Fort Smith's Fireweed Festival will make its return from Aug. 23-25, and there is certainly a lot to look forward to for ticket-holders.
In addition to the range of art and food-related attractions on the schedule, the festival will feature close to 20 musical acts.
That includes Hay River fiddler Linda Duford, who will take to the stage with a group of Fort Smith youth who she has been teaching to play the instrument.
Duford didn't get the chance to play at the last Fireweed Festival, but is eager for the opportunity to do so this year.
"I am literally more than excited," Duford said. "I've had various family members living [in Fort Smith] continuously since the '80s, and I have lots of good friends there that I've known for years. I can't wait."
While she will be making her Fireweed debut, she has lots of experience playing with youngsters elsewhere in the territory, and she's confident they will entertain everybody who shows up to hear them in Fort Smith.
"The youth fiddlers are always crowd-pleasers," she said.
Some of the other performers on the 2024 Fireweed Festival schedule come from outside the NWT, but many of them reside inside the territory, and many of those hail from Fort Smith itself.
Duford is excited for her own chance to perform, but is also looking forward to the other talent on display throughout the festival.
"It really always blows me away, the level of talent in Fort Smith," she said. "I mean, here we have this little town in the North, kind of off of the beaten track, and they have local home-grown musicians who can hold their own on a world stage. I mean, you have the likes of Shane Daniels, North Country Rock, Marie McDonald, Tom Hudson SA国际影视传媒� and the list goes on. Absolutely incredible musicians. There must be something in the water."
Fireweed Festival debuted in Fort Smith in 2022, but its 2023 follow-up was cancelled when residents were evacuated due to wildfires.
Organizers are optimistic the 2024 edition will go off without a hitch, and aim to host the event every August from here on out.
"Last year we were ready to go and it was going be a great festival, but we all got evacuated and it had to be cancelled," said Jolene Bourque, one of the coordinators of the event. "It was [disappointing]. We put so much work into it.
"We're very excited for this year... we are amping up for a great, great, great event," she added. "I think it's really great that people come together and showcase our talents together.
"There's a lot of hidden talent in the North, and if we can give a stage for people to play on and share that with us, and get together, and create new friendships and new bands, we're all about it."
