Yellowknife (Sep 01/06) - More than a decade in, the Festival of the Midnight Sun is still going strong in Yellowknife, according to organizers.

The annual event took place last Thursday and Friday nights at Northern United Place.

Festival organizer Pamela Murray said she was pleased with the way the festival came off this year, particularly with the scope of performers and artists involved.

"We had a really nice variety of entertainment," she said.

The acts included Yellowknife rock trio the Greasy Twigs, blues rockers Priscilla's Revenge, clarinetist Jo Russell, Indian dancers Hemi and Helna Kochappan, Moira Cameron and Steve Goff of Ceilidh Friends and a special presentation from Western Arctic Moving Pictures (WAMP).

Cameron, a long-time festival supporter, said the event was originally envisioned as a Yellowknife version of the Great Northern Arts Festival, a dream that was never fully realized.

"I was saddened that it didn't sort of pick up. It had everything, it had songwriting workshops, and different sorts of arts workshops put on by the artists."

"But it's still maintained a lot of its spirit," she added.

"It's one of my favourite festivals, mostly because it's fair and it treats all performers equitably, which is a really nice treat."

From its inception, the purpose of the Festival of the Midnight Sun has been "to support local people in the arts," Murray said.

She said the festival has kept with this purpose over its "12 or 13 years," (though Yellowknifer archives peg it closer to 14).

"It was a good show," said Greasy Twigs guitarist/vocalist Bryce Styan, "There was definitely a crowd."

He said the audience was a bit younger than the band was used to, but they plowed on regardless.

"They definitely responded," Styan said of the crowd. "It was nice to do, everyone needs to be exposed to music."

Styan said the band is busy right now using the studio time they won at both Music in the Park and Rock the Folks to record their first album.

"We should have something ready in the next couple of weeks," he said.