About 5,000 people are expected to converge on Batoche this weekend for the 42nd annual Metis cultural celebration.
The Back To Batoche Days Festival is considered the largest Metis gathering in North America.
The singing, fiddling and dancing begins today with performers from across western Canada.
Event manager Claire Parker-Belanger says this year is dedicated to the Metis youth movement from across the country.
Other events include workshops and chuckwagon and chariot races.
There will also be artisan cabins and Metis cuisine.
Today’s agenda includes the unveiling of the cemetery project, the memorial benches and stepping stones at St Anthony’s Church.
Sunday’s activities include mass at St Anthony’s, a walk to the cemetery and a gathering at the Metis Veterans Memorial Garden.
The opening ceremonies are scheduled for tomorrow and the events wrap up on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Back To Batoche Days Festival is one of the events being attended this summer by the Standing Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples.
It is also the first time the full committee has headed out on the road to hear testimony, rather than having the witnesses travel to Ottawa.
Committee Chair Senator Gerry St. Germain says its all part of their mandate:
“The committee is travelling on a fact-finding trip. The reference from the Senate for the committee is it’s authorized to examine and report on evolving legal and political recognition of the collective identity and the rights of Metis in Canada — the definition, enumeration and registration of the Metis.”
St Germain says meetings will be held at Batoche Friday and Saturday, and the committee will attend mass on Sunday.