YELLOWKNIFE - The front lawn of City Hall was alive with hungry, fun seeking crowds last Sunday afternoon. It's a good thing someone happened to be throwing a party.

John Stephenson and daughters Niva and Linnea enjoy the community barbecue celebrating Yellowknife's 40th birthday as capital of the Northwest Territories, Sunday at City Hall. - Amanda Vaughan/NNSL Photo

The annual Yellowknife Community Barbecue was combined with a 40th birthday party for the city this year, and a few hundred people came down to stand in line for a burger. Well, there were also a few other things to do.

The Ecole Sir John Franklin Jazz Band was providing lively live music for the event under the direction of Bill Gilday. The City was also handing out prizes to people who were able to answer various trivia questions on the topic of Yellowknife. Emcee Gerry LePrieuk asked Yellowknifers to tell him what year the Wildcat Café re-opened for business after being refurbished, what year Pilot's Monument was dedicated and who was the commissioner of the NWT when Yellowknife became a city in 1967.

For those a little less up to date on their Yk facts, there was also a prize given out to someone who could produce a bottle of SPF 40 sunscreen.

The Yellowknife Army Cadet Corps were running events for children such as face painting, a colouring contest and a booth where wee ones could "fish" for prizes hidden behind a sheet. Mcpl. Katherine Robinson was wandering around with wash-off tattoos of everyone's favourite cartoon characters, applying them to kids, the occasional adventurous parent and one curious reporter.

After city employees finished giving out cake and cupcakes, Mayor Gordon Van Tighem took the stage to give out the prize for a very special draw. The city took entries from all Yellowknifers who were born in the city in the 1967, to draw for a diamond.

A 40 pt Polar Ice diamond was mined, cut and presented in Yellowknife to winner Nancy Jordan. Van Tighem said the city had advertised for six months looking for 'knifers born in the year of the city's inception to enter the draw. They also drew a name from the 40-year-olds for two tickets to Edmonton with Canadian North, which was won by Charlotte Loutit.

The mayor said the turnout was good for the event, saying that the 40th birthday party seemed to have drawn more tourists than the regular Community Barbecues do.

"Someone must have put up a sign at the campground," he chuckled.