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Efforts to put Hay River back on the map as a fiddling destination are hitting a high note after the Kole Crook Fiddle Foundation brought its much adored Summer Fiddle Fest back to the community.

Restarted in 2023, the week-long summer workshop had run in Enterprise for the past two years, but due to complications from wildfires and evacuations, it was moved to Hay River for 2025, kicking off July 14.

"We're hoping this will become a regular thing again," said instructor Linda Duford. "Our students are already asking if we're going to have one next year. They want to line up their holidays to come up, so that's really exciting.

"We bring in instructors from the south and we have a lot of Northern teachers now."

Duford said the festival attracted students from Yellowknife, Edmonton and even Spruce Grove, Alta.

This year, the foundation partnered with the Soaring Eagle Friendship Centre, who allowed the use of its facility for the workshop, as well as providing refreshments and snacks.

"They let us use their beautiful building downtown, which was really nice," Duford added.

After practising their tunes for a week, the 21 students held an evening recital on July 17 at the "Zoo" music hall in the heart of Old Town, at the Hay River Heritage Centre. All summer long, local musicians are able to perform at the restored hotel for the community, but the pros took a bow and let the youth showcase their skills.

"Usually, we do a performance on the last day of the festival, so we asked if we could come do a performance and they thought it was a great idea," said Duford. "It was really cool SA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½” the place was packed and everyone had a really good time.

"We used to have these in Hay River years ago, so this was our first time in Hay River in a long time. So it was really nice and it turned out really well."

Duford said the association is now preparing for the school year, where they teach fiddle to students across the territory.

After that, the organization will rosin its bows for the January Jamboree Winter Festival in Fort Simpson, which has been a winter tradition for 22 years.

The society is named in honour of Hay River fiddler Kole Crook, who died at age 27 with three others in a plane crash while en route to Norman Wells to perform for a New Year's Eve concert in 2001. The group teaches youth in 15 communities spread across the South Slave, Deh Cho and Sahtu regions.