The Great Northern Arts Festival returns to Inuvik next week with an updated format and changes designed to make participation smoother for creators.
One significant change is the festival’s new online platform, which made over 30 workshops for all ages available for purchase last week. According to festival executive director Adi Scott, about half of these workshops are already sold out.
“We’re trying to make the festival more sustainable in terms of the hours people need to put in,” Scott told Cabin Radio, “reducing the burden of booking and organizing workshops on-site.”
As of Saturday evening, workshops with available space include sessions on working with muskox hide and seal skin, a pre-school painting session, a caribou hide-stretching workshop, and lessons in finger drumming, poetry writing, and beading.
The festival’s 2023 edition was canceled due to significant staffing issues. To help address this, this year’s event will run for five days, from July 10-15, instead of the previous 10-day format.
