Large crowds enjoy music, art and food at Folk on the Rocks

With most of the NWT suffering through drought conditions — and as fire pits stayed dark with bans everywhere in the southern regions on open flames — wildfire smoke really only blanketed Folk on the Rocks (FOTR) on Saturday night.

Sure, there was a severe weather warning in the North Slave region for both wildfire smoke and excessive heat, but not much soured the sweet sounds of laughter, singing and instruments echoing over Long Lake.

The beach at the FOTR site was busy — the entire footprint is deep sand — and ‘folkers’ were seeking shelter from the sun as they sipped adult beverages under the few beach umbrellas provided.

The smoking areas are open-air pens, where you have to leave your beverage on a table at the gate, where the unmistakable smell of cannabis wafting through the festive air.

The small army of volunteers that work tirelessly to make each year better than the previous were sweating and sipping water as the daytime heat raged from 25C to 28C over the weekend.

The two-and-a-half-day FOTR is known for bringing artists in all over Canada, while also highlighting some of the best local talent the territory has to offer.

The festival has been taking place in its current form since 1980, but continually adapts to audience wants and needs.

And that includes more Indigenous performers.

New executive director Teresa Horosko told CKLB last week that FOTR in the the process of developing a new strategic plan.

“We spoke to our audience at large, but we also worked with a strategic plan working group, which was community members and stakeholders within the festival that had Indigenous representation,” she said.

That plan will be released later this fall, but part of that strategy will be to implement an Indigenous advisory circle.

Horosko continued: “Reconciliation in the Northwest Territories is often about partnering with Indigenous-led organizations and letting Indigenous folks make the decision on whether or not reconciliation has been occurring within the festival.”

CKLB reporter/photographer James O’Connor sought out some more unusual corners of the site on Sunday afternoon for the photo essay below. The veteran photographer gave himself five hours to obtain 10 decent photos, that weren’t from the more picture-perfect main stage shows.