Seize your Canada Day
No summer in the Yukon can be complete without the yearly Canada Day events. The very mention of Canada Day can conjure up memories and build anticipation for just about any Yukoner.
Search Results for: Canada Day
It’s a cultured Canada Day in Mayo
The Mayo Arts Festival and Canada Day celebrations are highlights during the summer. Everybody is looking forward to the celebrations, and preparations have already started.
Dawson is gearing up to celebrate Canada Day with both new and old traditions. Here’s the scoop!
The biggest change in the Canada Day Parade in Dawson City, this year, is where it will end.
Make the Most of Your Canada Day!
Summer sun brings with it loads of visitors to the various Yukon campgrounds, especially on the long weekends. Those folks joining the campers for the Canada Day long weekend will be missing out! On July 1, Canada is celebrating its 150th birthday. The festivities, therefore, will be 150 times bigger than they have been in …
Our Grand Yukon Canada Day Parade
July 1st 2014: What a beautiful sunny day it is amidst this not-yet very warm summer. My husband Don and I are off to our neighbouring province, B.C. by way of the Haines Road to celebrate Canada Day our particular way. At Klukshu, we check to see if there are any salmon in the river …
Canada Day, Eh?
Red Grossinger figures Canada Day is one of the most meaningful events for a community to share together. He has been organizing Canada Day in Whitehorse for some 15 years and along with entertainment producer Lauren Tuck, and the rest of the Canada Day committee, he aims to create a celebration that encompasses Canadians of …
Didee & Didoo – Poem “Canada Day”
Canada Day On Canada Day, an Elder will pray. Our Gwichin Nation, put on a celebration. O Canada we sing loud, because Canadians, we’re proud. We have a sports day, and baseball we play. Against the ladies we have a tug-of-war, and of course they pull us far. The little tikes, race on their bikes. …
Celebrate Canada your way
This Canada Day, Yukoners will celebrate in communities across the territory with traditional activities. In Mayo, the day’s festivities coincide with the Mayo Arts Festival where local artists, craftspeople and musicians share their talents and creations with others. In Watson Lake, they’ll celebrate Canada Day with festivities at the Lucky Lake Park and water slide, …
A Birthday Celebration Worth Driving To
The 14th annual Mayo Arts Festival offers a unique way to celebrate Canada’s birthday. Ring in Canada Day on Friday, July 1 with artists, workshops and musicians from the Stewart River Valley alongside colourful celebrations. This free, homegrown festival showcases talent from Keno City, Elsa, Mayo and Stewart Crossing – some of the best-kept secrets …
A Klondike Korner: When Dawson Celebrated Independence Day
As the calendar moves inexorably towards Canada Day, with all the busyness of the holiday combined with the Yukon Goldpanning Championships, which fill up much of the afternoon, I find myself thinking back to how close we came to celebrating a different national holiday instead. In my last column, I mentioned how Luella Day (or …
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Pandemic Parades Take to the Streets
Summer is generally the time for two major parades in Dawson: Canada Day in July and Discovery Day in August. The latter is the larger of the two events, but neither one takes any longer than 15 or 20 minutes to pass any given vantage point.
Finding the keys to safer camping
On the Canada Day long weekend in 2012, the Congdon Creek Campground, located on the shore of Kluane Lake near Burwash Landing, played host to a furry teenaged visitor. A medium-sized grizzly found its way into the campground and proceeded to lounge around in the central meadow, feeding on the tasty flowers.
“Vader’s Fist” in the Yukon
The 501st Legion (a.k.a. Vader’s Fist), a Star Wars costuming group, is in the territory. Hear from inaugural members of The Yukon’s Legion.
Meet Marliese: Postmaster of Haines Junction
When you enter the Canada Post office in Haines Junction, rest assured Marliese Whelan will greet you with a smile
Locally raised, locally made
July 22 is National Hot Dog Day (which is, apparently, a thing) and why celebrate with just any ol’ meat on a bun when you could have one made with locally raised pork? Support a farmer, love your butcher.
Representing Kluane
Each year, the Yukon Order of Pioneers (YOOP) selects Mr. and Mrs. Yukon in recognition of two longtime Yukoners who have made lasting contributions to their communities. This year they have named Valerie Drummond (born Wakefield) and Dan Drummond of Haines Junction as the worthy representatives.
Just keep paddling
Carmen Gustafson is gearing up for her fourth Yukon River Quest. For those who are fond of stats, that means that by this year’s Canada Day long weekend she will have raced 2,860 km between Whitehorse and Dawson City. To the casual observer this probably sounds crazy, especially when you consider that those paddlers who …
Fifty years of Rotary in Whitehorse
The Rotary Club of Whitehorse has been serving the city for 50 years and it is time to celebrate and acknowledge its history and accomplishments. As a service organization, Rotary is well-known in Whitehorse, what with the annual Rotary Music and Dance Festival and Rotary Peace Park. It may be helpful, though, to understand the Rotary …
A spark in the spring
What happens when the fire is out and the cat is rescued from the tree? Look no further than the Whitehorse Firefighters Charitable Society (WFCS) to find out that when the job is done, they just keep helping people. The society is an extension of what firefighters do while on the job, but it gives them …
You sure look thirsty… try some lemonade!
The Big Squeeze Lemonade Stand Competition/Fundraiser is August 1 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
White wolves of summer
Have you ever been seized by the sudden urge to don a suit of plate armour and bludgeon other armoured people with a mace? Perhaps your answer is a hearty “Yes!” but it certainly wasn’t for Land Pearson, at least not before he strapped on the armour.
The Perpetual Immigrant
Since I was 18 years old, I have been an immigrant 12 times. My entire adult life has been spent as a foreigner to those I live and work with. Always being different. Never quite fitting in.
The Adäka Cultural Festival … celebrating our diverse First Nations arts and culture
The 2018 Adäka Cultural Festival is just around the corner! The annual multi-disciplinary arts and culture festival will be held this summer from June 29 to July 5 at its idyllic location, the Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre located on Whitehorse’s beautiful waterfront.
Full metal and padded jacket
Many Yukoners will have seen members of the Company of the White Wolf at events around the territory. It’s hard to miss grown men and women dressed in full medieval combat armour, striking each other with swords and axes.
The sounds of the next generation
The annual BYTE Battle of the Bands, which will feature up to 10 groups, has been taking place for over a decade and has teamed up for the second year with Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous as an affiliated event at Shipyards Park.
Welcome the Year of the Dog
The Chinese New Year is the celebration of the Lunar New Year and considered the beginning of spring. Due to the Chinese calendar’s reliance on the lunisolar cycle, which is based on the exact astronomical observations of the sun’s longitude and the Moon’s phases, the new year is a floating date and usually occurs between …
Dining with future queens
Enjoy two high-class afternoons with the Quest for the Crown Rendezvous Queen candidates The Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous Quest for the Crown competition features opportunities for us to dress in gold rush era finery and spend a civilized afternoon visiting with the women hoping to be Queen: the Queen’s Tea and Social and the Queen’s …
My Fresh Meat Trial
It’s been 20 years since I put on a pair of skates, so as I arrived at Elijah Smith Elementary School I was a little bit timid about trying roller derby for the first time. Having only seen one game back in Australia, and the movie Whip It, I began to wonder if this was …
Get your Geek On!
This year’s cosplay contest will take place on August 26th as part of the third annual YukomiCon event, happening August 25th to 27th at the Yukon Convention Centre in Whitehorse. If you’re unfamiliar with the pop culture term “cosplay,” get ready to leave your inner critic at the door to embrace the otherworldly, unabashedly geeky, …
A Bumpy Road to Citizenship
November, 1972. California-born musician Mike Stockstill and two friends packed their instruments into the car and headed for Alaska. The car was a 1942 Dodge truck that had six months earlier been a chicken coop. Mike, a mechanic, and his friends turned it back into a truck. “It broke down every 300 miles so we …
Dog Culture – Sharon Van der Meer
Last year on Canada Day. Me and Pepper celebrating in Keno City! We kept it for you. Happy Canada Day 2017!!! [box] Meet our dogs, they live for us, we live for them, the Yukon would not be the Yukon without Dog Culture. Send photos of Yukon dogs and their people to [email protected]![/box]
The Heart of a Queen
When Telek Rogan decided to run for Rendezvous Queen in the 2017 Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous competition, she did so as a celebration of who she had become. Talking with me about it, Rogan has no problem articulating the changes that have shaped her. “I’ve done a lot of transitioning in my life. I became a …
Back in Town
Among Whitehorse’s talented music scene are Madi Dixon and Sarah Ott. Since their early teen years, Dixon and Ott have been staples of the local artistic community, performing as part of grand scale events and intimate gigs alike, and each possessing a multi-stylistic skill set. The duo will be playing selections of indie, folk and …
There’s Gold in Those Buckets of Dirt
Canada Day will be exceptionally busy in Dawson this year. Combining our nation’s birthday with a roster of events that normally occur on the first Saturday after that celebration will make for a packed schedule. The Klondike Visitors Association decided a few years ago that having the Yukon Gold Panning Championships in the afternoon, following …
Whisky and Cake
It’s 6 a.m. on a rainy morning just before Canada Day. In six hours I need to be ready to drive to Mayo, with three canoes on the roof and six days of breakfasts, dinners and desserts packed and labelled for the communal kitchen, and 17 days of lunches for me and my companion. Tomorrow …
How To Do Your Part to Reduce the Risk
On July 2, 1998, as Canada Day weekend celebrations carried out across the Yukon, a wildfire ignited. It was one of the largest and most expensive wildfires in the history of the territory. It was preventable and began after a campfire was not properly put out. It started at the north end of Fox Lake, …
The role of the KVA in the Klondike
When a group of Dawsonites dressed up in Gold Rush garb to meet a Canadian Pacific Airlines riverboat in 1962, they had no idea that this simple one-off publicity stunt would put down roots and that the fledgling Klondike Tourist Bureau would evolve into the Klondike Visitors Association (KVA) about 10 years later. Today, the …
Dreams and Hopes
The great Klondike Gold Rush brought people to the Yukon in the pursuit of their dreams and hopes. To this day, many individuals continue to come to the Yukon like their predecessors over a hundred years ago. I’m the same; I am here to pursue my dream job and hope for a thriving community. It …
Dragon in the New Year, Chinese Style
Dawson City has a fondness for parades. Canada Day and Discovery Day are the annual events with the longest history, but there have been Pride Parades, parades in support of the mining industry, and parades in support of Idle No More. This year, however, Front Street and the Yukon River saw something new: a parade …
Things that Go Bang in the Night
We had fireworks just the other night. No one I’ve spoken with seems to know exactly who set them off down by the river. There weren’t very many of them, but there were enough to drive our dog into her customary panic. As usual, she heard them before we did; my wife realized there was …
Barnacle Bob Headlines at the Odd Fellows Hall
Barnacle Bob Hilliard is ubiquitous on the Dawson City music scene. Since arriving in the early 1990s he’s been a fixture in the bars around town, starting at the Westminster, and also playing in the bars of the Eldorado and Downtown Hotels. Dawson has two annual parades, Canada Day and Discovery Days, and Bob can …
Celebrate the Fourth of July with our American Neighbours
Canada Day has come and gone. The flag has been praised, the beer has been drunk, and you are swept up in patriotic fervour. You could wait another year to celebrate the birth of a North American democracy, or you could find your way to our Alaskan neighbours a mere three days later and see …
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There’s a party goin’ on!
Here’s a taste of how Yukon communities, from B to W, will be celebrating Canada Day on July 1: Beaver Creek festivities will kick off with a parade, then volleyball, children’s games and a community barbecue at the RCMP. Carcross festivities will include a community barbecue, as well as a petting zoo and horseback rides …
Rocking the Blues
Montréal native Ryan McNally has loved the blues since he was nine years old … although if you grew up in his hometown you might not know it. With a background playing in bands dedicated to hip hop, metal and rockabilly music (all the while he was playing blues on his own) it’s only recently …
New Canadians desire a better country
Canada Day means you can see Canadian citzenship happening in front of you. Outside the Shipyards Park pavilion, bordered by black speakers and rows of concert lights, 24 immigrants, representing eight countries, sit in three rows facing the stage. The sun tries to come through the heavy clouds above us. Hundreds of Yukoners fill the …
From his Basement to the Stage
If you’ve had your ear to the Yukon ground in the past year, you’ve probably felt a vibration shaking from 86Heaven – they’re an informal conglomerate of Yukon hip hop artists headed by Warren Strand a.k.a. Abstract Original. Strand is of Southern Tutchone decent, representing the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations and the majority of …
An Aishihik Family Fishing Tradition
There are many reasons why Yukoners enjoy fishing. I believe my passion for fishing started with a positive experience on the water with my Dad. For others it is a way to get out and enjoy the spectacular Yukon wilderness. Then there are those who simply have it in their blood and it’s something they …
P-Wing: Not your daddy’s cover band
Pegasus Wing beckons listeners to recall the profound messages and blissful sounds made by artists whom (unbeknown to them at the time) stood at the 80s doorstep of strange musical wonder, having just come off a 70s classic rock high. André Gagné, Fiona Solon, Ken Hermanson, Micah Smith, and Mike Millar (with an “a”) collectively …
Dear Mister Ed
Well I got home from Dawsin to find a cupple of nice surprises. First was that Merna planted a bunch of flours around my house whilst I was gone. Says she overdone it at the garden store and reckoned I cud use a few. A few hunderd, more like. Now I never been one to …
What’s ‘Fun’ in ‘Funky’
It’s full-on summer. Kids are out of school; Canada Day is past and every weekend from now until the end of August will be packed with the warm-weather activities we all love but have such a short time to enjoy. Seems I’m grilling every second or third evening (not that I mind) and looking for …
Play Makers: Whitehorse Is A Truck Town
Yukoners, be warned before you sell that truck and go hybrid: keep in mind that Whitehorse is a truck town. I learned that my first week here, several years ago. Everywhere I looked … big truck, little truck, medium-sized truck. Trucks with mud flaps, trucks with big wheels, trucks with roof racks, gun racks … …
Impact on Jupiter and Solar Adventures
Welcome back to another fascinating year of astronomy in the Yukon. Bad weather this fall has made it a tough go for Yukon amateur astronomers. But let’s back up a bit and catch up on the summertime happenings. In July, our astronomy club, Yukon Night Skies, participated in the Canada Day Parks Promotion. I wondered …
When Metal and Music Collide
The Kung Fu Aliens (KFAs) are neither sifus or from outer space; they’re simply five guys who like to have their metal and punk worlds collide. After one musician switch, the band is now made up of bassist Mckenzie Grant, lead “screamer” Mephistall, drummer Fletcher DeGraff and guitarists Chris Ermatinger and Derek Wyatt. They’re currently …
A Yukon Galileo Moment
As the International Year of Astronomy winds down, I am often asked, “What was it all about?” and “Was there anything to come out of it that the average person in the street could benefit from?” The answer to that last one is a resounding, “Yes!” Let’s take one question at a time. The International …
A Filipina’s Journey to the Yukon
Vangie Ramirez wears a warm smile on her face and she laughs a lot. It is not a naïve or childish laugh; rather, it seems to be a quiet acknowledgement that life is treating her well. When Ramirez arrived in the Yukon in 1990, it was the culmination of long journey, a journey that began …
Finding My Canadian Self in Europe
I’ve always considered myself patriotic. Olympic moments, international events and even Canada Day were all times in my life marked with extreme pride in my heritage. Remembrance Days for my family were times to not only be patriotic, but also humble about the privileges we Canadians had over other members of this globe. At the …
When Plaque is a Good Thing
Plaque is the subject of this week’s visit to A Klondike Korner. I’ve visited this subject before, but another one of our buildings is due to be plaqued on June 5, so it seems time to bring it up to date. Buildings, places or people that are plaqued by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board …
Crystal’s Story
Crystal was a strong, elegant, and spirited Arabian mare, foaled in 1977 on the family ranch near Vernon, BC. At birth, she was chestnut like her sire, NaMaram. Soon she shed her baby coat and became grey. The grey lightened gradually as she matured and aged. For the last 15 years of her life she …
French Toast: Guitar Man
He is an important member of Whitehorse’s artistic community, but he is especially well known as an experienced guitar player. Nicholas Mah’s classical sound is different from this mostly rock-folk music scene. His path began when he studied classical guitar at the University of Ottawa. He stayed a short time in the capital city, but …
River Walk Columns appear out of nowhere overnight
How many times had I passed by the columns without seeing them? Joyce Majiski swears she put the columns up two years ago, and yet, as if I’ve just been given x-ray glasses, this is the first time I’ve noticed them. Five columns of various earth-tone colours, with metal rings girding their middles and metal …
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How to Have a Fun Lesbian Summer
Summer is finally upon us. We come out of our houses blinking at the increased daylight like a bunch of groundhogs. Whitehorse feels more vibrant. People are leisurely walking around amazed that it stays light past 5 o’clock. Soon the streets will be teeming with tourists, especially on Tuesday and Thursday when the Condor flights …
Dear Mister Ed
OhKay evrybody, lets hear it fer Dominion Day. Oops, it aint called that anymore is it? OhKay then, lets hear it fer Canada Day. Now if yer like most Canadians, you probly think the Fathers of Confabulashun sat down outside Dingwell’s Pond 143 years ago and signed a peace of paper makin’ us all one …
All That Glitters in the Klondike
Dawson City was founded on the glitter of gold and, so, it is no surprise that the yellow metal gets mentioned a great deal here. We work it into other events that might have no natural connection to the stuff. But we’re in the Klondike, right? And just now, with the staking rush that has …
The Odd Places Some People Live
Dawson City has long been known for unique answers to its housing shortage, especially in the summer, when the place is flooded with summer people (or summerdoughs) looking for work and a cheap place to live. Some of them live in run down buildings that probably don’t meet any kind of safety standard. Some have …
Telling Tales
As he wraps up teaching a kids’ drama class, the Family Literacy Centre’s Brendan Wiklund switches gears to talk about Tales to be Told, a storytelling circle for elders and adults over 55, which will launch Tuesday, March 29. The free, 14-week program, held at the Whitehorse Public Library, gives members of older generations a …
Lifetime Love of Vintage Bikes
I’ve always had trouble when it came to focusing on a particular passion in my life. Anyone who knows me would likely say that I am constantly pursuing my passions. That’s the point: it is passions, plural, and they are changing all the time. I never stick with anything beyond intermediate knowledge or competence. Jörg …
Walk on the River Side
Looking for a sample of the vibrant range of media, forms and hues that contemporary Yukon artists are using? At the 11th Yukon Riverside Arts Festival this Friday to Sunday, you can experience everything from building and flying a “creature” kite, to sewing a button on a Yukon-made button blanket, to playing a computer pinball …
A Smokin’ New System
What’s that sound? It’s everywhere, it’s everywhere. What you hear may be the new surround-sound system at St. Elias Convention Centre in Haines Junction. With a rollicking concert on September 23, Nicole Edwards and the Joy Seekers “unveiled” a new and sophisticated sound system at the project’s grand opening. The “joy” was shared by the …
Mambo Tanzania: Pt. 3
I made it! I climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro! I’m sure I cost a few of the resort staff some betting money by doing it. When I told Gilian, the receptionist, she laughed at me. “You’re kidding, right?” I had approached the hike without any thoughts of success or failure riding on it… just eight days in …
Dawson Museum Celebrates 50 Years
At the turn of the 19th century the federal government was anxious to establish that the Yukon was a valued part of the nation. Even though Dawson City had already begun to decline in size from its heyday as “the Paris of the North”, Thomas W. Fuller, who eventually worked on the Parliament Buildings in …
A Mountain of Books
No matter how much rain we get, young readers can climb the Chilkoot Trail at Well-Read Books this summer. The free project, called “Reading over the Chilkoot”, guides children aged 6-9 and 10-13 to read their way over the Trail. Just as on the real trail, they have to gear up first. Colourful canvas passports, …
Bohemian Belles
The Bohemian look will always be a classic. It may seem effortless but it really is anything but. It’s a style that comes together by matching up items in your closet that you definitely did not purchase all in the same shopping trip. It will almost always consist of at least one item obtained from …
Support Your Local Sweatshop Union
Two-time Juno Award nominees Sweatshop Union is returning to the Yukon to tear up the Whitehorse hip hop scene for Canada Day. Sweatshop Union, a well-known Canadian hip hop collective, offers three high-energy performances featuring tracks from its soon-to-be released disc. “Look for some songs that you remember from videos and some new things you …
Klondike History Comes Alive
DAWSON CITY For many people, coming to the Yukon means coming to Dawson City. Located in the heart of the Klondike, Dawson is one of the most recognizable places in the territory. Known for the Klondike Gold Rush with its colourful history and unforgettable characters, Dawson is a town just waiting to be explored. Who …
