Alianait Arts Festival returns with Greenlandic reggae headliner

The 21st edition of Alianait Arts Festival is set to return to Iqaluit on the weekend of National Indigenous Peoples’ Day with one of Greenland’s most popular acts.

Festival organizers announced Sauwestari as the first headliner in a news release Friday.

Sauwestari, a reggae band from Nuuk, is one of the most popular acts in the region, the release said.

“We dreamed of hosting this band in Iqaluit since we heard their first single,” Andrew Morrison, Alianait’s co-executive director, said in the release.

This year’s festival is scheduled from June 19 to 22 in a big-top tent in the Nakasuk Elementary School parking lot.

“Alianait will continue its tradition of cultural celebration with a renewed focus on Inuit and Indigenous representation,” organizers said in the festival’s release.

In 2024, Alianait’s 20th anniversary coincided with Nunavut Day on July 9.

The festival is still in talks with other artists and will announce the full lineup in April, said Jaqqa Petersen Alianait’s co-executive, in an email to Nunatsiaq News.

This will be the first festival with Morrison and Petersen at the helm. They became the event’s executive directors when Alannah Johnston stepped down after five years.

Alianait Arts Festival is “the world’s circumpolar stage” that first started in 2005, according to the festival’s website. Every year, it attracts hundreds of visitors and is an opportunity for northerners across the region to showcase their talents.

“We have more to announce soon, but we are looking to increase Inuit representation in all aspects of the festival including production, light and sound techs, photography, stage management and more,” Petersen said.