SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
With just a few more days until the kick-off of the Long John Jamboree, excitement for the third annual incarnation of the community winter event is starting to heat up.

Cory Vanthuyne, president of the Long John Jamboree stands at the top of the sliding hill where several events such as human bowling and the sled building will take place over the course of the Long John Jamboree this weekend. The festival will run from Friday at noon until Sunday afternoon with a range of events for the entire community. - Cody Punter/NNSL photo

And with a healthy mixture of new events as well as some festival classics, there is certainly a lot to get excited about.

"In one form or another, over the course of the weekend, there's going to be something for everyone," said the festival's president Cory Vanthuyne.

Vanthunye said he expects festival mainstays such as the Diavik 150 Canadian Championship Dog Derby, the terriers and tiaras dog show, and the server relay race to draw large crowds of spectators and competitors alike, along with the "fan favourite" North Slave Helicopter rides.

But there are also lots of new things to see and do this year. Of those new events, Vanthuyne said he is most looking forward to the Roughneck Relay. The competition, which will take place on Friday at 2 p.m., will pit teams of four against one another in five Northern-themed challenges including sawing wood, throwing tires and fire building.

"We're really hoping that one will become a staple in the future," said Vanthuyne.

This will be also the first year that a sliding hill has was been built on-site. The hill will be used to host events such as human bowling, where people will slide down the hill on rubber tubes into five-foot high inflatable pins and a sleigh building contest. The contest which will take place on Sunday at noon, and will feature prizes for best Northern sled, best homemade sled and furthest distance travelled.

The first annual Long John Jamboree football tournament will also be joining snow

volleyball and ultimate frisbee on a list of sports that will trade in their traditional summer turfs for a snow-covered lake.

Those looking to explore their creative side can check out the wide array of arts and crafts vendors that will be at the festival as well as the arts and crafts competition which takes place on Sunday at 2 p.m. Parents should make sure to swing by the kid's tent, which will feature everything from magicians to face-painting. Meanwhile, foodies will be delighted to hear that organizers have doubled the number of food vendors at the festival to six, up from three last year.

There will also be live music throughout the weekend, with a performance by The Committed at the Fire and Ice Ball expected to be a festival highlight Saturday evening. The band will be kicking off a night of singing and dancing at 7:30 p.m., after the winners of the highly anticipated DeBeers ice carving competition are announced at 5 p.m.

The YK Burners will then set a wooden structure ablaze just across the road, with fireworks and the lighting of the ice sculpture to follow closely afterward, before The Committed hit the stage for an encore performance at 9:30 p.m.

"It makes for a really spectacular evening," said Vanthuyne.

Adrian Bell, the founding president of the Jamboree and its current director of fundraising, said the festival has gotten bigger and better every year and he expects this one to have the best turnout yet.

"We're a winter city. You might even say we're the winter city ... There will always be support for a winter festival whatever you call it," said Bell referring to the jamboree, which has taken the place of the now defunct Caribou Carnival.

"It is just a beautiful time of year and it's hard to stop people from celebrating."

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