The Forks Market Winnipeg: Food, Shops & Waterfront

The Forks Market is not simply a shopping destination. It is the physical and emotional centre of Winnipeg — the place where the city gathers, where 6,000 years of human meeting ground has been layered with railway history and contemporary urban culture. The two main market buildings, Johnston Terminal and the Forks Market building, sit at the junction of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, and they have been the city’s dominant public space since the site’s redevelopment in the early 1990s.

For visitors, The Forks is often the first and last stop in Winnipeg — the place where the city introduces itself in the morning and where you find yourself returning on the final day for one more coffee, one more browse through the artisan stalls, and one last look at the river before leaving.

The market buildings

Johnston Terminal is the larger of the two main buildings, a brick railway freight terminal dating from 1910 that has been converted into a multi-level market. The ground floor has a mix of food vendors, a bookshop specialising in Canadian and Manitoba titles, and gift stores with genuinely local character. The upper floors transition into more casual retail — clothing, outdoor gear, and the sort of eclectic mix that develops when heritage buildings attract independent tenants.

The Forks Market building houses the food hall’s more concentrated vendors: this is where to navigate between a Métis-owned bannock counter, a Vietnamese bánh mì stall, a Filipino lechon stand, a craft beer bar, and an ice cream shop that has been operating since the market’s early days. The food hall is genuinely diverse and the quality is generally high; it reflects Winnipeg’s multicultural character more accurately than any single-theme market could.

The Johnston Terminal food court in the basement level is a separate, more casual dining area with additional vendors including coffee roasters and fast-casual options popular with downtown workers.

What to eat at The Forks

Bannock: Several vendors at The Forks serve bannock — the Indigenous flatbread that has been a staple food of the prairies and boreal north for centuries. The versions at The Forks range from simple fried bread to elaborate preparations with local toppings. It is one of the most culturally resonant things to eat in Winnipeg.

Perogies: The Ukrainian perogy — potato and cheese-filled dumplings, boiled and served with sour cream and caramelised onion — is an emblem of prairie cuisine. The Forks has several vendors serving quality versions.

Local cheese: Manitoba produces genuinely excellent cheese, and artisan producers appear at the market both as permanent vendors and at the Saturday pop-up market. Bothwell Cheese (a major Manitoba producer) has distribution here; smaller artisan producers appear seasonally.

Craft coffee: Two or three specialist coffee roasters operate in or adjacent to the market buildings, serving specialty coffee with local roasts. The Parlour café is a particular standout.

Poutine: Quebec’s national dish has long since travelled west, and The Forks has at least one vendor doing justice to the concept — fries, cheese curds, and gravy in the proper proportion.

Shopping

The retail offering at The Forks is oriented toward local and artisan rather than chain retail. Key areas:

Hive at The Forks (Johnston Terminal): A curated marketplace of small Manitoba businesses — honey, preserves, candles, jewellery, and locally designed clothing. The curation is genuinely good; this is not a souvenir shop but a real local retail incubator.

Chapters/McNally Robinson (adjacent to the market): One of Canada’s best independent bookshops, with a strong section on Manitoba history, Indigenous authors, and prairie literature. Worth significant time.

Folk Arts Council gift shop: Crafts and artworks from Manitoba’s diverse communities, including Indigenous beadwork, Ukrainian embroidery, and other culturally specific art forms.

Waterfront and outdoor spaces

The Esplanade running along the Red River is the outdoor extension of The Forks experience — a paved riverside promenade with benches, art installations, and views across the river to the city’s skyline and Saint-Boniface. In summer, paddleboard and canoe rentals operate from the boat launch, and a seasonal water taxi runs upriver to Provencher Bridge.

The outdoor amphitheatre adjacent to the market hosts concerts, festivals, and public events through summer, drawing large crowds for major events and casual afternoon performances alike.

The Canadian Museum for Human Rights (admission required) stands immediately adjacent to The Forks, its extraordinary architecture visible from the riverside. Combining a CMHR visit with a market morning is the standard first-day Winnipeg itinerary, and it works.

The river skating trail

From roughly mid-January through February (conditions permitting), the City of Winnipeg maintains a groomed ice skating trail on the Red and Assiniboine rivers connecting The Forks to the Osborne Village neighbourhood upstream. The trail stretches several kilometres, with warming huts at intervals.

The Forks rents skates seasonally from a booth near the river access point. Night skating — with the CMHR lit above and the city lights reflecting on the ice — is one of Winnipeg’s genuinely iconic winter experiences and something very few Canadian cities can offer in any comparable form.

Festivals at The Forks

The Forks is the endpoint or gathering point for several major Winnipeg events:

Pride Winnipeg (June): The parade ends at The Forks, and the waterfront area hosts the post-parade celebrations.

Canada Day (July 1): Major civic celebrations occupy the outdoor spaces all day.

Nuit Blanche (September): The overnight arts festival extends to The Forks, with outdoor installations along the Esplanade.

Festival du Voyageur (February, Saint-Boniface): Events spill across the bridge into The Forks area on the festival’s peak weekend.

Holiday market (November–December): An outdoor market in the weeks before Christmas occupies the outdoor areas with food vendors, craft stalls, and seasonal programming.

Practical information

Getting there: The Forks is at the southern edge of downtown Winnipeg, within walking distance of most central hotels. Paid parking is available on site. Several bus routes serve the area.

Hours: The market buildings are open daily, typically from 9 or 10am through 9pm, though individual vendor hours vary. Weekend mornings are the busiest and most atmospheric.

Accessibility: The market buildings are fully accessible, with elevators serving all levels. The riverside Esplanade is paved and accessible by wheelchair.

Explore Winnipeg tours and city experiences on GetYourGuide

Related reading

• The Forks Winnipeg: market, museum and historic meeting place
• Winnipeg food scene: where to eat
• Saint-Boniface: Winnipeg’s French quarter
• Winnipeg: things to do
• Winnipeg weekend itinerary

The Forks succeeds because it never tries to be something it is not. It is a public market, a riverside park, a gathering place, and a cultural institution — all at the same time, without strain. For visitors, it is the most reliable way to understand what Winnipeg actually is, which turns out to be considerably more than the reputation suggests.