The Forks, Winnipeg: The Magical Meeting Place

In 2011, I left Montreal to take a job at the University of Winnipeg. I drove there with my pet bunny, Lilliput, at my side and slept on a mattress on the floor of my apartment while I waited weeks for my furniture to arrive. My new co-workers made a series of promises: the art scene is unmatched (true), the mosquitoes aren’t so bad (lies) and the winters are a dry cold. “It makes a difference,” they insisted (also true). The one thing I kept hearing, as soon as I arrived, was that I must visit the Forks. Everyone said so.

In the past, in the present and undoubtedly in the future, the Forks is a space of cultural and physical union, the intersection of the Assiniboine and Red rivers. For millennia, it’s served as a rest stop, a trade hub and a key migration landmark for peoples including those from Cree, Anishinaabe and Dakota communities. Today it also features a never-empty urban skate park, an indoor marketplace with casual dining options that celebrate cultures from around the world and shops like McNally Robinson, Winnipeg’s beloved independent bookstore. From across the water, you can see clearly the St. Boniface Cathedral—the burial place and home of a statue honouring Métis leader Louis Riel, known as the Father of Manitoba. Currently, the Forks is more of a gathering spot than a housing spot, but that’s soon about to change: a new mixed-use development will build 10 buildings on a pair of empty parking lots, eventually providing 1,200 new units.

In the cold months, I skate down the Forks’ river paths, admiring the aesthetically distinct warm-up huts along the way. Come spring, the (mostly) pedestrian landscape hosts festivals, marketplaces and events. And in summer, I lie in the grass on the hill by the food trucks or dance among beach balls, feather boas and beautiful humans during Pride. I waste my money at Biu Biu Zone, reminiscent of Japanese plushie arcades, and take endless selfies with wintermelon boba at Milksmith. At Kawaii Land, I like to shake mystery boxes, trying to decipher by heft and rattle which one I need to complete the Sanrio set for my maximalist university office decor.

But the best part of the Forks is the outdoor patio space, where in summer you’ll find live music, a walk up bar and endless seating (including Adirondack chairs that face the river in tiered clusters). I’ll bring my dog and some dear friends, and together we’ll celebrate this meeting place that’s equal parts poignancy and pleasure.