Increasing involvement in cultural experiences: Back to Batoche gets record attendance in 2023

Looking out from the mainstage at the 2023 Back to Batoche festival, Dean Smith, a Prince Albert fiddle player, says he saw more people than he had ever seen on the dance floor.

“I’ve never seen a dance floor that big with that many people. The memory will stick with me forever,” he says. “It was incredibly powerful and I think this year’s going to be just as big.” Smith, who, along with his band, has played old-time dance tunes at Back to Batoche for several years, was moved by to see the dramatic increase in attendance over past years.

Back to Batoche Days, an annual festival celebrating Métis culture and heritage, has been held every third week in July since 1970. Over 40,000 people, double the amount in 2022, attended the 2023 festival—the highest attendance since prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Held in Batoche, the historic site of the 1885 Northwest Resistance, the festival usually draws great numbers of both locals and tourists.

According to Kristi Ross, manager, Culture, Heritage and Language, Métis Nation–Saskatchewan, the strong turnout in 2023 was due to efforts to make space for people of all ages and backgrounds—youth, Elders, veterans, Indigenous and non-Indigenous—to connect with the culture and celebrate their identity. “When people come out to the Batoche festival,” she says, “they feel well taken care of. When you step foot on the grounds, you feel like you’re back at home, you feel like you’re with your family and with your friends.”

Themed the ‘Year of the Youth’, the 2023 event was designed to engage more young people. “They are our next leaders,” says Ross, “We need to honour them now so that they will want to step into important leadership roles when they’re older.” To attract a younger crowd, the event featured jigging demonstrations, a family movie night, a DJ, and the first-ever Mrs. and Mrs. Batoche. Youth admission was also free, something that will continue in 2024.

The event attracts a diverse and wide-spread audience. From locals, such as Dean Smith whose family has homesteaded in the area for years, to tourists from as far away as Texas, Germany and Australia, as well as featured dignitaries such as chiefs from surrounding First Nations and Premier Scott Moe.

Ross expects 60,000 people to attend the 2024 Back to Batoche Days, taking place July 18 to 21. “We never turn anyone away,” says Ross. “We want everybody to feel welcomed and included because Batoche is such a powerful place to be.”