Garden Parties and Fiddle Cats and Fascinators - from the sublime to the ridiculous?

During June the City of Yellowknife hosts a "Garden Party" themed event every Tuesday evening, 6-8 p.m., at Somba K'e, a lovely small civic park beside City Hall. Background for the amphitheatre is Frame Lake and the Prince of Wales Museum, an interesting building in its own right. Artists and groups come out with activities (mask-making, hula-hoop dancing, a lemonade stand contest), there's food, and a bring-your-own barbeque on the City's grill, if that's what you choose to do instead of buying the picnic lunch "The Nut Man" has for sale.

Last evening's theme was "The Queen's Diamond Jubilee" (Will and Kate certainly having inspired support for the House of Windsor during their visit here), and there was a Fascinator Contest. Although I am no royalist myself, I AM a good sport, and so I agreed to wear a fascinator if one was made for me. My sister's friend Brenda was true to her word, and showed up with fascinators for all in her party. Not only did I wear mine, but I participated in the fashion show!  Two pictures below: me, and Brenda and her friend Liz.

Most fun of all, though, was the entertainment. First up were the fiddlers: the Aurora Fiddlers are an adult group, the kids - just lovely little kids, some barely as big as their fiddles - are the Fiddle Cats, and their music was wonderful, each group by itself and in a few numbers together.

The second and final hour was filled by "The Committed", also known as "Saviours of Northern Soul." They're good, they're just plain good - great fun. The music got a lot of the kids up to dance, and the dancers were wonderful, too. And for one of the numbers, the fiddlers - young and old - got on stage and joined in! It must be something about summer nights in the North - you think? - that brings out the party in the person. In case you were wondering, yes, that is Minister for Justice Glen Abernethy on bass guitar. Apparently the Premier was planning to come but something got in the way.