If you are looking for ManyFest, you are looking for a festival that has stopped running. Downtown Winnipeg's big September street party came back in 2026 under a different name, The Weekender, and on a different street. It ran Friday, September 11 to Sunday, September 13, 2026 on Graham Avenue, free to walk into and licensed, and the Downtown Winnipeg BIZ has said the next edition will be shaped by what it learned from that first one.

The shape of the old festival is worth knowing, because it explains the move. ManyFest took over Broadway. In 2019 the closure ran from Osborne Street North east to Edmonton Street, with Memorial Boulevard and Kennedy Street shut from York Avenue up to Broadway, and in 2017 the barricades went up at 5:30 on the Friday evening and did not come down until nine on the Sunday night. That is a lot of arterial road to borrow for a weekend. The 2023 edition was cancelled, and the festival stayed away for several years after that.

What the Downtown Winnipeg BIZ brought back in September 2026 sits on Graham Avenue between Donald and Fort streets, with Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries as presenting sponsor. Graham is a sensible place to put it, because the city has already been handing that street to people on foot. A pedestrian-first pilot has run between Carlton Street and Garry Street since June 2025, with murals, lighting and street furniture, and it carried on through 2026. Buses came off most of Graham when the Primary Transit Network launched; the exception is the block from Garry Street to Main Street, where the D11 and D12 still run, and motor traffic is two-way from Fort Street to Main. A festival on Graham is not shutting a working road. It is filling a street that was already cleared.

The 2026 hours ran Friday from 4 p.m. to midnight, Saturday from noon to midnight, and Sunday from noon to 8 p.m. Saturday was the only full day. Sunset in Winnipeg falls just before eight in the middle of September, so both late nights ran several hours after dark on a street that has had new lighting put into it.

How Food Truck Wars works now

Food Truck Wars is the part of ManyFest that survived the rename intact, and the part most people were searching for. More than 30 food trucks and mobile vendors took the 2026 edition. The rule that changed is who decides: the winners are now chosen entirely by public vote rather than by a judging panel, and they are crowned live on stage on the Sunday. If you want a say, you need to eat before Sunday evening, which argues for arriving on the Saturday when the street is open for twelve hours rather than six.

Around 20 market vendors set up alongside the trucks, billed as an artisan market. That is a smaller footprint than the trucks and it keeps daytime hours more closely, so the market is a mid-afternoon stop rather than a late-night one.

The rest of the street

The 2026 programme gave each night its own draw: a Classic Car Show and Shine on the Friday, a free Winnipeg Pro Wrestling card on the Saturday, and Bachata dancing on the Sunday. A 3x3 basketball tournament ran across the weekend with youth, adult and wheelchair divisions, free for spectators, and the Family Zone put a kids' version of the same game next to an instrument petting zoo run by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. A bike valet ran free all three days, with free repairs added on the Saturday and Sunday, which is the detail worth remembering if you are deciding whether to drive at all.

Before you go: The Weekender is one year old, and its dates, street footprint and programme are set fresh each year. Confirm all three at downtownwinnipegbiz.com before you book a weekend around it.

Where to stay for The Weekender

The Graham Avenue stretch sits one block south of Portage Avenue, which makes the downtown arena the easiest landmark to aim at. From our three-bedroom house in Crescentwood, the drive to the Canada Life Centre at 300 Portage Avenue is about 10 minutes and 3.9 kilometres, and the festival block is a short walk south from there once the car is parked.

Downtown rooms get taken early for September event weekends, and a house suits this festival better than a hotel does in one practical way: there is somewhere to put the market haul, the folding chairs and a fridge full of leftovers between trips, and somewhere to come back to at midnight that is not a lobby. Our Airbnb listing has the dates and the nightly rate.