Melodic voices, drums, guitars and dancing will make for a lively three days in Cambridge Bay Aug. 2-4.

The Ovayok Broadcasting Society is organizing the inaugural Mosquito Music Festival to keep people entertained that long weekend.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a southern Nunavut music festival 鈥� in Arviat they have something (the Inuumariit Music Festival) 鈥� but outside of that for the northern part of Nunavut there hasn鈥檛 been anything,鈥� said Wayne Gregory, president of the broadcasting society. 鈥淔or the end of summer, we鈥檝e normally been fairly quiet. To liven up and bring entertainment to Nunavut we said we鈥檒l see what we can do.鈥�

Planning by eight Ovayok society members began about three months ago. The timeline is too compressed to accomplish all that the volunteers hoped to include this year.

鈥淲e鈥檙e going through our trials and tribulations as we speak,鈥� Gregory said, laughing.

However, they鈥檙e already starting to arrange some details for the 2020 edition of the Mosquito Music Festival to make it bigger and better, said Gregory.

Throat-singer Donna Lyall will be among the numerous Nunavut cultural performers to take the stage in a couple of weeks.

鈥淚f they want or need help with anything else I鈥檓 there to help but mostly will be there for the fun,鈥� Lyall said.

Other booked acts include Yellowknife鈥檚 Welders Daughter, children鈥檚 entertainers The Blues Berries, the gospel trio comprising Shawn, Lynette and Kaison Holmes and local square dancers. Outdoor games, a barbecue and a beer garden are also on the schedule.

Cambridge Bay鈥檚 Jerry Puglik, a longtime drum dancer and instructor, said he may get involved in the festival if he has no scheduling conflicts.

鈥�I look forward to it. It brings young and old musicians (together) from across Nunavut,鈥� said Puglik. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of talented musicians (locally), we just don鈥檛 often see them all the time.鈥�

The performances will take place outside so long as the weather cooperates. As a contingency, the broadcasting society has booked the community hall and both schools in case the entertainment has to move indoors.

The name of the festival was inspired by a documentary that Gregory happened to watch the night before an organizing meeting. That TV show revealed that the highest concentration of mosquitoes in the world is found in the Amazon and the Arctic comes in second place in terms of the flying parasites.

鈥淚 was like, what? So I went and did a little research on it and I found it was true. I was shocked,鈥� said Gregory.

The hard-to-avoid blood-sucking pests thereby will gain a little more notoriety in August.

Lyall could do without them.

鈥淚鈥檝e performed outdoors many times 鈥� should be interesting. But (I鈥檓) not looking forward to the mosquitoes,鈥� she confessed.

Members of the broadcasting society have worked out a discount for airfare for those flying in for the festival and a discount for accommodations was being negotiated as well, Gregory said.