Northern & First Nations Events Calendar

The premier circumpolar sporting and cultural event. Traditional Inuit sports: One-Foot High Kick, Two-Foot High Kick, Alaskan High Kick, Kneel Jump, and Dene games celebrating northern agility and endurance.

World-renowned biennial gathering of Inuit master carvers in soapstone, whale bone, and giant snow blocks. Printmaking exhibition, igloo building competition, and throat-singing (katajjaq) duets.

Spring light celebration in the Salluit fjord on the Hudson Strait. Sea-ice snowmobile cross-country races, timed igloo-building contests, ice fishing tourney, and community feast of Arctic char.

Spiritual and festive gathering of the Abitibiwinni Anishinaabeg. Grand Entry procession, traditional regalia dancing, honor drums, and traditional birchbark and leathercraft artisan marketplace.

Solemn and festive summer solstice celebration across all Northern communities. Sunrise ceremony, Inuit and Cree sacred drums, feast of country foods (caribou, Arctic char, wild goose) and heritage games.

The midnight sun arts celebration in Iqaluit under 24-hour Arctic daylight. Circumpolar musicians, Greenlandic and Nunavik storytellers, Arctic circus acrobats, and contemporary Inuit theatrical performances.

Annual celebration of the Naskapi Nation's nomadic caribou-hunting heritage on the subarctic tundra. Canoe crossing of Lake Pearce, moose-hide moccasin making, and elder storytelling in the Naskapi language.

The annual summer pilgrimage of Cree families to ancestral Fort George Island at the mouth of La Grande River. Elder teachings in traditional mitshuap, bannock baking, goose smoking, and fiddle step-dancing.

One of North America's premier alcohol-free Indigenous music festivals. Traditional Innu songs, sacred teueikan drums, and renowned First Nations performers on the shores of the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Nunavik's signature summer festival celebrating the cloudberry (aqpik) harvest. Free concerts from top Arctic Inuit artists, traditional Northern games, cloudberry dessert contests and river canoe races.

Snowshoe weaving workshops with birch and rawhide babiche, Cree hunters' legends shared by elders, guided tours of Aanischaaukamikw Cultural Institute, and sacred fire ceremonies.

Celebration of Nehirowisiw (Atikamekw) culture and heritage. Ancestral songs around the big host drum, sacred Jingle Dress dancing, Grass Dancing, and authentic forest crafts.