The Pas

The Pas and neighbouring Opaskwayak Cree Nation share the Saskatchewan River on Treaty 5 territory. Together they are a gateway north — and one of the most layered culture corridors in the region, where Cree, Métis, settler, and newcomer stages sit within a few minutes of each other.

Trappers’ Festival and winter making

The Northern Manitoba Trappers’ Festival is the largest winter gathering in the North. The 79th edition ran 18–22 February 2026. Dog-sled racing here reaches back to the 1916 Pas Dog Derby and, before that, to freight teams on the fur trade. The torchlit march, log saw-off, and Fur Queen pageant still pull mayors, the premier, MKO, and the Manitoba Métis Federation into the same street as local families. Events spill across The Pas and OCN.

Music, dance, and the longest-running festival

The Pas Music and Fine Arts Festival is northern Manitoba’s longest-running music and fine-arts competition: band, piano, choral, dance, fiddle, and speech arts, with scholarships for Kelsey School Division and Opaskwayak students. It is a pipeline, not a one-off concert. The Pas Arts Council programs workshops, exhibits, and Culture Days — in 2025 the tri-community Culture Days placed second in Manitoba’s Towns and Rural Areas category, with OCN, the Town, and the RM of Kelsey sharing the bill.

Summer brings Opaskwayak Indigenous Days (drum, dance, and gathering at Kiche Maskanow), the OCN Pow Wow, street festival by the library, chuckwagon races, and Culturama — a one-day showcase of Nigerian, Indian, Filipino, Ukrainian, Caribbean, Ghanaian, First Nations, Métis, and other tables, food, and performance coordinated with Northwest Regional Immigrant Services.

Museums, river, and rooms

The Sam Waller Museum (housed in the old courthouse) holds northern artifacts and community memory. Christ Church, the Métis Hall, University College of the North, and Aseneskak Casino’s live stage fill out a week that can run from a fiddle class to a pow wow grand entry. Clearwater Lake Provincial Park is fifteen minutes away; the river itself is the oldest stage in town.