The Haines Arts Council’s annual Northern Light Showcase of local musicians and artists is expanding into a two-night affair in order to spotlight more local talent.

The showcase will run at 7 p.m. Sunday, March 22, and again on Sunday, March 29. Both shows will be in the Chilkat Center lobby.

Arts council president Tom Heywood said he is hoping to have completely different line-ups for both nights.

The showcase has traditionally been limited to nine or 10 acts, with each performance lasting 10 minutes. Instead of cutting the number of acts or performance time to accommodate more performances, Heywood said the council decided to simply add another night.

“We’ve always done it as one night, but every time we do it, we feel we aren’t reaching out far enough into the talent that is out there,” Heywood said. “Given how musically and arts-oriented the community is, we figure there are more people who would probably like to perform. Rather than say ‘no,’ we’d rather do it two nights so there is more of an opportunity for people.”

Heywood has wrangled about a half-dozen acts so far, but will send out invitations to local musicians and artists this week. Sign-ups so far include Burl Sheldon, the God Particles, Tully Devine, Cosmo Fudge, Jon Hunt, and Neil Little and Nora Prisciandaro.

Little and Prisciandaro will perform “Winter Winds” by British folk rock band Mumford & Sons, with Little on vocals and Prisciandaro on guitar.

Little said the two practiced multiple songs before choosing “Winter Winds.”

“It’s challenging, it has a great strumming pattern, it fits my voice range quite well, and it’s a favorite song of both of ours,” Little said.

Heywood said the showcase always ends up leaning heavily toward musical acts, though an author or two usually work their way in.

“It turns out to usually be heavily weighted on music, but we always welcome readers or comedians or theatrical performances. We often have at least one author,” he said.

This spring’s showcase will be the first using the new sound system recently installed in the lobby.

To sign up an act, call Heywood at 766-3056 or 766-3356.