Canada's insider blog

There are precious few music festivals north of the Arctic Circle so the new kid on the block, the second annual Rockin’ Walrus Arts Festival in Igloolik (population: 1,700) in Nunavut, is a welcome event. From June 23 to 26, this delightful homespun celebration of music, dance, art and theatre will include a couple of bands from the south dropping in before Iqaluit’s Alianait Festival, but most are pure northern talent.

Playing in the elementary school gym to an audience including toddlers and grandmas dressed in traditional amauti parkas will be musical acts like last year’s line-up that included some of the community’s nine local rock bands such as The Eskiez, as well as Clyde River-based break-dancers, Kaiva, led by hip-hop dancer Christine “Lil Bear” Lamothe.

Daytime action rocks an outdoor stage in the hamlet centre where old-time Inuit folk singers like Rankin Inlet’s music legend Charlie Panigoniak has the whole town singing along to his twangy Inuktitut tunes before line-ups form for autographs.

Igloolik is a natural for an arts fest. As the territory’s cultural epi-centre, it is home to the Inuit circus, ArtCirq, that performed during the 2010 Olympic Winter Games’ opening ceremony, as well as award-winning Isuma Productions creator of the film, The Fast Runner. And should you want a break from the rockin’, head out on a boat to see real walruses.