The Haines Arts Council is hosting the Northern Light Showcase for the first time since 2020. Eight performers will present music and spoken word selections in the Chilkat Center lobby Saturday, Dec. 11 at 7 p.m.

“It’s something the arts council has done for many years and we’re happy to get back into being able to put this event on,” said Haines Arts Council President Tom Heywood.

This year’s artists will perform vocal, instrumental and spoken word pieces. Each performer has 10-12 minutes for their set.

“One of the things that’s really neat about the Northern Light Showcase is having it in the lobby of the Chilkat Center,” Heywood said. “It’s a very intimate setting. You get to be up close and hear the performers right up in front of you like a coffeehouse.”

Joe Aultman-Moore will perform an original short story, When From a Long Distant Past Nothing Subsists. The story is a speculative fiction piece about a man that writes down an index of all of his memories.

“It’s one of my favorite stories I’ve written,” Aultman-Moore said.

Aultman-Moore’s piece is currently shortlisted for Levar Burton’s podcast, Levar Burton Reads. Burton is most notably known for his performances on Reading Rainbow, Star Trek and Roots.

“I haven’t performed that one before,” Aultman-Moore said. “I’ve done other stuff for River Talk, but that was always nonfiction personal stories. This one is solidly fiction.”

Matilda Rogers will return to this year’s showcase with an acoustic guitar set. Rogers will perform original work alongside covers by Brandi Carlile and Marketa Irglova.

Gordon Julian will showcase instrumental and vocal pieces alongside Joel Stuk and Betsy Shiner. Julian and Stuk will perform original and cover pieces, a set Julian describes as “folky.”

Past years have featured artists from out of town, but due to difficulties with winter traveling, this year’s showcase will be exclusively local artists.

“The transportation issues into Haines in the winter with a sparse ferry schedule are difficult,” Heywood said. “We have so much good talent locally, it’s a great chance to showcase people from Haines.”

The arts council has not hosted a Northern Light Showcase since January of 2020. Heywood said “there are still some people not coming to events in a small space due to covid concerns.”

“Some people on a national basis have gotten into different routines during the pandemic, it’s harder to get people to come out at night,” Heywood said. “There are other things they like to do at home, there’s more competition in that way.”

General admission is $7 and the event is free for students.

This story originally reported that the event was scheduled for Dec. 10. The Northern Lights Showcase is scheduled for Dec. 11.