Iqaluit (July 10/06) - With the second annual Alianait! Arts Festival riding off into the sunset, organizers are still recovering from the successful whirlwind event.

"I think we made a huge leap forward. I'm really ecstatic actually," said festival president Heather Daley.

This year, Alianait! concluded with an all-day Canada Day event, featuring a four-hour show and square dance with accordion players from around the North and beyond, as well as a series of concerts with Nunavik's Beatrice Deer and Inuit metal band Angava.

A highlight, Daley said, was an evening jam, featuring 14 musicians onstage at once.

"The crowd went crazy. Everyone was up dancing," she said. "It was amazing, very magical."

Looking back, Daley said she was proud of the attendance that the festival earned, particularly from the Inuit community.

"It proves the whole community felt involved."

The Nunavut Arts Festival also ran during Alianait!, serving as one of the festival's many partners. The festival has been hosted by the Nunavut Arts and Crafts Association for the last seven years.

"The festival itself was good, " said NACA director Beth Beattie. "We introduced some new stuff, like painting and felting."

While the festival did not have any financial figures completed, she emphasized NACA's mandate in bringing Nunavummiut artists together.

"It's much more than numbers. It's the cross pollination of cultural skills between one artist and another artist." she said. "The message is that we're looking at the long-term investment in people."

Despite the positive attitude, Daley said she felt there were some areas the festival could work on for next year.

These include securing funding and artists earlier, as well as adjusting event scheduling and ticket prices.

Ticket sales were lower than expected, bringing in $5,700, under the projected $7,500.

"Maybe I was a little ambitious," she said. "Considering we didn't have any money at all until May, I think we did amazingly well."

A solution, she said, might be to lower ticket prices for larger events, but charging a small amount for more events.

"The workshops will always be free," she added.

In the future, Daley said she hopes to see Alianait! become a circumpolar event, incorporating performers from around the Northern world.

"Other than that, we all had a ball. I'm ready for six weeks vacation."