Starting June 29, Alianait brings circumpolar world to Nunavut

It won’t be long before Alianait sets up its big top tent in Iqaluit where most of the festival’s performances will take place June 29 to July 2. (FILE PHOTO)

SAMANTHA DAWSON

The 8th annual Alianait Arts Festival in Iqaluit is promising festival-goers a circumpolar experience this year, set around the festival’s 2012 “Arctic Connections” theme.

“It fits with the focus of Alianait, because since 2007 we’ve always had a circumpolar focus,” said the festival’s executive director Heather Daley.

The line-up also includes Iqaluit’s popular Jerry Cans, an acoustic rock group that pokes fun at life in Nunavut, as well as the Jay Jays, a blues-rock group.

The festival, which will take place June 29 to July 2, will see musicians travelling to Iqaluit from Nunavut, Nunavik and Greenland.

Among the international artists: Simon Lynge, a folk-rock performer from Greenland who now lives in Seattle.

Organizers will also welcome the return of Toronto-based calypso-reggae performers of KoboTown.

“People absolutely loved them,” Daley said.

The last time that group was here in 2009, it closed the festival.

KoboTown started a jam during its last number, when one of its singers led all the musicians from other groups outside the tent. There, the music lasted for another half hour.

Igloolik’s Artcirq and Montreal’s Cirque Alfonse will also join together for the circus component of the festival — one of the most popular offerings of Alianait, Dailey said.

Those performances will take place inside the Nakasuk school gym, which has the advantage of 26-foot high ceilings.

“I think the audience will see some pretty amazing feats,” Daley said.

Other events— and not just music — will take place on the main stage of Big Top Tent, which will be set up in Nakasuk’s parking lot.

Storytelling performances are planned there, as well as a possible film night, said Daley, who added that there is a big multimedia aspect of the festival this year which will “basically [include] all forms of art.”

Unlike some other music festivals, Alianait does not have a sectioned off concert grounds or beer garden, as it is a liquor-free event, she said.

The festival aims to be family-oriented, and, although the last act usually ends around 10:30 p.m., the program is packed from the morning on, with workshops sandwiched between shows and kid’s events.

“It’s a real celebration of the arts,” Daley said. “If someone said, ‘how do you say ‘awesome’ in Inuktitut,’ they’d say Alianait.”

The main stage events will be ticketed, but free for children under 12 and elders.

“We make it very accessible to families,” Daley said. “This festival is for the community.”

Among the sure-to-be popular events, a square dance with Nunavik accordionists Zebedee and Jeannie Nungak.

This year Alianait also plans to continue the shorter, community-voted time-frame it started last year, instead of the 11-day festivals of earlier years.

Other groups slated to perform at Alianait include:

• Fernanda Cunha

• Ann Vriend

• Saali (Charlie Keelan)

• The Donefors

• Esther Powell & the Roughcuts

• Washboard Hank & Lance Loree

• Agaaqtoq

• Buzy B and the Honeycomb Kids

• Kikkukia

• Sikusilaaq Band

For more information you can visit Alianait’s website.