This year's Back to Batoche festival is putting the spotlight on the youth. (Logan Lehmann/paNOW staff)

By Logan Lehmann

Back to Batoche

The year of the youth: Back to Batoche officially underway for 51st installment

Jul 21, 2023 | 5:07 PM

Back to Batoche is underway for its 51st year with the main focus of this year’s festival being all about the youth.

The festival began on Thursday and it was said that 20,000 people attended the first day. Opening ceremonies for the festival happened Friday morning with some provincial and federal dignitaries in attendance, including Premier Scott Moe, Vice-Chief of the FSIN Aly Bear, President of Métis Nation Saskatchewan Glen McCallum, RCMP Commissioner Michael Duheme, President of the Métis National Council Cassidy Caron, and Parliamentary Secretary of Environment and Climate Change Terry Duguid among many others.

Following the ceremonies, Premier Scott Moe answered some questions from the media and talked about what he would like to see made available to Métis youth in the province.

“I think a collaborative conversation on how we can make our communities, our province and ultimately our nation a stronger place,” he said. “I think that this weekend, the Back to Batoche celebration, is a great opportunity for us to look back and to remember – to respect our history. Ensure that as we’re moving forward, we are being as inclusive as possible as we can be in this Province – being collaborative. Working together to a greater goal and working together towards the same goal.”

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Premier Scott Moe speaks during the Back to Batoche opening ceremonies. (Logan Lehmann/paNOW staff)

To help remember the past, the Dumont Lodge is being built on the festival sight that will host different programming and elders to teach youth about cultural identity and their history.

“We always say that the youth are our future,” President McCallum said. “It’s beautiful to see the amount of children here and for the young people to be recognized in an assembled audience like we have today, and to be able to tell our history. It’s important for our young people to know [our history] and the more that we cooperate with governments, like [Scott] Moe and I are communicating a lot more. And to have our young people see that it’s not always about politics, it’s about doing the right thing and I believe that we’re on the right page with the Premier.”

Also on sight for the kids are activities and games, along with a playground complete with a zipline.

Many vendors are open for business near the main building while food trucks are also on sight. Various live dancing and music performances will take place over the course of the festival along with different events like chuckwagon races, a slo-pitch tournament, a singing contest, and much more.

A full schedule for Back to Batoche can be found by clicking here.

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loganc.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @lloganlehmann