For the parents who had heard that Santa Claus wasn’t going to be able to make it to the Whitehorse Winterval Festival Santa Claus Parade and the Tree Lighting Ceremony on Main Street, you can now let your children know he will be there – with bells on!

Yes, we all heard the grinchly news in late October that the Santa Claus Parade would be cancelled – and in minutes the story was being shared across our northern airways and began trending on social media. Could Santa really not show for his very own Parade?

Fortunately, a group of elves was in the wings brainstorming away to make sure Santa made an appearance!

Just 48 hours after the impending cancellation notice, the call came in to Unlikely Events Yukon (UEY) Artistic Director Angela Drainville, that the Families of Casino Mining Corp. wanted to save the Santa Claus Parade. Their sponsorship was enough to provide the key funding to save Whitehorse’s Santa Claus Parade and ensure a special Whitehorse and Yukon community tradition would continue.

Whitehorse Winterval Festival takes place Saturday, December 9. The festivities kick off at at the Macbride Museum at 1 p.m. with crafts for kids and photos with Santa Claus. The activities conclude there 3:30 p.m., giving people time to find a good spot to watch the Winterval parade.

The parade starts at 4 p.m. at the corner of 6th Avenue and Main Street, and proceeds down Main Street ending at Front Street. The parade concludes with the lighting of the Christmas tree at that intersection.

“It’s really wonderful to see companies like Casino coming forward to support this important community event,” Angela Drainville said. “Government is often where we look to first for funding, and their support is always appreciated but the mining industry and Yukon’s private sector continue to be major supporters of Yukon’s our youth, arts, culture and community events and initiatives. We are very grateful that the Families of Casino Mining Corp have saved this year’s Santa Claus Parade and we expect its revitalization will help promote the inclusion of new floats and sponsors this year.”

With the key sponsor confirmed, the event is expanding into a collaboration between Yukon’s thriving and diverse arts and culture community and its enthusiastic private sector partners. The goal was to not only save the parade, but make it bigger and better than ever before.

“This event is an important part of bringing Yukon together at Christmas, and as the parents of young children ourselves, we wanted to make sure that Santa was able to be in Whitehorse during his busy season this year,” said Paul West-Sells, president of Casino Mining Corp.

A big thank you to all of the sponsors and floats who are part of the Santa Claus Parade in 2017!
And a special thank you to the City of Whitehorse for their support.

For more information go to the Unlikely Events Yukon Facebook page.

Casino staff gather to celebrate Casino’s contribution to fund the Santa Claus parade

Schedule of events

All Winterval events are family-friendly and free.
MacBride Museum is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for activities

1 p.m. to 2:30pm Photos with Santa Claus MacBride Museum

1 p.m. – 3:30pm Kids Christmas Crafts MacBride Museum

4 p.m. Santa Claus Parade Main Street (From 6th Avenue to Front Street)

3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Warming Station Yukon Quest Main Lobby

4:45 p.m. to 6 p.m. Kids Christmas Crafts & Lego MacBride Museum

Post-Parade Tree Lighting Ceremony Intersection of Main and Front Streets (In front of White Pass & Yukon Route Building)

Post-Parade Marshmallow Roasting and Fire Pit Between White Pass & Yukon Route Building and the Old Fire Hall


Anne Lewis is the Co-Coordinator of the Santa Claus Parade and owner of Vaxandi Group, a strategic marketing and promotion company based in Whitehorse, Yukon.

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