{"id":596594,"date":"2026-04-11T07:57:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T07:57:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/596594\/"},"modified":"2026-04-11T07:57:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T07:57:17","slug":"toonik-tyme-swings-into-action-in-iqaluit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/596594\/","title":{"rendered":"Toonik Tyme swings into action in Iqaluit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Large crowd turns out for RCMP barbecue kickoff event; opening ceremony set for Friday evening<\/p>\n

Hot dogs and hamburgers were on the menu for the opening event of Iqaluit\u2019s annual Toonik Tyme spring festival Friday.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

RCMP Const. Andrew McAllister, left, and Sgt. George Henrie tend the grill at the Toonik Tyme barbecue in front of police headquarters in Iqaluit on Friday. (Photo by Daron Letts)<\/p>\n

RCMP officers kicked off the festivities with a free barbecue in front of their headquarters on Federal Road. Hundreds of people lined up at noon for the two-hour event.<\/p>\n

Const. Erika Vekemen volunteered behind the grill alongside Const. Andrew McAllister and Sgt. George Henrie.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important to give back to the community, especially during Toonik Tyme,\u201d said Vekemen. \u201cLook at the line. It speaks for itself, and the sun is shining. It\u2019s beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s her first Toonik Tyme experience after relocating to Iqaluit from Halifax earlier this winter.<\/p>\n

It was also civilian volunteer Bessie Agraniotis\u2019s first taste of Toonik Tyme.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe turnout is great,\u201d she said. \u201cEveryone\u2019s nice, the volunteers as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Too many volunteers to count came and went over the lunch hour, she said. Some even brought children in tow.<\/p>\n

Harley Kakudluk was among the hundreds of people lined up for hot dogs. Originally from Qikiqtarjuaq, Kakudluk has attended a handful of Toonik Tyme events since moving to Iqaluit seven years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe games are fun,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd the hot dogs.\u201d<\/p>\n

The barbecue also brought Malia Kilabuk and her three children out looking for a grilled dog.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love it,\u201d she said, carrying one-year-old Simonie Nauyuk, who was peeking out from the hood of her amauti.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s so many of us here. I come almost every year.\u201d<\/p>\n

James Nookiguak\u2019s dog Whiskey was perched on Nookiguak\u2019s shoulder at the barbecue. He was one of several attendees to bring their dogs to the event.<\/p>\n

Although Nookiguak stood at the end of a winding lineup that snaked beyond the RCMP parking lot and spilled out alongside Federal Road, he said he believes attendance should have been higher.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we need more people out here,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s more fun to gather more people. It\u2019s good for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nookiguak used his Nunatsiaq News interview to put a call out to his friends and neighbours to come out to this year\u2019s Toonik Tyme events.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hundreds of people line up for the free Toonik Tyme barbecue hosted by officers at RCMP V Division headquarters in Iqaluit on Friday. (Photo by Daron Letts)<\/p>\n

Those events include the opening ceremonies beginning at 7 p.m. Friday at the Aqsarniit hotel. Bingo is also scheduled for Friday evening.<\/p>\n

A craft fair is planned at the same venue on Saturday from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.<\/p>\n

The Kimmirut snowmobile race begins at 10 a.m. on Saturday, on the sea ice. A children\u2019s dog race will follow at 1 p.m.<\/p>\n

For the complete schedule of events, visit the Toonik Tyme Facebook page.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Large crowd turns out for RCMP barbecue kickoff event; opening ceremony set for Friday evening Hot dogs and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":596595,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-596594","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-environment","11":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=596594"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596594\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/596595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=596594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=596594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=596594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}