PIBÒN FESTIVAL
PIBÒN (WINTER) FESTIVAL
[Click here to learn how to pronounce PIBÒN]
Free Indigenous Festival December 1-5, 2021
Please join Indigenous Experiences, producers of the Summer Solstice Indigenous Festival as we celebrate, Pibòn (Winter) at Madahoki Farm in Ottawa’s greenbelt. Celebrate and learn about Indigenous culture while enjoying an energetic and enlightening experience where we can all connect with Mother Earth during this change of season. Free Admission with advance registration from Thursday to Saturday. A special comedy show on Wednesday evening is $5.
Attendance is staggered. Visitors must pre-register in 30-minute arrival windows. Plan to spend 2- 3 hours onsite. Vendors & shopping are indoors but dress to enjoy some outdoor winter fun.
Mādahòkì Farm
4420 West Hunt Club Road
Ottawa, ON K2R 1H4
PIBÒN FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS
- Get crafty at the make & take dreamcatcher workshop (Register online, $10 per person) or watch traditional snowshoes being crafted
- Kick start the celebrations with some laughter -Indigenous Comedy Night Wed. Dec. 1st. 7pm
- Savour winter comfort foods with an Indigenous twist - Buffalo Chili (veggie option), fried bannock, cedar wildberry chai tea or maple hot chocolate. Full meal tickets available online $15 (chili, bannock and beverage) or sold onsite. Cook your own bannock over the fire.
- Meet the rare and endangered Ojibwe Spirit Horses and listen to their story of survival and resilience with Spirit Horse Advocate Artist Rhonda Snow
- Shop the Indigenous makers market with over 30 Indigenous vendors selling onsite and online.
- Thursday, Dec 2nd Special Night Market with a sneak peek at vendors and no programming.
- Pick up your own Four Sacred Teachings Wreaths and Planters over the weekend.
- Walk the Legacy Trail and gain traditional knowledge about the change of seasons and moons and the plants and medicines that are important to Indigenous culture.
- Visit the Reconciliation Rock Station, choose an orange rock, add a message, picture or sentiment of reconciliation to take home or leave as a legacy on-site. Make a donation to Legacy of Hope to support residential school survivors and advocacy.
- Play with small animals from the farm and enjoy some farm play on the hay bales & teeter-totter
- Enjoy live cultural performances and storytelling on the Celebration Stage
Chad Anderson & Randy Schmucker
COMEDY NIGHT
WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 1st 7 PM (Doors 6 PM)
Kickstart Winter with some laughter featuring Indigenous Funny men Chad Anderson and Randy Schmucker. Arrive early to enjoy the bonfire, Indigenous winter comfort food and shop the marketplace before heading inside to enjoy the show. Purchase $5 tickets online to reserve your spot!
Chad Anderson is a standup comedian currently based out of Winnipeg Manitoba. With over 10 years of experience touring and performing Chad is definitely a comedian you don’t want to miss. He’s performed in the Winnipeg Comedy Festival, Odd Block Comedy Festival, Arctic Comedy Festival, been on CBC’s The Debaters and has an album, Chad Anderson Live At Wee Johnny’s available on all major streaming platforms.
Randy Schmucker (he/him) is a comic, artist, and performer residing in the unceded and unsurrendered territory of the Algonquin Anishinabek (also known as Ottawa). Randy brings a unique point of view that plays on his experiences as a member of the 2SLGBTQ+ community, as well as his mixed background of both Anishinaabe and European ancestry. Randy began his comedic career in 2019 with the first-ever iteration of the Indigenous comics show: Got Land? and the Fresh Meat Festival. Randy finds comedy as a source to bring people together, relate to one another, and to justify his flamboyant and (sometimes very) meta sense of humour.
Find Randy on Instagram @randyisonline
INDIGENOUS NIGHT MARKET
Thursday, December 2nd, 5 - 8 PM (SOLD OUT);
Night Market Experience also available Friday & Saturday, 4 - 7PM
Visit over 20 Indigenous vendors in the pavilion for an early shopping experience. Enjoy the bonfire and food available on site. Purchase Sacred Teachings holiday planters and wreaths. Admission is FREE but you must pre-register to reserve your space.
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FESTIVAL WEEKEND
Friday & Saturday, December 3rd & 4th: 10 AM to 7 PM
Sunday, December 5th: 10 AM to 5 PM
CELEBRATION STAGE
10:30 AM - Elders Opening
11 AM/1 PM/3 PM/5 PM - Sky Woman Story and Pow Wow Dance
Winter is a traditional season of storytelling. The performance shares the Creation Story of SkyWoman, at a time when there was only sky world and water world before Turtle Island (North America) was created. A live Pow Wow and Hoop Dance performance will follow.
12 PM/2 PM/4 PM /6 PM - Spirit Horse Stories & Inuit Throat Singing
Spirit Horse Advocate and artist Rhonda Snow has captured the oral history of this beautiful rare and endangered breed of horse that once roamed free through these lands. Her art captures our elders oral histories of the ponies and their story of survival.
Following Rhonda’s storytelling, enjoy a celebration of Inuit culture with an interactive and educational performance of Inuit throat singing-a beautiful song that originates as a game played to pass the long cold winters.
CULINARY EXPERIENCE
INDIGENOUS COMFORT FOOD
Savour winter comfort foods with an Indigenous twist!
Buffalo Chili (veggie option), fried bannock, cedar wildberry chai tea or maple hot chocolate. Cook your own bannock over the fire.
Purchase Meal Vouchers redeemable for chilli, bannock and beverage in advance for $15 per person (or purchase onsite).
INDIGENOUS MAKERS & FARMERS MARKET
SHOP ON SITE & ONLINE
Support local Indigenous entrepreneurs! Over 20 vendors will be on-site at the festival selling a variety of Indigenous art, jewellery, craft and food creations including seasonal planters wreaths and more- with an Indigenous flair. Everything from honey to beaded earrings and from sweetgrass candles to Indigenous maple syrup and fresh fish suppliers and so much more!.
Our Trading Post is open year-round on-site (in the Grey Farmhouse) Wednesday to Sunday 11 AM - 6 PM or Shop 24/7 online.
Shop over 20 vendors on site
OJIBWE SPIRIT HORSES
WITH ARTIST RHONDA SNOW
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM Daily
Indigenous Experiences are proud to welcome our new herd of the rare and endangered Ojibwe Spirit Horses to the farm. These four horses really share their own story on the sacred connection to the Ontario lands where they roamed free for thousands of years. You will have a chance to meet these special ponies and hear their story.
Artist Rhonda Snow was once an Ojibwe Spirit Horse caretaker and key part of bringing this breed back from the brink of extinction as recognized by Rare Breeds Canada. Rhonda has travelled and collected the oral history of these ponies from elders across Turtle Island (North America) which are captured in her beautiful and colourful woodland style art. Rhonda will help to share the special story of these ponies and work on new artwork to be installed on the farm to help educate and advocate for this special breed.
LEGACY TRAIL & RECONCILIATION ROCK STATION
At any time during your visit, we invite you to visit our Reconciliation Rock Station and choose an orange rock to add your own message, picture or sentiment of reconciliation. You are invited to take the rock home to your own space or add it as a legacy along the new walking trails through the property.
Interpretive signage along the trail provides traditional knowledge of Indigenous teachings about the change of seasons and moons and identifies
significant plants and medicines- all from an Indigenous perspective.
Donations to our partners Legacy of Hope gratefully accepted to support residential school survivors and advocacy.
FARM PLAY, COLOURING & FUN
Play with small animals from the farm and enjoy some farm play on the hay bales & teeter-totter or visit the Ojibwe Spirit Horses!
HORSE DRAWN WAGON RIDES
12:00 PM - 3:00 PM Friday, Saturday and Sunday
Available in limited quantities. No advance registration and no cost.
Provided by Harvest Hill Farms
