New air service to Winnipeg, Manitoba

The amazing wildlife, scenery and culture of Manitoba are now more accessible with the announcement of a new air service between London Gatwick and Winnipeg.

With flights operating twice weekly from June to September, it means that the Beluga whales of Hudson’s Bay, the wildlife of Riding Mountain National Park, and the tranquility of the lakes are quicker and easier to get to.

It will now also be possible to visit one or more of the many summer events and festivals in and around Winnipeg as a short break, or as part of a longer trip to this lesser known part of Canada.

Examples of things to see and do around Winnipeg include:

- The Winnipeg Folk Festival, one of North America's largest outdoor folk music festivals, turns Birds Hill Provincial Park into Manitoba's third largest population centre every July. Over 55,000 music lovers from across the continent come together for this four-day celebration.

- The Winnipeg Art Gallery has the world's largest public collection of contemporary Inuit art, including over 9,000 works from sculpture, prints and textiles to paintings.

- As North America's second largest alternative theatre festival, the Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival draws more than 130 performing companies into the historic Exchange District each summer for 12 jam-packed days of edgy and comic performances. Theatre companies come from as far afield as Australia, South Africa, France, Scotland and New York.

- The Manitoba Stampede, a pro-rodeo event on the Canadian Tour circuit, it stars some of the top names in bull riding, bronco- busting, tie down roping, bareback riding and steer wrestling circles. Also check out the fast paced thoroughbred chariot and pony chariot and chuckwagon racing.

The new flights can be booked through:

Jetaway2Canada - jetaway2canada.com

Iceland Express - icelandexpress.com

For more information about Manitoba, visit travelmanitoba.com.