

Aaaaaannnd… ACTION!

While we bask in the glow of GentleFest 2024 being largely our most successful event to date, we ask ourselves some important questions… What does our community want MOST? What do we as organizers want most? Is it more, more, more?! It’s a natural progression to grow incrementally each year, but perhaps, instead, we intentionally and consciously decide to right-size our efforts into a more community-focused and smaller festival experience. Each year we come together as a small village to celebrate life and what a better way to do that than to look around and recognize every single person by the end of the weekend?

GentleFest 2025

WELCOME to GentleFest!

MISSION: We are an arts collective in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with a mission of supporting music and arts in our local community ​and enhancing the social well-being of humankind.

VISION: The GentleFolk vision is to be the most enjoyed, safe, and artistically and musically diverse small summer music festival in Manitoba.

VALUES: To curate a welcoming space for creative expression and enjoyment all while staying true to the simple motto of, “Be excellent to each other.”

Venue and Gate Hours:

  • Friday: 2PM to 10PM  (14:00 - 22:00)

  • Saturday: 10AM to 10PM  (10:00 - 22:00)

  • Sunday: 11AM to 3PM  (11:00 - 15:00)

  • Please arrive during the above gate hours.

  • Where: Cooks Falls Campground
    From Winnipeg, drive West on Highway 15 to Elma, then turn left / North on Highway 11, then left / North-West on Provincial Rd 408. You’ll see an old barn on your right, and it can be easy to miss while you’re driving! There will be some colourful signage to assist you. Turn right, cross a narrow bridge, and turn right at the stop sign. After a bit of a drive and a hard right turn in the road, you’ll find the gate on your right!

  • Once you arrive, please remain on site all weekend. We don’t want any driving under the influence or unnecessary and potentially hazardous movement of vehicles. If you want to make a supply run to the nearby town of Whitemouth, arrange for a completely sober driver.

    • We recommend preparing all supplies in Winnipeg and not relying on or overwhelming the small town of Whitemouth during the festival.

  • Festival+Camping tickets and RV passes are SOLD OUT! We will not have any passes at the gate.

  • NO DAY PASSES. NO TICKETS AT THE GATE.

  • No physical tickets - Everyone’s name is on a list and we will check it at the gate. You must have government photo ID and your purchase confirmation email on your phone. We encourage that you screenshot or print your ticket purchase confirmation email to be safe.

  • Bag checks - we will be conducting checks of bags and coolers at our front gate/parking. Please no glass, weapons, or illegal items.

  • No refunds - Ticket transfers are allowed but must be approved first by contacting info@thegentlefolk.com. Be wary of online scams! Contact us first to ensure they are a real person.

  • Pets - We are truly sorry, but your bestie cannot attend. No dogs or other living animal pets, please.

  • Underage drinking and illicit substances are illegal.

  • 18+ only, please.

Site Instructions:

  • Parking - upon arrival, our volunteers will guide you to park your vehicle (general or bands parking) or direct you to the RV area. Walk your camping gear to the camping area - a very short walk within Cooks Falls Campground!

  • Generators - We prefer no generators so all of our attendees can enjoy an off-the-grid festival experience, but if you have one and wish to use it for short periods of time you can, but we require quiet time between sunset and sunrise.

  • Fire - Several fire pits are scattered around the campground that you’re welcome to use for heat, enjoyment, and cooking. If you plan to leave the fire pit, you must put out the fire completely, where there are no smoke or embers visible at all. We will adhere to any fire bans in the RM of Whitemouth.

  • Lighting - The campground has some basic lighting, but it is your responsibility to bring a flashlight, head lamp, or other device with light.

  • Bring cash or card for food, drinks, and merchandise from our FAVOURITE:

    • Food Truck: Donna’s Mobile Comfort Food, limited hours!

    • Vendor Village: Assortment of local, Manitoban vendors, primarily Saturday afternoon

    • GentleFolk T-Shirts: LIMITED supply, find us in The GentleTemple Friday evening!

  • BRING YOUR OWN FOOD, WATER, SHELTER, ETC. This is a back-to-basics festival with very basic campground amenities. Please be respectful, responsible, and courteous to the amenities provided. Let our Enviro team know immediately if anything is out of the norm.

  • MOOP - Matter Out Of Place - haul in, haul out! See trash? Throw it out! We will have pocket ashtrays and recycling/garbage bags to hand out to people. Please take home your garbage and recycling bags.

  • ZERO TOLERANCE policy to harassment, violence, assault, homophobia, racism, etc. - Be excellent to each other! If you see or hear of anything untoward, please notify our volunteers in vests and we will assist you right away. Please review our Policy / Code of Conduct before attending our events.

  • Rain or Shine - bring warm and cool weather clothes, bathing suit, rubber boots, bug spray, sun screen, etc. for all potential August weather.

  • Glass - Avoid bringing glass. We love wine but try a bag instead of a bottle! More fun too.

  • There is cell phone coverage / data on the festival site but it may not be extremely reliable. Prepare to unplug! For safety, we have Starlink internet for our volunteer team with the ability to make emergency phone calls.

  • Please respect the land - We LOVE Cooks Falls Campground and are thrilled that they welcome us and support our community. The land falls on the edge of Treaty One territory and we acknowledge that we are gathered on ancestral lands, Treaty 1 territory, traditional territory of the Anishinaabeg, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota, and Dene Peoples, and on the National Homeland of the Red River Métis.

  • By attending the festival, you consent to photography and videography solely for the use of The GentleFolk’s marketing, publicity, and advertising into perpetuity (website, social media posts, grant submissions, etc.). If we post a photo of you online that you would like taken down or if you have any significant concerns about your image being shared online and want to reconsider whether you would like to attend please contact us at info@thegentlefolk.com.

  • The GentleFolk will never sell your personal or billing information to any third party without your permission (we cannot think of a reason why or how this would happen but we want to assure you that your personal information is protected).

    Have an excellent weekend!