Fireweed Festival attendees praised organizers and the Town of Fort Smith for hosting a fun-filled 2025 edition.
“I sang the very first year it started,” said Marie MacDonald, who has performed at the festival on multiple occasions.
“It was very small, and it’s so exciting to see how it’s grown.”
MacDonald, a Métis artist from Fort Smith, said the audience welcomed different people and styles of music. She performed original songs and covers, all influenced by her love of reggae music.
“The hospitality has been above and beyond,” said Ben Cornel, who performed his solo EP as well as joining Yellowknife band Hughes.
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“The vibes are great. The weather’s been incredible. The musicians have been fantastic. So many vendors and community members [came] out, so it’s really just been an awesome experience the whole weekend.”
Benji Straker, the man behind the Hughes project, added: “It seems like they’ve just had a whole bunch of energy and life injected into their organizers.”
Organizer Melissa Johns said planning the 2025 edition began the Monday after 2024’s event ended.
She hailed the success of a festival Facebook page that registered hundreds of thousands of views, adding that more than 1,000 visitors are believed to have visited the Queen Elizabeth Territorial Park site on the festival’s Saturday.
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Barb and Richard Mercredi, showcasing food and crafts at the Métis Association booth, said they met visitors from across Canada.
“We met this one guy from Red Deer,” Barb said. “He came here and he said, ‘I sure wasn’t disappointed. You guys have a beautiful community.’”
The Mercredis felt the festival garnered more attention this year because of special guest Mike Hall, from TV show Rust Valley Restorers.
Hall promoted the festival on his social media channels and even had a special logo designed for T-shirts. He signed shirts, posed for photos with fans and helped attract more than 60 vintage cars from throughout the territory.
He said it was his first time this far north. “The people, the atmosphere, the music is amazing,” Hall told Cabin Radio. “You guys live in a very beautiful part of the world.”
He drove a 1970 Chevelle convertible to Fort Smith, one built for a coast-to-coast-coast trip on which he has embarked.
“So far, we’ve got the Atlantic done. We’re hoping to get to Tuktoyaktuk next week to cover the Arctic, and then we’ve got to stop on the way home and hit the Pacific,” Hall said.
Connor Steed, from Fort Smith, attended the festival to support Nik n Mitch, a new band from Calgary. Mitch Porter, one half of that band, is originally from Fort Smith and grew up with Steed.
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Before coming to the festival, the duo played the Calgary Stampede.
“There’s nothing like seeing your best friend – who you used to play Rock Band with in the basement – be on stage in front of 3000 people. It was amazing, cool,” Steed said of Nik n Mitch.
By the end of the last day, co-organizer Johns was tired but happy.
“August 2026, we’ll see everybody back at Fort Smith and Queen Elizabeth Park,” she said.
