As the summer comes to an end, we look back on the 2024 festival season and the importance of these events. At the Great Northern Arts Festival in Inuvik, Inuvialuit Settlement Region, NT, Arctic Sounds in Sisimiut, Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland), and Alianait Arts Festival in Iqaluit, NU, art is being created in and celebrated throughout Inuit Nunaat.
These festivals involve talent and organization, connection, learning and a blend of cultures with the same passion: art. Whether it is singing, drumming, painting, beading, traditional-clothing making, community gathering, management or logistics, it takes people and passion to bring these festivals to fruition. These three festivals value community and connection through art and have celebrated great achievements this year: it was Alianait’s 20th anniversary, Arctic Sounds’ 10th anniversary and the Great Northern Arts Festival’s 35th anniversary and come back after a cancelled festival in 2023.

Caroline Blechert Petal drop earrings (2020) © THE ARTIST

The Great Northern Arts Festival (GNAF) occurs annually in July and invites visual, traditional and performance artists. GNAF is based around connection and community, offering a variety of workshops, performances and a fashion show, which is one of the highlights of the festival. In 2023 there were only three active board members and no executive director, which resulted in the cancellation of the festival that year. For organizers and artists, bringing back a passionate and soulful festival is at the forefront. “It’s about the community. …Being part of something outside ourselves,”[1] says artist Caroline Blechert.

Adi Scott began her position as Executive Director just six months before the 2024 event. A whole new board was formed, and a lot of planning and logistics were involved in making the 35th year of GNAF happen. She describes GNAF as “part of the landscape and part of the community spirit.”[2] This year, the theme of the festival was “From Ashes to Arts,” which was chosen to celebrate the resilience of Northwest Territories residents who have been displaced by wildfires. It also celebrates coming back from the ashes of a cancelled festival.

Each year, GNAF invites approximately 50 artists of all ages to participate in the festival. In 2003, at the age of 17, Blechert first attended GNAF to share her beautifully designed bead and porcupine quill jewellery. She remembers her experience attending the festival as a “monumental time of my life.” For Blechert, attending the festival and meeting other artists allowed her to connect to her roots as an Inuvialuk who grew up away from the Inuvik region. “The festival was kind of the first place that I got to feel comfortable asking about my culture and living my culture,” Blechert explains. “During the festival we see the best of the best, we get to see it when it’s alive and when everyone's celebrating. I feel like it was also a very emotional experience for me because I felt a deeper sense of connection to the community.”     


Nuka Alice performing at Arctic Sounds, 2024 Courtesy Arctic Sounds PHOTO DORTHEIVALO

Arctic Sounds 

Arctic Sounds began in 2014 out of a desire to showcase musical talent in the  community, spanning across all age groups and talent levels. The annual music festival is held in Sisimiut, Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland), in the spring and runs for five days. It features artists from Nordic countries and Inuit Nunaat and is a volunteer-driven event that welcomes visitors and locals to enjoy unique music styles, land and nature. In 2024 Arctic Sounds celebrated its 10th anniversary, highlighting its significance and how much the music community has embraced it. Jacob Froberg, Director of Arctic Sounds, recounts the need to include younger generations in the music scene, “for the local artists to have somewhere to perform that included younger people and kids.”[3] Upon moving to Sisimiut, Froberg—a musician, songwriter and record producer—started a job as the head of the music school Serravik, Sisimiut musikskole, which led to the creation of the festival. “The music community here has grown, and many people’s lives have been impacted by the possibilities,” he says.

An important element of Arctic Sounds is the opportunities it offers for co-creation and collaboration. The term “Nordic Playgrounds” is used to describe this framework of bringing playful approaches to work through networking, talks and workshops and co-creation. In 2023, Arctic Sounds facilitated a project called Aajuik, which brought together songwriters and musicians from Kalaallit Nunaat and Nunavut to create an album. Artists included Kalaallit rapper Tarrak and Iqaluit-based rapper and producer 666god. Organizers and volunteers work to provide programs to help artists and young people develop skills in operating sound and lighting systems, event planning and project management. The music festival also provides a whole spectrum of opportunities for the community, so not only do the musicians benefit from Arctic Sounds, local businesses do too. “Local outfitters do dog sledding and snowmobile tours. They sort of expand their business from there and make a living off what they do,” says Froberg.

Drum singer Nuka Alice began as a volunteer, helping Froberg run the festival. She recalls, “He want[ed] to develop the music scene in Greenland and I know that he has had a lot of hurdles, [so] I tapped into his passion and started helping him from the very start.”[4] Hearing newly composed songs by other artists inspired her to create her own drum song, which she performed at the opening of the festival in 2014. “Whenever there’s a concert, there’s an exchange of energy between the performer and the audience.”    

Kalaaleq singer/songwriter Nick Ørbæk performing at the Alianait Arts Festival in 2019 Courtesy IAF

Every summer, Alianait Arts Festival, based in Iqaluit, NU, brings in visual and performance artists. The festival highlights Inuit and other Indigenous and circumpolar artists, but other artists from around the world are welcome. Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, Alianait is community focused and driven, often seen as an event that supports emerging artists and develops relationships between circumpolar regions. It was founded by Heather Daley in 2005 and began as a grassroots event that quickly developed into an acclaimed festival that celebrates a wide array of artistic practices. Alianait organizers collaborate with community leaders to create a healthy space with art and music, even equipped with a station for children to gather and craft. “It was a gratifying experience to share my words and to have community members and visitors connect to my work. Writing is a lonely process, but I was delighted to discover that others share my views, feelings, and ideas,”[5] says artist, filmmaker and writer Ashley Qilavaq-Savard, who recited poetry at Alianait in 2023.

The festival is an important starting point for many emerging artists. Singer-songwriter Aasiva has performed via livestream, during COVID, as well as in-person, including this year, and attributes much of her development as a performance artist to the festival.[6] Thomas Lambe, known as 666god, also performed early in his career at Alianait. In the midst of a transition, Alianait Arts Festival has successfully completed its event for 2024. Current Executive Director Alannah Johnson is leaving her position, so the festival is looking for a new ED. Organizers remain hopeful for the festival’s future. “We’re veterans of the festival and we’ve always talked about bringing fresh blood. In the music industry, you don’t want to be stagnant. One good way of doing that is to bring on new leadership,” festival organizer Victoria Perron told the CBC.[7]

These three events highlight the importance of community-centred events and the lasting impact they can have. They facilitate connection and collaboration between artists, often providing young artists with the space and connections to grow, and they provide locals and communities with gathering places. The impact of arctic festivals is large in scale—large in passion, in sharing, in talent and in cultures.

Art is a way of life and self-expression for Bambi Amos. Driven by her passion and grounded in her roots as an Inuvialuk woman, she is a full-time artist and the creator of Bambi’s Traditional Arts. Doing what she loves enables her to create and share.

Notes

[1] All quotes Caroline Blechert, interview with Bambi Amos, June 2024. 

[2] Adi Scott, interview with Bambi Amos, June 2024.

[3] All quotes Jacob Forberg, interview with Bambi Amos, June 2024. 

[4] All quotes Nuka Alice, interview with Bambi Amos, June 2024.  

[5] All quotes Ashley Qilavaq-Savard, correspondence with the IAQ, August 2024.

[6] Kira Wronska Dorward, “Musical healing with Aasiva,” Nunavut News, August 6 2024, nunavutnews.com/home/musical-healing-with-aasiva-7452832.

[7] “From grassroots in Nunavut to the circumpolar world: Alianait Arts Festival returns to Iqaluit,” CBC News, July 6, 2024, cbc.ca/news/canada/north/nunavut-alianait-arts-festival-returns-1.7254311.