Iqaluit (Jun 26/06) - With a cry of Alianait!, Nunavut's biggest arts festival began smoothly this week, much to the pleasure (and relief) of organizers, performers and hundreds in attendance in Iqaluit.

"I feel very confident that we've laid the groundwork," said Alianait Arts Festival Society president Heather Daley.

Schedule After nearly a week of events, there's still plenty on tap for Alianait! Monday French play at the Francophone Centre from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday Jam night at the old residence of Nunavut Arctic College from 7:30 to 11 p.m. Wednesday Theatre workshops at Inuksuk high school library led by Erin Brubacher. Children under 12 are invited, from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m., while children over 12 are the focus of the 1 to 3 p.m. workshop. Nunavut Floor Masters perform with members of the Canadian Floor Masters at Inuksuk school from 7:30 to 9 p.m. Thursday The Iqaluit Music Society hosts a coffee house at Inuksuk, featuring Errol Fletcher, Jennifer Wakegijig, Donovan Fox, and many others. Friday Nakasuk school features a series of workshops focusing on song writing, as well as accordion and fiddle playing. Vancouver-based actor and playwright TJ Dawe performs his hit play, The Slip-Knot in Inuksuk high school from 8 to 10 p.m. Saturday All day outside Nakasuk school. Four hours of square dancing starting at 2 p.m., featuring Simeonie Keenainak, Colin Adjun, Tony O'Leary and many others. Concerts featuring the Nunavut Floor Masters, Lucie Idlout and band, and Nunavik metal band Angava.

Ten days of events started Wednesday at Nakasuk school in Iqaluit, as more than 300 people took in the festival's opening concert. The second annual show featured a variety of talent from around the North, including Rankin Inlet's Charlie Panigoniak and Mary Anne Tapaqti, Akinsie Sivuarapik from Puvirnituq, Que., and Iqaluit's Laakkuluk Williamson, among others.

The $300,000 festival is a co-ordinated effort between a variety of Nunavut arts organizations, including the Inuit Broadcasting Corporation, the Nunavut Arts and Crafts Association and the Iqaluit Music Society, among others.

The festival's first year was a rushed affair, put together in a couple of months by l'Association Francophone du Nunavut.

"We made a huge leap this year," she said.

Daley said one tense moment involved flight sponsorships, which were not approved until very late.

"We've organized this thing, we've broadcast it to the world, but can we afford it, or am I going to lose my house?"

Though the festival has expanded to include various groups, Daley said the continued involvement of the French association is important in bridging the gap between Iqaluit's Inuit, French and English communities.

"There has been a real divide in our community," she said. "Through this festival we're bringing everyone together."

Nowhere was this more clear than onstage, where emcees Vinnie Karetak and Marie Belleau announced events in all three languages.

The biggest hit of the night was singer/songwriter Charlie Panigoniak, fresh off his performance at CBC's True North Concert in Yellowknife.

The veteran performer sang and told stories in both English and Inuktitut, though it was the latter that drew the best responses from the crowd of elders near the front of the stage.

In a moment that bridged all language barriers, Panigoniak kept up a series of call and response games, as he exclaimed "Alianait!" and asked the crowd to respond with "ahh!" always leading to laughter.

The event also featured an Inuit games demonstration from Johnny Issaluk, Elizabeth Rexford and Susie Pearce, and a surprise Uajarneq from the audience, led by Williamson.

Several of the night's performers milled through the crowd in elaborate black face paint, intimidating the crowd, chasing kids and harassing the elders, much to their amusement.

"It's a scary dance, it's a funny dance and it's a sexual dance," Williamson explained onstage afterwards. "To be scary, to be funny and to be sexual is a part of being human."

Despite the hassles of starting a new festival, Daley has high hopes for the future, both in the long term and in the short, as she looks to Alianait's closing concert outside Nakasuk school on Canada Day.

"My dream is a great weather day and we have 1,000 people there."