Page 98 - 2025-2026 Travel Guide to Canada

NT
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Special Events
JANUARY
• INUVIK SUNRISE FESTIVAL
MARCH
• POLAR POND HOCKEY TOURNAMENT,
HAY RIVER
• SNOWKING WINTER FESTIVAL,
YELLOWKNIFE
• THEBACHA SKI LOPPET, FORT SMITH
APRIL
• MUSKRAT JAMBOREE, INUVIK
MAY-JUNE
• NORTHWORDS NWT WRITERS FESTIVAL,
YELLOWKNIFE
JUNE
• NATIONAL INDIGENOUS PEOPLES DAY,
TERRITORY-WIDE
JULY
• FOLK ON THE ROCKS MUSIC FESTIVAL,
YELLOWKNIFE
• GREAT NORTHERN ARTS FESTIVAL, INUVIK
• HAY DAYS FESTIVAL, HAY RIVER
JULY–AUGUST
• MIDWAY LAKE MUSIC FESTIVAL,
FORT MCPHERSON
AUGUST
• SLAVE RIVER PADDLEFEST, FORT SMITH
• THEBACHA & WOOD BUFFALO DARK
SKY FESTIVAL
www.spectacularnwt.com/
what-to-do/events
The territory’s wildlife has a schedule all
its own, but look for nesting pelicans on
rocky outcrops in the rapids of the Slave
River near Fort Smith. Keep an eye out for
free-roaming bison in Wood Buffalo National
Park and the Mackenzie Bison Sanctuary near
Fort Providence. Dall sheep and mountain
goats travel on the craggy slopes of the
Mackenzie Mountains. Prehistoric-looking
muskox roam around Banks Island. Black
bears, moose, caribou and grizzly bears also
call the N.W.T. home. See peregrine falcons,
eagles and gyrfalcons—the official N.W.T.
bird. You never know when they may appear
on your journey—and theirs.
MUSKOXEN IN LUTSEL K'E NATIONAL PARK RESERVE • COREY MYERS/NWTT
HERITAGE AND CULTURE
Experience local music and culture such as
jigging, drumming, drum dancing and Dene
hand games at community events. Make
your own crafts during artist-led workshops
at Inuvik’s renowned Great Northern Arts
Festival (www.greatnorthernarts
festival.org). Learn about local history at the
Norman Wells Historical Centre
(www.spectacularnwt.com/attraction/
norman-wells-historical-society), the
Northern Life Museum and Cultural Centre
(www.nlmcc.ca) and the Prince of Wales
Northern Heritage Centre. Purchase Dene,
Inuvialuit and Métis crafts at visitor centres,
museums and shops. Feel the cashmere
softness of a sweater that a local artist
knitted from qiviut—wool that was harvested
from shaggy muskox near Sachs Harbour.
Admire carvings made of soapstone, bone or
antler and created by northern artists. Buy a
Dene birchbark basket at the Acho Dene
Native Crafts store made by women in Fort
Liard. The Inuvialuit Regional Corporation
Craft Shop in Inuvik has a good selection of
locally made moccasins, carvings, jewellery,
crafts and some traditional food.
bannock, accompanied by lively entertain-
ment (www.narwal.ca/tours).
Participate in the Thebacha & Wood Buffalo
Dark Sky Festival, northern Canada’s only
celebration of space and science. This family
event is held in late August in Fort Smith and
Wood Buffalo National Park, the world’s
largest Dark Sky Preserve (www.tawbas.ca).
Get a bird’s-eye view of the landscape during
a flightseeing tour (www.spectacular
nwt.com/what-to-do/tours/flight-tours).
SCENIC DRIVES
Travel through two mountain ranges and the
Continental Divide, and take your photo at
the Arctic Circle when you drive the iconic
740-km (460-mi.) Dempster Highway from
Dawson City, Yukon to Inuvik (www.yukon
info.com/Inuvik-nwt/driving-the-dempster).
Then continue on and drive all the way to the tiny
community of Tuktoyaktuk on the Arctic Ocean.
Make like an ice road trucker. Drive the 6.5
km (4.0 mi.) winter road that links Dettah to
Yellowknife. There are also winter roads that
link Fort Simpson to communities in the
MUST SEE, MUST DO
Mackenzie Valley and a route from Fort
During the summer, eat locally sourced
Smith to Fort Chipewyan, AB.
reindeer dishes and fish and chips cooked
inside a converted school bus at Alestine’s
and served on a terrace overlooking the
Mackenzie River in Inuvik north of the
Arctic Circle.
Travel along the edge of scenic Yellowknife
Bay in a 12-person voyageur canoe for a
Floating Dinner Theatre experience in the
summer with Narwal Northern Adventures.
Feast on a traditional meal of soup and
FAMILY FUN
Climb into a sled and listen to the sound of
excited huskies barking with anticipation.
Then silence descends when you hit the trail
and feel the power of a team of dogs pulling
you through the forest during a dogsledding
excursion (www.spectacularnwt.com/
what-to-do/winter-activities/dogsledding).
In summer, the Great Northern Arts Festival
offers workshops for both kids and adults.