ValhallaFest, a music festival near Terrace, is returning for its fifth year with 42 musical acts pegged to perform across three stages over three days on June 23-25.

The festival鈥檚 focus is on electronic music, but it will also host an acoustic stage. Each year, the festival also hosts workshops, activities and performances that participants organize themselves in order to create community and contribute to the overall vibe of the festival.

鈥淲e had a bunch of activities in our Zen Dome, like painting classes for kids and journal burnings and somebody was doing aura readings,鈥� said Erinn McPherson, the music director and one of the five original founders of the festival.

鈥淲e really encourage participants to host a workshop, if they want to. They can either sign up pre-festival or just post about it on our workshop board.鈥�

So far this year, there are 15 different workshops and likely more as people sign up to host them at the event.

The current capacity is around 1,000 people in number, which has grown every year the event has been held. Organizers say 1,000 is a good number to stay at for a while, based on current infrastructure capacity of the grounds and the biggest challenge being the lack of washrooms on-site, but they are hoping to expand in the future. One of their main priorities right now is building more wheelchair-accessible infrastructure.

鈥淚t鈥檚 really easy to grow exponentially, and when you grow too fast there鈥檚 some pains that don鈥檛 necessarily get worked out, which is why we鈥檙e doing a very slow progression,鈥� McPherson said. 鈥淭hat way we learn what those issues are and work on them before we do any more growth.鈥�

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The artistic theme of the festival is inspired by Norse mythology and many of the organizers have family roots in Scandinavia.

鈥淢y grandfather was actually a Norwegian fisherman,鈥� said McPherson.

鈥淭he whole idea about Valhalla is that it鈥檚 meant to be a place that when you die in battle you can go and relax and live out your best life. And that鈥檚 what we hope for people. We鈥檙e always in a daily struggle so it鈥檚 nice to just be able to be free and enjoy ourselves.鈥�

There are also many different art installations around the festival grounds. There are Norse runes carved into tree stumps, hammocks made out of old fishing nets, a giant sunflower, a giant battle axe, a giant chair and 17 normal-sized mannequins hidden throughout the woods.

鈥淚 think I鈥檝e found eight, which means there鈥檚 another nine mannequins somewhere in the woods that I have not yet found, so that鈥檚 fun for me in the dark,鈥� McPherson said.

In Norse mythology, Bifr枚st is a burning rainbow bridge connecting earth and the realm of the gods. Inside the festival grounds, there is a painted rainbow bridge behind the intricately crafted gates.

Even the names of the different campsites and stages tie into the mythos of the event, including Leif鈥檚 Beach, Freyja鈥檚 Garden and Lofn鈥檚 Guild.

The founders also took inspiration from Burning Man, a massive arts festival in the Nevada desert.

There are challenges in any festival, with the good comes the bad.

鈥淪uffering is part of it,鈥� said McPherson. 鈥淏ut we鈥檙e trying not to do the suffering part. Burning Man has dust, Valhalla Fest has mosquitoes.鈥�

If anyone feels overwhelmed, there is a sensory refuge by the first aid tent.

While the festival is fully staffed for medical volunteers, organizers are currently looking for around another 20 volunteers to fill other roles.