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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The call for all to come to the aid of Yellowknife's winter party drew about 20 people to the library board room last Thursday, a bit shy of Adrian Bell's estimate but with enough enthusiasm to some breathe life into the moribund event.

Whatever else Yellowknife's winter party offers, Adrian Bell, pictured on Sept. 8 at the Public Library boardroom, promised there will be bonfires to warm visitors. - Jack Danylchuk/NNSL photo

The next step is to hire a full-time, paid organizer, said Bell, to line up money and sponsors for a festive weekend event aimed at tourists and active families, timed to compliment the annual dog sled races or the SnowKing Festival.

“There will be bonfires,” Bell promised in a Facebook entry after the meeting.

Whatever the winter celebration is called, it will have vaguely familiar look about it, with ideas salvaged from Caribou Carnival, or borrowed from Raven Mad Days, SnowKing and even Folk on the Rocks.

It will probably include cultural components like the popular cabain au sucre, tea boiling contests and dog sled rides to a camp where traditional Yellowknives Dene bush crafts are demonstrated for visitors.

The Caribou Carnival name could also be revived, but organizers would have to find ways to pay off $23,000 in debt, half of it owed to the city, which is a likely source of money for the new winter celebration.

“The important thing is not reviving Caribou Carnival, Bell said, “I’m interested in developing a tourism product. A winter city like Yellowknife needs a festival.”

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