K'ATLODEECHE/HAY RIVER RESERVE - The Kole Crook Fiddle Camp is returning to the Hay River Reserve for a second year in a row.

At least 110 participants from around the NWT are expected to attend the camp, set for July 6 to 11.

Andrea Bettger is one of the co-ordinators for the Kole Crook Fiddle Camp on the Hay River Reserve. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

"It's going to be pretty exciting," said Andrea Bettger, a well-known fiddler and one of the camp's co-ordinators.

The camp was held on the Hay River Reserve for the first time last year, Bettger said. "We had such a good experience we decided to do it again."

She said the camp has great support from K'atlodeeche First Nation and the people of Hay River and the Hay River Reserve. Fiddlers - ranging in age from five to 65 - are expected to attend from Hay River, the Hay River Reserve, Kakisa, Behchoko, Yellowknife, Wrigley, Fort Simpson and Jean Marie River.

Highlights of the camp include opening ceremonies and a teachers' concert on July 6, a community feast and fiddle dance on July 9 and a closing public performance on July 10.

The camp is being presented by the Kole Crook Fiddle Association.

Bettger, who is the association's vice-president, said people can register for the camp as late as 5 p.m. on July 6 by showing up at the Chief Lamalice Complex on the Hay River Reserve.

This will be the seventh year for the camp.

"It's growing every year," said Bettger, adding last year's camp on the reserve attracted 98 people.

The fiddle association and the camp are named in honour of Kole Crook, a well-known fiddler from Hay River who died in a plane crash in 2001.