Darrell Greer
Northern News Services

Rankin Inlet (Aug 08/01) - The Jammin' on the Bay music festival will have a youthful touch to its overall look.

The biggest music festival to ever hit the Kivalliq has its own youth committee headed by Tracy Wallace.

There are about 20 kids involved and Wallace says three venues have been developed for the festival that are all being overseen by committee youth.

"We're working on a fashion show, the acting-out of an Inuit story and a combination of two skits -- one on anti-racism and another, a comedy," says Wallace.

Although focused mainly on their performances, the youth committee has also established a line of merchandise for the event.

"Our youth went through the catalogue and selected merchandise they liked and thought would sell in this area during the festival.

"They've named themselves "Jammin' Youth" and are in the process of filling the order."

Some youth committee members may get the opportunity to obtain CPR and first aid training before the festival begins on the Labour Day weekend.

Festival organizers are also looking at the possibility of pairing up a youth with the chairperson of the various committees to form a mentorship, one that would allow the youth to learn the logistics of a festival this size.

Youth committee members are serious about their undertaking and have put safeguards in place to help ensure none of their peers are just out for a free ride.

The kids know everyone has to do their share for the projects to succeed, so they implemented an attendance guideline to keep track of who is pulling their weight during preparations.

Regular committee members have been passing on their expertise and skills into developing the projects.

"We have a lot of talent involved here, including kids who have travelled to Japan, and been in TV productions and fashion shows," says Wallace.

"We also have a number of youth new to this who are excited about participating in the project, and that makes for a nice combination."

Committee member Krista Zawadski was the type of youth who was always involved in extracurricular activities during her school years.

She says that once she attended her first festival meeting, she was hooked.

"It's really quite impressive when you look at how far these projects have come," says Zawadski.

"The kids who are taking part in this are learning a lot about leadership skills and co-operation within groups.

"There's a lot of authority and creative freedom given to the committee members and that really helps them grow as people."

Committee member Charlene Tasseor says she got involved with the Jammin' Youth because she found it interesting and could use the credits for school.

Tasseor, who has sang publicly with her father on numerous occasions, says she's a little apprehensive about the play her committee is scheduled to perform.

"I'm not nervous about performing at all, it's just the time is getting short and we have a lot of work to do," says Tasseor.

"This whole experience has been positive and a great opportunity to get involved in the community.

"It's just really important to us that the people like our show, so, hopefully, we won't disappoint them."