Fireweed Festival Returns to Fort Smith, N.W.T., bringing music, art and community together
CBC
The Fireweed Festival is making a highly-anticipated return to Fort Smith this weekend, promising a vibrant celebration of music, art, and community spirit.
After being cancelled last year due to a wildfire evacuation, the festival is back with a full schedule of events that will showcase the talents of the South Slave region and beyond.
"All the pieces are coming together, and everyone is getting pumped for it," said Jolene Bourque, a festival organizer. "We're very excited to have Fireweed Festival again back in Fort Smith this year."
The festivities kicked off on Thursday and Friday with a youth fiddle camp. Friday night lights up with live music at the local pub, Dirty O'Fergies, and a teen dance at Anna's Restaurant.
Saturday and Sunday, the festival will be showcasing music, food vendors, and events all day at Queen Elizabeth Territorial Park. The festival has also partnered with the South Slave Art Revival, so guests can expect to see artisan tables.
"We're ready to put it all together," Bourque said. "We have about 35 vendors from really, across the South Slave right now. I think even as far as Kakisa and Fort Providence coming in."
The festival will feature live music from 45 musicians, including 13 different bands or solo acts. The event will also include a vintage wheels showcase with vintage cars, trucks, motorcycles, and boats.
"It's just exciting to see it all happen," Bourque said. "We have people who played the festival 20 years ago coming back to see old friends and jam together."
Bourque is referring to the South Slave Friendship Festival — a staple in the community for over 20 years.
A fire in 2013 at the Fort Smith arena, which held their most profitable event called the Super Shaker, forced the committee to cancel the event. Other than a smaller friendship festival in 2018, the event never returned.
Bourque also previously organized the Friendship Festival.
"The Friendship Festival brought so much joy to our community," she said. "It was a time when we all came together to celebrate the arts and each other."
One of the performers at this year's festival came to Fort Smith with his band Mother Devine for the first time in 1999 for the Friendship Festival. Jamie Kikoak-Chabun said the experience left a lasting impression on him. "It was my band's first road trip, and in those three days we spent here, I kid you not, we must have had three hours sleep, and it was the best experience of my life," he said.
It was such a great experience that he and his band mates, who are also his brothers, eventually made Fort Smith their home.
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