Gimli’s ‘ding dong’ awaits lively crowds

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/07/2003 (8352 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

GIMLI – The Icelandic Festival of Manitoba has grown into one of the province’s biggest celebrations by offering basically the same popular attractions every year.

However, there will be a departure from the tried-and-true format this coming August long weekend when the 114th edition of the Festival presents its annual Celebrity Concert in the Gimli High School auditorium.

Normally, the Saturday night concert showcases Icelandic-Canadian or Icelandic performers who have already made their marks nationally or internationally in the world of music, dance or theatre.

But this year the concert, billed as An Evening with Rising Stars, will feature local musicians barely in their 20s who are just starting to shine.

Gimli singer-songwriters Signy and Heida Arnason, for example, will present many of their own folk-pop compositions on a bill with flautist Janice Olson of Winnipeg Beach. The Arnason sisters are spring graduates of Edmonton’s Grant MacEwen College where they took the two-year jazz program, with Signy majoring in voice and Heida in composition and piano.

The sisters were pointed west by Gimli High School band teacher Mike Cherlet, also a Grant MacEwen alumnus. Now they are working at the Gimli daycare and planning to teach music lessons while exploring opportunities to launch professional singing careers.

“I’m going to audition for Ron Paley’s big band in Winnipeg,” says Signy, who was the University of Alberta’s jazz band vocalist last winter. “I’d also like to sing on cruise ships – and both of us are lining up Winnipeg gigs.”

Rooftop performances

The sisters will make a second Festival appearance this year at the Music on the Rooftop jazz and pop concert, which takes place atop the five-storey Waterfront Centre overlooking Lake Winnipeg. They will share the beautiful setting with the Funky Pickles band featuring their mentor Cherlet on guitar.

Olson, the other new celebrity, is a 2001 Gimli High grad and current student at the University of Manitoba’s school of music. A devotee of classical and Celtic music, she has won numerous awards at music festivals and is already a music teacher.

In addition to playing a sonata or two, Olson’s segment of the celebrity concert will include performances by four of her students – Kate Cordingley, Lindsey Gudbjartson, Alex Specula and Stephanie Miville.

“After taking my masters at the University of British Columbia, I’d like to open a music studio in a small town, possibly Gimli,” Olson says. “There is always a waiting list for lessons in the country.”

Also on the Festival’s entertainment menu this year are noted children’s entertainer Jake Chenier, a modern Viking band from Iceland, the Harvard St. band with Jim Ingebrigtsen and a Sunday folk concert in Gimli Park.

As well, there will be the annual art competition for Icelandic-Canadians and an exhibition of paintings at the historic town hall by Icelandic artist Rikey Ingimundardottir.

“This exhibition will be shown subsequently at the Manitoba Legislative Building,” Festival President Tim Arnason says.

Arnason anticipates the usual large crowds at the Festival, officially called Islendingadagurrin and informally known as the “ding dong” to local residents.

“If the weather co-operates, we expect Gimli will be bursting with 40,000 to 50,000 people over the three days,” he says. “The record was probably in 2000 when we estimated attendance at 60,000.”

While most events are strictly fun, the Festival has a serious side Monday afternoon when dignitaries toast Canada and Iceland during the official program of speeches on the outdoor stage at Gimli Park.

Iceland well-represented

This year, the toast-givers will be Karl Sigurbjornsson, Lutheran bishop of Iceland, and Dr. Ken Thorlakson, a Winnipeg surgeon. Other dignitaries scheduled to be on hand include Manitoba Lieutenant-Governor Peter Liba, Iceland’s Canadian Ambassador Hjalmar

Hanneson, Iceland’s Washington Ambassador Helgi Agustsson and the country’s Manitoba Consul Kornelius Sigmundsson.

A tradition at every official program is the speech by the Fjallkona, a senior female member of the

Icelandic-Canadian community who brings greetings and reflects on the Icelandic heritage in this country.

The 2003 Fjallkona is Arborg-raised Sigrid Johnson, a librarian by profession and director of the Icelandic collection at the University of Manitoba.

Continuous events through the weekend include pancake breakfasts and a midway. Among the major draws are fireworks on Saturday, a 10-mile road race and dance on Sunday, and a huge parade followed by family sports competitions on Monday.

Two unique sports are Frisnok, where frisbee throwers try to knock a beer bottle off a stand, and “Islendingadunk” where contestants sit on a wharf pole and endeavour to pummel each other into the water with pillows.

Other attractions are staples at many fairs, except that the size of the crowds makes them larger than life in Gimli. They include beach volleyball, a sandcastle building contest, numerous food booths and cultural displays.

“We’ll be back bigger and better than ever this summer,” Arnason says. “Gimli is the place to be on the August long weekend.”