Kim Barraclough
Northern News Services

NNSL (May 05/99) - The wild and carefree days of summer are slowly slipping back to town.

The weather is warming up, the pussy willows are out, the soil is softening up and the birds are coming back. And John Clark, this year's new Raven Mad Daze co-ordinator, is gearing up for Yellowknife's biggest street bash. Summer must be on its way.

Raven Mad Daze has been a solstice tradition in Yellowknife for 27 years.

There will be one small change at the organizational-end, and that is that the Caribou Carnival crew will be heading up the operation instead of Sue Glowach.

John Clark, who has been doing much of the organizing work, doesn't plan to change much.

"If it ain't broken, don't fix it," said Clark.

He actually has plans to bring back some of the older Raven Mad traditions that have been lost over the years, including the ever-popular shaving cream coral.

Clark also wants to bring in a lot of local talent this year. There will be three stages throughout the grounds to be filled. No names are written in stone yet, but Clark intends to bring in some stellar acts.

During the festival, the street party will shut down seven blocks of the city. From the 47th Street intersection to the 53rd Street intersection, Franklin Ave. will be blocked off.

According to Clark, there were between 10,000 and 15,000 people at the party last year -- that is almost the entire population of Yellowknife. He expects to see about the same this year.

"It's elbow to elbow," said Clark.

Last year, there were more than 60 different booths selling various items. This year, Clark figures there will be about 70.

A copy of a registration form for potential vendors was circulated in last week's Yellowknifer and Clark has already begun getting the forms back.

"It's nice to see," he said.

Clark intends to run the registration form a few more times before the big event.

The bash on June 21 will begin at 7 p.m. and run right through until midnight.

Last year, the streets were barricaded at 5:30 p.m., and Clark expects it to be about the same time this year.