Having a ball

It’s all about basketball in downtown Winnipeg this weekend.

The CEBL fandom is at an all-time high with 5.5 million Canadians engaging with the league annually, and Winnipeg fans showed up in full force to celebrate the 2025 Championship Weekend, filling Canada Life Centre for the conference finals and also enjoying the energy of a free, three-day, fan-friendly street festival that kicked off Friday at 3 p.m.

“The nice part was the opportunity to do something free in downtown,” said Jason Smith, president of the Winnipeg Sea Bears on the street festival. “We wanted to create an experience that had a little bit of something for everybody. Just to get people down and get them having a good time. The idea was to try and put on something that would be as fun and as accessible and appealing to as many people as possible.”

Walking in from Edmonton Street down Graham Avenue, spectators pass a variety of Third + Bird local vendors before reaching the main stage, where live music performances will take place throughout the weekend. Beyond that are food trucks and other stands offering basketball-themed activities spread across the blocked-off streets.

And tucked behind the statue of Dale Hawerchuk in True North Square are several 3×3 basketball tournaments hosted by Peg City Basketball, with 30 teams competing throughout the weekend.

“It’s great,” said Bryce McDonald, director of Peg City Basketball. “Winnipeg’s a real basketball town. That’s why we got involved with this 10 years ago to start running leagues. And the event itself is just drawing people all the way through. It’s a great location. There’s traffic through here all the time, and lots of people just asking questions, ‘How do I play basketball in the city?’”

11-year-old Noah Vigilance was one of the players fans could see tearing up the 3×3 courts, playing in the youth division with his teammates.

“The fun of it,” said Vigilance, on his favourite part of playing basketball. “We do stuff at practice and we’re all laughing and stuff.”

Vigilance, a young point guard, says his favourite thing about having Championship Weekend in his hometown is winning games in 3×3, walking around the festival and being able to watch more teams play on the same night. He’ll be paying close attention to fellow guard Will Richardson — his favourite player — in the Western Conference final.

“It’s really exciting as a basketball community,” said McDonald on Winnipeg hosting Championship Weekend. “It’s something we haven’t had, or I was never here during the times when we had other franchises. So we’re pretty excited about it overall.”

“The city only recently converted Graham Avenue to a pedestrian corridor; we’re the first major event to happen on that space,” said Smith. “So I’m really excited to see how it works and have an opportunity as the first folks to get to throw a big party down there.”

Music-wise, Canadian talent will be featured throughout the weekend, headlined by Shawn Desman performing Saturday at 9:45 p.m., with additional performances by Haviah Mighty, The Funk Hunters, The Free Label, Roman Clarke, YSN Fab, Boogey the Beat, Ami Cheon, Snackie + Courtney Fox, Jérémie & the Delicious Hounds, and the Wackydoodle Dance Party.

During the Western and Eastern Conference finals and the CEBL final on Sunday, outdoor watch parties similar to Jets playoff games are also being held.

“We’re still a very young organization,” said Smith. “And so the opportunity to introduce more people to the game itself, the fan experience, what we put on, just how great the basketball is and how competitive it all is. I think the opportunity to have more people experience what it is we do and learn about the Sea Bears is all helpful for us as a relatively young organization.”

zoe.pierce@freepress.mb.ca