Winnipeg Folk Festival 2018: Impressions And Photographs.

From July 5th to July 8th, 2018. With over 70 performers on a multitude of  stages; dotted around Birds Hill Provincial Park. Most of the acts were on the Main Stage for the finale on Sunday night.

Sheryl Crow was the headline act and the only performer that I had heard of. Enough hit songs and a good backing band; so everyone could sing along.

The 45th edition of the festival and well enough established to have a long row of food vendors covering all the bases in World cuisine.

Camping is a big thing at the Winnipeg Folk Fest, with the young in tents and most of the older generation in RVs. Partying and music going on long into the night after the show shad finished. reckoned by many to be the best part of the four days and five nights.

This the official photographer of the festival; a volunteer with his 112 year old camera. The tripod looks a bit younger.

First outing for the new awning on the Mack. It stood up well to some high winds and a couple of showers on the Sunday morning.

A lot of the smaller stages have "Workshop" type events in the daytime. Some better supported than others and not just the old style finger-in-the-ear folk music. If the organizers could go back 45 years; then I think they would have called it "The Winnipeg Music Festival" because there was a awful lot more than just folk.

Volunteers are a big part of the festival with 2800 people helping to put on the event. Many come back year after year, giving a few hours of their time each day and partying for the rest.

Big Rock Brewery has the concession for the two taverns. A cold beer and a sit down in the shade was a welcome relief from the hot sun and the endless walking. It's a big site with every stage being out of earshot from it's neighbour.

A folding chair is essential as the grass is the only alternative. It can be a long day; 11am to 11pm, on your feet.

The smell of dope on the campsite was the most powerful I can remember and lasted for all the festival. Just like the relentless drumming that went from dusk to dawn. Surprisingly, I slept well. Maybe from all the walking or maybe from sleeping in noisy truckstops for most of my life.

Leonard Sumner was one act I enjoyed. A young Native American from Saskatchewan; he delivered a powerful message in a friendly humourous  style with a mix of poetry and songs in English and Cree.

Scott H. Byrum is a blues guitarist from Austin, Texas. One man filling a stage with a driving rhythm and showing what a diverse set of performers that Folk Fest assembles for it's vast audience. 

The Winnipeg Folk Festival is on the eastern side of the Bird's Hill Provincial Park, 20 miles out of town and on a well established site.

The Mack was parked in the RV section of the festival campsite. It was crowded but the friendliness of my neighbours was overwhelming. I didn't imagine  that the old fire rescue truck would attract so much attention with people whose passion was music.

Sound Proofing The Cab Of An R-Series Mack.

I started with the roof and the back of the cab. The vinyl covered cardboard panels were held on by self-tapping screws so came off with out any trouble. The problems came when trying to find the screw holes after they had been covered with the butyl rubber backed aluminium foil.

A visit from Mocha the Cat. Absolutely no help whatsoever. 

Some of the floor had been done with a bitumen based insulation. But most was bare metal, including the fire wall which just had a thin foam and cardboard sandwich to stop the noise.

Dynamat is the name of the sound insulation sheets that come in 12 inch by 24 inch sheets. I used 36 sheets on the cab; two packs of 18 sheets that came from Summit Racing of Arlington, Texas. Not a hard job to do. Cut to size, peel the back off the sticky black butyl rubber then run over it with a roller to get out all the air bubbles. Make sure everything is clean, dry and dust free. Also work in the warm, the product is a lot more flexible on a hot day. 

The original floor covering was rubber mats and had worn badly in places. Replacements are available but I went for carpeting, to also help with noise suppression and to add a little luxury.   

I went for a short-pile rubber-backed 36 inch wide carpet. It's suitable for both indoor and outdoor use and sold by the foot at most home improvement superstores. Both floor and firewall were done using the old mats and panels as patterns while a piece of carpet trim finishes off at the doorstep. 

I used a fabric underlay on the floor and finished off with a full width heavy-duty rubber mat. Just two pedals to cut round. I did away with the  foot-operated siren and air-horn switches. All too often my left foot was going for a non-existent clutch pedal as the truck came to a halt and I was blasting the air-horns by mistake.

The cab is now a lot more user friendly with the new supportive seats and the quieter interior, although with the lack of air-conditioning, there is a lot of wind noise with the windows open on hot days. To be honest; it is still a basic truck  cab that was designed in the 1960's, so it is never going to be like a motorhome or modern truck that is comfortable for a long day's driving but I think that driving days of over thre hours will be few and far between.