2023 Yukon Rendezvous
After two years of the pandemic, Rendezvous will be back to form and celebrating its 59th festival this February.
Festivals
The Yukon is home to all kinds of festivals. Music Festivals, Comedy Festivals, Arts Festivals, Cultural Festivals, Film Festivals, Food Festivals, Poetry Festivals and more.
The Alchemy of ALFF
ALFF has evolved into a two-week, 100-plus film event. There are 45 feature- and mid-length films, over 50 short films, live concerts…
The Art Of Japan
On Saturday, November 5, the Japanese Canadian Association of Yukon (JCAY) has teamed up with the City of Whitehorse to bring you Japan Fest.
Augusto! Children’s Festival: A Fun-filled Family Weekend
Augusto! Children’s Festival will offer three days of dance, parties, crafts, music and more from August 12–14 in Haines Junction.
Voices Across The Water
Voices Across the Water follows two master boat builders as they practice their art and find a way back to balance and healing.
Adäka Cultural Festival Comes Back Into The Light—Renewed and International
The Adäka Cultural Festival returns with the light of many suns, in full swing and in person this year! June 29 to July 5 2022
The Music Festival on the Top of the World
Chickenstock Music Festival will take place in Chicken, Alaska. The bad news—it’s already sold out. The good news—there’s a waiting list.
There’s a new festival in town
A weekend festival in multiple locations. The inaugural Yukon Music Festival, by the YRMTA, runs from April 21 to 23.
Dawson City is getting ready to host its annual Thaw di Gras Spring Carnival
Dawson City is getting ready to host its annual Thaw di Gras Spring Carnival. Get Ready for Some Outrageous Winter Fun!
ALFF 2022 goes online
A few of the the diverse offerings at the 2022 Available Light Film Festival (ALFF) happening online, and maybe a bit in-person.
Celebrate the great outdoors!
Yukon Rendezvous Festival has planned four possible versions of the festival this year, to quickly adapt to changing health regulations.
Nakai Theatre’s Pivot Festival 2022
Sometimes, you have to pivot! Nakai Theatre’s Pivot Festival 2022 will still take place this January, albeit with some modified programming
Every January we’re Pivoting
Pivot Festival brings laughs sunshine, & much-needed break from the winter blues. 14th year of bringing the unexpected to Whitehorse.
Santa Claus is Coming to Town! Winterval Santa Parade December 4
Santa Claus is Coming to Town! Winterval Festival Santa parade pivots to a parade through multiple Whitehorse neighbourhoods for a 2nd year.
Scenes from the Street Eats and Beats Cultural Festival
A feast for the senses: Scenes from the 2021 Festival. Entertainers, Attendees and Food service providers.
Hot Eats Cool Beats: new family fun street eats festival
An expansion of the Street Eats Festival this year’s festival offers food trucks, live music, art installations and a historical tasting tour.
Klondike Korner: DCMF 2021 is reborn in a smaller, later version this COVID year
September 10 to 12. DCMF is a bite sized three day event spending days in the Waterfront Park Gazebo and nights in the Palace Grand Theatre.
What’s on for Yukon Riverside Arts Festival 2021?
Yukon Riverside Arts Festival will take place this year in Dawson City August 13-15
Mush Rush 2016
I like the people. I like the dogs, I like the camaraderie – being part of something that is bigger than yourself.
Cypherfest 2021 is happening!
This year’s edition of Cypherfest will take place from July 23 to 25, with COVID-sensitive programming.
We Will Rendezvous
Rendezvous weekend takes place Feb. 26 to Feb. 28, with a mix of in-person and outdoor action.
Enjoy Dawson City films from the cozy comfort of your couch
Ever since Available Light Film Festival launched 19 years ago, it has brought to its audiences stories of different ways of life and different perspectives. This year, four films from Dawson City will be featured for online streaming across Canada.
How to pivot the Pivot Festival
As with every year, the 2021 Pivot Festival will bring Yukoners surprising work from both national and local performers. Due to COVID-19, the national talent – a comic duo called Folk Lordz – will participate online from wherever they are in Canada.
Thanksgiving meets Mid-Autumn Festival
Mid-Autumn Festival is China’s version of Thanksgiving (or Zhōng qiū jié, as it is pronounced in Mandarin Chinese), which traditionally falls on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, always during the full moon. It became a public holiday in 2008, but has been celebrated for centuries.
A delayed Short Film Festival will happen in October
After a few months of working at home, Dan Sokolowski is finally back in his southeast corner space at the KIAC (or Dënäkär Zho) Building. There, he’s busy downloading videos for this year’s late version of the 2020 Dawson City International Short Film Festival, which will take place over two weekends in October.
Isolation, underwear fights and hanging around the house
How Isolation, underwear fights and hanging around the house inspiration for Theatre in the Bush. ‘That would make a great spot for a show.’”
Dawson’s Thaw di Gras
Dawson celebrates almost spring, sort of end of winter, with a local event called Thaw di Gras. An obvious play on New Orleans’ Mardi Gras.
Honoured to participate
The Canadian Armed Forces have a long history in the North (harking back to the Yukon Field Force in 1898), and JTFN is honoured to take part in YSR and celebrate Yukon Heritage Day events.
Who’s behind the mask?
The Masquerade Ball serves as YSR’s big Saturday event. Major Funk and the Employment will provide entertainment for the evening, and there will be dancing and a prize for the best dressed.
It’s a drag
Standing outside in a parka in -35 isn’t anyone’s idea of a good time, never mind standing outside in a sequined bodysuit. That’s why, this year, when Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous (YSR) hosts For the Love of Drag, it’s going to be a little more temperate for both the audience and the performers.
The next level
Growing a beard that contends for the winning length in the “Old Growth” category of the Strength and Style competition takes years of preparation, literally.
The Chainsaw Chuck is just the beginning
The Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre is the place to be this February. That’s where the majority of events are taking place for the 2020 Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous (YSR).
Spoiled for choice
When coming up with a description of the Available Light Film Festival (ALFF) for the uninitiated, Andrew Connors, the festival director and artistic director of the Yukon Film Society, highlights the festival’s diversity and character. “It’s an intimate festival that celebrates northern, Indigenous and Canadian cinema with some international spice thrown in for good measure, …
Spice up you January with some variety
If you feel a strong connection to the Yukon and you like variety and fun in your entertainment, or if you’d just like a good excuse to hire a baby-sitter and get together with friends on a cold January evening, you could check out Nakai Theatre’s Pivot Festival 2020.
Festivals
Discover Yukon’s Festivals and Fairs.
The fun experts at What’s Up Yukon can help you plan your time to hit all the best events.
An appetite for stories
The story you tell in a restaurant is going to be different than the story one tells on a bus. It is nice to get unconventional storytellers into the Pivot Festival and into unusual venues for performances.
Three days of family fun
Are you keen on learning about drama, circus, dance or crafting? The Augusto Children’s Festival features a diverse group of workshops, with a roster that includes local artists and teachers as well as groups from across North America. This is the third year for Augusto, which begins in Haines Junction on Aug. 9. Festival organizer …
Four days full of food and family fun
Eating, cooking and learning about homegrown products The Yukon Culinary Festival will show that the territory has a lot to offer when it comes to food. The line-up of events includes everything food lovers could dream off, from cooking over an open fire, to a family lunch at Horse Haven Ranch. The Festival will kick …
Coming into the light
The Adäka Cultural Festival is quickly growing into one of Canada’s premiere Indigenous arts and culture festivals
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 …
Dance dance revolution
Get ready to cut a rug in Haines Junction You don’t have to be part of a dance group to be a dancer. According to Rose Kushniruk, acting chief of the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations, everyone has it in them and the Dákų̀ nän tsʼèddhyèt Dance Festival (Our House is Waking Up the Land) …
Summer is here and so is Arts in the Park
The 23rd annual Arts in the Park, running from May 21 until August 2, is here to usher in the summer season. There are few events in Whitehorse that mark the arrival of summer like the kick-off of Arts in the Park. With its 23rd annual season underway, Arts in the Park has become an …
Kluane mountain twang
The Kluane Mountain Bluegrass Festival (KMBF) has an unfair advantage. It has never had to work to attract world-class performing acts and is known widely on the festival circuit as “the one to play.” The performers, awestruck by the St. Elias range and the beautiful community of Haines Junction, are grateful for the warm reception …
Joanna Lilley feels most herself when she’s writing
Joanna Lilley has always loved reading. She’s one of those people that you’ll find in the theatre reading a book before the movie begins. It fits that she would also enjoy writing. “As a child, I also always loved writing in notebooks and diaries and the physical act of writing with pen and paper.” Later on, that …
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Sparking conversations of consent
Wondering who the friendly people are at every festival handing out condoms, making cool buttons and sometimes dressing up like superheroes? If you’ve been to a big event or festival in Yukon, you’ve probably seen the Consent Crew. Made up of four coordinating members and a team of enthusiastic volunteers, the Consent Crew uses conversations …
Consumed by craft
Heather O’Neill is pleased to be returning to the Yukon this year for another engagement during the Yukon Writers’ Festival and Young Author’s Conference. She was last here In 2016. “I love the sunlight in the Yukon,” she said. “Everything seems surreal to me. I hope to meet more of the people in this strange …
Sigmund Brouwer says put your character in a problem situation
With over 100 titles and four million books in print, Sigmund Brouwer is a bestselling author of books for children, young adults and adults. He will be one of the mentor authors at this year’s Young Authors’ Conference on May 2 and 3, which is part of the Yukon Writers’ Festival taking place that week. Brouwer …
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David Geary says to “be hungry for other people’s stories”
David Geary is no stranger to the Yukon. He was here to work with Gwaandak Theatre a year ago last February. Now he’s looking forward to seeing what Whitehorse is like when it’s warmer. Geary is originally from New Zealand, where he has mixed roots which he describes as “Maori from the Taranaki iwi tribe, …
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Fear should never be a deterrent
Jan Redford describes herself as a compulsive journal writer who always knew that she would like to be an author. “I remember filling pages with squiggly lines when I was about four or five, pretending I was a writer. As I got older, writing is what grounded me, clarified my experiences, allowed me to trust …
Focus on photos
The Air North First Light Image Festival will compete with a Steven Page concert this year, but organizer Mark Kelly said ticket sales are already going strong for the photography fest, now in its third year. “We’re not sold out yet, but as of (April 8) the workshops are 70 per cent sold out and …
What is the Yukon Writers’ Festival?
In 1990, a number of organizations joined together to merge the Young Authors’ Conference (YAC) and the National Book Festival into the more far-reaching Yukon Writers’ Festival. The goal was to highlight Canadian literary arts in the Yukon. Five writers, including one from the Yukon, will participate in a week-long series of events (May 1 …
Dawson City International Short Film Festival celebrates two decades of short films
Dan Sokolowski is about three weeks away from launching the 20th edition of the Dawson City International Short Film Festival (DCISFF) when we sit down in his corner of the building that’s home to the Klondike Institute of Art of Culture. (KIAC.) A lot of work has already gone into this year’s event. The 85 films …
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In paradisum electronica
Everybody knows the Yukon has its share of folk music and roots rock, but they don’t often think about electronic music.
Thaw di Gras is Coming Soon
[two_third] It’s perhaps still a bit wintery by March 15, but that is the annual date when Dawson City celebrates what is nearly the end of that season with its Thaw di Gras “Spring” carnival. The event runs over a weekend, from March 15 to 17. If climate change doesn’t make too many changes there …
Focus on the funny folk
Tokyo-born comedian Aiko Tanaka is one of the visiting performers featured in this year’s Yukon Comedy Festival, in both Whitehorse and Haines Junction Ricard Eden makes no apology for putting the focus of the Yukon Comedy Festival on the performers as much as on the audience. “We obviously want to bring up talent that residents …
Croon your way to confidence
If you love to sing, but you’ve never stepped onstage in front of a crowd of people to do it, maybe you’ve just never had the proper motivation. How does $1,500 sound?
Rendezvous a major event for military
The Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous has been around since 1945 and a defining part of the winter festival has always been the Military.
Let loose your inner kid
In the midst of Sourdough Sams, tattoo competitions, and beard and leg hair-growing contests, Yukon kids need a place to call their own during Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous.
Using their indoor voices
Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous mainstage is indoors this year. “(Being inside) is definitely a change and I hope that people embrace it,”
Do the sourdough sync
When it comes to the Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous lip sync competition, you might have to bring more of an A-game than you’d have to bring to a contest where you actually sing.
It’s a mad, mad world
At the time, Mad(am) Trapper didn’t exist as a contest (in fact, it was the first year for Mad Trapper), but any women wanting to compete were welcome to compete against each other. It’s just that none of the women had placed that well before.
Main squeeze
It’s been years since the Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous (YSR) was held on Main Street and still, once a month, someone asks – why isn’t Rendezvous held on Main Street anymore? Is it moving back there from Shipyards Park? When? Why not?
Strength and style
Hairy legs, bushy beards, interesting and colourful tattoos—that’s just some of what you can expect to see at this year’s Strength and Style Competition during the Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous.
Get to know your sourdoughs
Every year we hear about these Sourdough Sams, this “Call for the Cup,” and that the search for the “primo Yukon male” is on again, but what does any of that really mean?
Bigger and better than ever
The countdown is almost over, with only days left until the official Rendezvous Kick Off, presented by the Hougen Group of Companies.
Welcome the Year of the Pig
The Chinese Canadian Association of Yukon hosts its annual Chinese New Year feast on February 2 at the Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre. The annual event, which marks the start of the Year of the Pig, is an opportunity for our Chinese Canadian residents to share some of their culture with the rest of the Whitehorse.
Comedians Becky Johnson and Kayla Lorette find the laughs in suffering and the unexpected
Comedians Becky Johnson and Kayla Lorette have worked together for nearly a decade. The pair have performed around the world, worked with Second City and This Hour Has 22 Minutes, and acted in Baroness Von Sketch and Schitt’s Creek. Now, they’re taking on the Yukon.
A junction of mountain film, culture and science in Kluane country
The Haines Junction Mountain Festival is in its third year and is a celebration of the United Nations (UN) International Mountain Day (IMD).
It’s beginning to look a lot like … (you know)
The pre-Christmas season will soon be underway here in the Klondike, actually beginning a few days before this piece can see print. It’s a season of bazaars and open houses that lead up to the actual holidays. It begins with the oldest and largest of the bazaars, the Little Blue Daycare Christmas Bazaar. This will …
The Junction and JAR (Junction Artist in Residence)
Landing in Whitehorse for the first time, Henry Navarro Delgado arrived in the Yukon knowing nothing about the place. Delgado wanted to remain as open-minded as possible when he settled into the coveted Junction Artist in Residence (JAR) Program in Haines Junction.
The Queer Songbook Orchestra
The Queer Songbook Orchestra is a Toronto-based 12-piece chamber pop ensemble making their Yukon debut on September 30. The group formed in 2014 and has been dedicated to exploring and elevating queer narrative in pop music. “I was at loose ends after several years freelancing in the indie pop music scene in Canada,” said Shaun …
Magic under the mountains
Haines Junction is gearing up for the second-annual Augusto Children`s Festival. It’s the Yukon’s only arts and music festival for children.
A dystopian life near the Blackstone River
The Wolves of Winter is Tyrell Johnson’s first published novel. It’s set in the Yukon, but he hadn’t actually been here until he came to Whitehorse for last month’s Yukon Writers’ Festival.
Celebrating 30 years of northern art and artists
First Nations artists and performers, from across the North, will gather with artists from around the world for the Great Northern Arts Festival on July 13–22.
Paradise is ‘plugging in’
The Yukon’s annual electronic Paradise Music Festival is back and is set to take off July 27–29 at Kettley’s Canyon, at Marsh Lake.
Indian Horse
Indian Horse will be screened at the Atlin BC Globe Theatre on Thursday, July 5, 2018 at 7 PM as part of the Atlin Arts & Music Festival.
It’s a cultured Canada Day in Mayo
The Mayo Arts Festival and Canada Day celebrations are highlights. Everybody is looking forward to the celebrations. 2018
The Adäka Cultural Festival … celebrating our diverse First Nations arts and culture
The 2020 Adäka Cultural Festival at its idyllic location, the Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre located on Whitehorse’s beautiful waterfront.
Serving laughs straight from the oven
The Whitehorse comedy scene is on a roll as of late. One of the events that has helped cultivate this resurgence has been Baked Laughs, the stand-up nights presented monthly at Baked Café.
The ODD Gallery showcases Tamika Knutson’s Skin
Tamika Knutson is a Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in citizen who began her art training at the Yukon School of Visual Arts, in Dawson City.
Spring rendezvous in the midnight sun
On June 7, the Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous (YSR) will host their first spring auction, a must-add for everyone’s calendar.
Riverside rave
Beginning on May 31, guest DJs will perform on the Whitehorse Wharf, providing a summer dance floor for Yukon families and dance music fans.
Yukon’s summer music festival review
The good, the bad and the absolute crazy : here is an overview of the top summer music festivals in the Yukon.
Bluegrass, ‘newgrass,’ straight-ahead country and more …
This year’s Kluane Mountain Bluegrass Festival, June 8 to 10, in Haines Junction, will feature a lineup of world-class acts.
Top 10 tips for your first summer in Whitehorse
Here are some tips and tricks to starting out in Whitehorse as a Cheechako (which is the name for being new to the north of 60th parallel).
Zsuzsi Gartner: Aspiring to the darkly tragi-comic
Zsuzsi Gartner built her early career as a writer in journalism, working as a newspaper reporter, then a TV current affairs producer and then a magazine writer and editor, but has been interested in creative writing from an early age.
Shifting perspectives and behaviour
May is Sexualized Assault Prevention month in Canada. Here at home, the Yukon continues to have a disproportionately high rate of sexualized assault compared to the rest of Canada.
Jamella Hagen: Part of Writing is Being Ready to Write
The local writer selected to be a mentor at this year’s Young Authors Conference is Jamella Hagen, who teaches creative writing at Yukon College.
Gearing up to explore ideas and the written word
PHOTO: Dan Davidson The Yukon Writers’ Festival takes place May 2 through 5, with events throughout the Yukon In 1990, a number of organizations joined together to meld the Young Authors’ Conference and the National Book Festival into a farther reaching Yukon Writers’ Festival to highlight the Canadian literary arts in the Yukon. The …
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Yukon Music – Improvisation is Key
The Vanier Junior Jazz Band won first place in the Under 16 category of BYTE’s Battle of the Bands – again!
A funky little family
Café des Voix at Cafe Balzam at the Takhini Hot Springs on Jan 31. PHOTOS: courtesy of Elaine Schiman Café des Voix is always looking for new talent Yukon accompanist Grant Simpson helped found Café des Voix in 2016 as an extension of Jazz Yukon workshops that had been occurring since 2011 and as “a …
Get a feature shot at first light
Jay Gough of Nikon Canada, along with Trisha Gillings of Panasonic Canada (not pictured), will be on site all day with trade show style booths demonstrating their latest equipment, and delivering “Tech Talks” over the lunch hour It’s springtime in the Yukon and our days are getting longer, Yukoners are preparing for the summer season …
Dawson City International Short Film Festival is downloaded for its 18th Year
Screenings for the Dawson City International Short Film Festival began in October, with five or six people meeting twice a week to view what would eventually add up to between 400 and 500 submissions for the Easter weekend festival.
The Winterlong Podcasting Co
On March 24th the Winterlong Brewing Co. will be slinging more than beer when they play host to two popular Los Angeles based podcasts.
A weekend of laughs
The Yukon stand-up comedy scene can be fickle. Some years comics will perform to packed houses that turn people away at the door. Other years, not so much. Whether it’s a lack of comics, audience, or both, northern life can bring a number of challenges that make live comedy difficult to maintain. Richard Eden, George …
Thaw di Gras is going to the dogs…
Dawson City is gearing up for it’s annual Thaw di Gras spring carnival. One of the most popular events for families is the annual dog show, held at Diamond Tooth Gertie’s.
Stand up for Stephen McGovern
On March 9, Yukon comic Stephen McGovern will be gearing up to take the stage at the Just for Laughs Northwest comedy festival in Vancouver. The 10-day event beginning March 1 offers a wide variety of shows that highlight Canadian and international comedy. McGovern makes his Just for Laughs debut performing in The Outsiders Comedy show, which …
Heating up the music scene with Frostbite 2018
The Frostbite Music Festival returns in 2018, on a new date, and has embraced the theme of rising from the ashes.
Snow sculptures are snow cool…
Mount Sima’s snow guns, ready for action at Shipyards Park Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous has partnered with Air North, the City of Whitehorse, Days Inn, Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre and Shaw Direct to keep a favourite Rendezvous event. Fourteen years ago Whitehorse artist Don Watts, an internationally-renowned snow carver, started the International Snow Sculpting Challenge and …
A Dog Day Rendezvous
Brooke Rudolph with her howling buddy Timber, 2nd place finisher in 2016 The Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous and the unique relationship between a Yukoner and their beloved canine companion are two of the most enduring images of life in the North. So, it should come as no surprise that man and woman’s best friend features prominently …
Celebrating First Nations’ achievements and culture
The Skookum Jim Folklore Show has become an annual tradition that celebrates First Nation traditions, community and culture.
Sharing a love for film
There are meetings. There is paperwork. There are grants to apply for and cheques to sign. But, for Jessica Hall, being the president of the Yukon Film Society is all about… people. “The thing I really like about being on the board is my fellow board members and the staff,” she said. “They are all …
Let there be light
The 2018 Available Light Film Festival (ALFF) features a strong Indigenous presence in this year’s films – and in the audience, with more than 40 guests attending from Outside.
It’s so bad, it’s good
In honour of James Franco’s upcoming film release of The Disaster Artist, I figured I had to take a look back at where this film actually started, and that meant watching The Room (2003). The Disaster Artist is a dramatization of The Room. The Room is written, directed, produced and stars Tommy Wiseau and is …
Freezing for the sake of art…
Ask most people what they do during the cold month of January, and they would say, “Stay inside and keep warm.” The (s)hiver Arts Society, however, wants to change that.
Life 40-seconds at a time
Yukon storyteller Ivan Coyote and songwriter Sarah MacDougall are excited to premier their latest collaboration in Whitehorse.
Ten days to celebrate Pivot Festival’s 10th year
The Pivot Festival runs Jan. 24 to Feb. 3 with local and national acts Since Nakai Theatre launched the Pivot Festival in 2008, there have been some big names and unforgettable performances that have graced stages and pop-up theatre settings in Whitehorse. The festival has boasted bringing unconventional and award-winning shows from across Canada and …
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Dawson City Music Festival aims for sustainability
The Dawson City Music Festival (DCMF) will be holding its annual general meeting on Thursday, January 18, at Yukon College. The meeting was to have been before Christmas, but analysis of the topics raised at a well-attended membership meeting in mid-October caused the board to decide to refine its thoughts a bit more before presenting …
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Off the page and onto the screen
Get your cameras rolling and warm up your gear because the annual Yukon 48-Hour Filmmaking Challenge starts on Friday, January 12. It’s a yearly team-up between the Klondike Institute of Arts and Culture in Dawson City and the Yukon Film Society in Whitehorse. The event gives participants two days to complete a short film with …
An afternoon of coffee and fresh ideas
On Sunday, December 10, you are invited to come out to the roastery at Bean North Café and listen to readings by several poets and writers.
Christmas cheer and improving health care
The 15th annual Northwestel Festival of Trees will kick off on Thursday, Nov. 23 with the Business After Hours (BAH) Humbug event at the Yukon government Main Administration Building foyer. The annual fundraising event for Yukon health care concludes on Dec. 2 with the Alkan Air Grand Ball, a formal seated dinner that is already …
Debaters Bound
Whitehorse comedian Jenny Hamilton will be performing live on the CBC Radio One show The Debaters in North Vancouver on Nov. 22
Good vibes: Blue Feather Music Festival
Blue Feather Music Festival is entering its 17th year and is still holding true to its roots, providing healing, sharing culture and providing positive opportunities for youth to grow.
Symposium to discuss activating history
Every two years the Yukon Historical & Museums Association holds a meeting for the entire Yukon heritage community. It moves around the territory, but executive director Lianne Maitland says that one of the places they like to come back to is Dawson City. The 2017 Heritage Symposium, called Activating Our Communities, will take place on …
Nicole Edwards and friends lift up their voices for local charity
This project gives Yukon audiences another opportunity to create a new and beautiful memory of what Edwards can do with music.
Yukon’s version of Oktoberfest
The Yukon Beer Festival is returning for its fifth year on October 13 and 14, with proceeds benefitting the Boys and Girls Club of Whitehorse. Local beer aficionados will be able to taste beer from more than a dozen brewers and distributors travelling to the festival from across Canada, as well as local Yukon brewers …
Wines With a Cause
Wine-lovers will descend on the High Country Convention Centre on Thursday, October 19, for the 26th edition of the Rendezvous Rotary Wine Festival. These grape connoisseurs will have over 200 wines available for sampling and tasting. Those lucky enough to hold one of the 100 priority tasting tickets secured one of the hottest tickets in …
SOVA at 10
When talking about the location of the Yukon School of Visual Arts (Yukon SOVA) in Dawson City, two issues are often raised: What does the location do for students? What does it do for the town? Kyla McArthur, who works at SOVA as the administrative officer and is also a town councillor, spoke of the …
Hidden Memories Revealed at Fringe Festival
Five years ago Hidden Memories started as a one-act play Lillian Nakamura Maguire drafted to improve her dialogue skills for a creative writing class. Now the full-length version will be featured in the Vancouver Fringe Festival’s Advance Theatre: New Works by Diverse Women on September 13. “It’s the first time Hidden Memories will be read …
Fermented, Stewed, Baked and Brewed!
While that cornbread didn’t end up in a gallery, it did inspire did inspire the food oriented event called The Ingestible Festival
So Good, So Try It
The Yukon Culinary Festival sounds like a good way to celebrate Canada’s 150th anniversary. “The definition of Canadian cuisine that we use is local, seasonal, sustainable ingredients in the hands of many cultures,” says Eric Pateman, the festival’s main organizer. “This being Canada’s 150th, we have an opportunity to tell this story through the food.” …
Falling in love with the Yukon
Every week in the Yukon I fall more in love with this Northern magical place. This week was the Kluane Mountain Bluegrass Festival.
Discovery Days: Yukon’s Moveable Holiday
The Yukon’s Discovery Day Holiday is kind of hard to pin down. Likely the Monday closest to the day gold was discovered on Bonanza Creek.
Augusto! Children’s Festival the First of its Kind in the Yukon
“We are proud and excited to be founding the Yukon’s only dedicated art and music festival for children,” says Darlene Sillery, one of the five main organizers of the Augusto! Children’s Festival in Haines Junction this weekend. “We have a great variety of workshops and an excellent group of presenters, including visual artists, performing artists …
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The 17th Annual Riverside Arts Festival
The Yukon Riverside Arts Festival takes place in the most idyllic of settings – right alongside the Yukon River in Dawson City.
Paradise Electronic Music Festival: Come As You Are
“We want people to come out and express themselves and who they truly are,” says DJKJ. “Creativity is welcomed and everyone is accepted.”
Dawson City Music Festival Amps up for its 39th Year
It may be the 39th year of Dawson City’s beloved annual music festival, but this tried-and-true summer favourite is always sure..
Celebrating Film During the Arts and Music Festival
There’s going to be a new projector at the Globe Theatre this year when the Available Light Film Festival (ALFF) takes its films to the Atlin Arts and Music Festival. Andrew Connors, artistic director of ALFF, says this will give a sharper image than previous years, but he notes that no showing at the Globe …
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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 …
There’s a New Drummer in Town
Meet Lee Campese, Yukon’s most recent import and the latest addition to the groovy rhythmic assemblage, Major Funk and the Employment.
Celebrate First Nations Culture
Take some time off work – that’s the only way you’ll be able to enjoy all the programming offered by the Adäka Cultural Festival this month. That’s the suggestion from Lynn Feasey, director of arts for Yukon First Nations Culture and Tourism Association, which hosts the festival each year. Feasey is joking, but, looking at …
A Good Old Time in Haines Junction
Bluegrass music goes back to the Appalachians. The 2017 Kluane Mountain Bluegrass Festival headliners are The Boxcars from east Tennessee.
Lobsters for Literacy (And More)
Whitehorse might be the site of the northernmost East Coast kitchen party in Canada this summer. On Friday, May 26, the Mount McIntyre Recreation Centre will serve as the venue for a Rotary Club dinner featuring fresh Prince Edward Island lobster and Celtic tunes, courtesy of Keitha Clark and the Sláinte North band. The event …
Writing as a Full Time Profession
James Bernard MacKinnon, commonly bylined as J.B. MacKinnon, will be coming to the Yukon from Vancouver to be the Yukon Public Libraries’ choice as a travelling writer to visit a number of communities during the Yukon Writers’ Festival taking place May 2-7. During his Yukon visit McKinnon will do presentations and readings in the Dawson …
Telling the untold stories of the Yukon
The first days in the creation of the play Map of the Land, Map of the Stars took place in the summer of 2015 along the banks of the Yukon River. A group of artists gathered with stories, images, objects, and songs – items that they were drawn to and that were rooted in the …
Wild Times
“They’re [cranes] a much more delicate bird, compared to the swans,” says Carrie McClelland, a wildlife viewing biologist with Environment Yukon. “They stand three and a half to four feet tall, with a six foot wingspan, but they only weigh around seven or eight pounds. They’re very slender.” Lesser sandhill cranes migrate each year from …
A Mentor for Yukon Young Writers
Born in England, but transplanted to Newfoundland when she was very young, Kathleen Winter credits libraries with kick starting her interest in writing. “We moved around a bit and in one village the only library was ‘the bookmobile,’ a van filled with books that came to town once a week – I loved that van,” …
Setting sail for uncharted waters
“I don’t mind the snow/cause you make me warm/I don’t mind the dark in this romantic cold”– Paris Pick & The Ukes of Hazard
Less is Definitely More
Dawson City did not have burlesque in its repertoire until long-time local resident Rachel Wiegers decided to take up (or off, as the case may be) the mantle and bring it to town. Wiegers says her journey towards burlesque started when she was young and discovered her father’s girlie magazine stash. “I was too young …
Celebrate the Art of Filmmaking this Weekend
The cupboard behind Dan Sokolowski’s head is still covered with the multi-coloured Post-it notes he’s been using to assign the 86 short films in this year’s Dawson City International Short Film Festival to various categories for Friday, Saturday and Sunday screenings that will fill up this Easter Weekend. The films were selected by a group …
A Southern Story with a Northern Connection
The OUT North Queer Film Festival brings film lovers an American documentary with a local twist on April 9. Southwest of Salem tells the true story of four young lesbian women accused of sexually assaulting two underage girls and using them in satanic rituals in the early 1990s in San Antonio,Texas. They were wrongfully convicted …
Cooking Up a Career
Teresa Kozakewick grew up in Alberta. Raised by a father who had a passion for food, she had always been drawn to cooking. She enjoyed watching her dad cook on special occasions. Now her passion has become a career path. After moving to the Yukon, she enrolled in the Yukon College Culinary Arts program for …
Arts, Culture and Creation
“Artists show the world unseen,” says Tahltan First Nation artist Rhoda Merkel. “Teachers show students a better form of themselves.” Merkel, who was raised in Whitehorse but lives in Atlin, combines both talents in her newest project, the Sam Johnston Storytelling Festival, which takes place Tuesday, March 7 in Teslin. The festival is a collaboration, …
Thaw di Gras appeals to Locals and Visitors
Dawson’s impishly named Thaw di Gras carnival is still thought of as a spring carnival, even though a good March weekend will still be in the minus teens and a bad one may be in the minus 20s with wind chill. Whatever the weather may bring, much of this March 17th to 19th weekend will …
Life After Tragedy
When asked about the message she hopes to convey in the film, Ohama responded, “It’s a moving and inspiring story of how people find real joy, love and meaning in life again… even in the face of extreme loss. In our busy, cluttered world filled with stress… we tend to forget how to see and …
Yukon Stories
Arctic Secrets Directed by Allan Code, a Whitehorse based filmmaker, Arctic Secrets is a symphony of immensely strong and surprisingly fragile elements that comprise the wilderness of the Yukon Territory. Stunning imagery abounds in this visual adventure through its waters, mountains, and forests. Focusing mainly on the more arctic regions of the territory, Code and …
Writing Down the Soul
Anyone who has ever put pen to paper knows it can be a daunting experience. To stare at a blank page waiting for the strike of inspiration. When something is finally put down on paper, is it something others might want to read? What works? What can be done differently? Brave New Words is a …
(S)hiver Me Timbers
“The dark and the cold are conducive to creativity,” says Carly Woolner, one of the co-founders of Dawson’s (S)Hiver Arts Festival. Blair Douglas, the other half of the team, chimes in with a smile: “They are also conducive to everyone staying home.” Together these sum up the motivations behind the festival, which has a mandate …
Triple Threat
The Pivot Theatre Festival – Nakai Theatre’s annual performance showcase – begins a seven-night run this weekend in multiple Whitehorse venues. In addition to smaller-scale offerings such as a theatrical pub walk, an evening of spoken word material and a “speed-friending” event called Stranger Connections, the festival will feature the three major pieces, including: A …
Calling Aboriginal Artists!
The Yukon First Nation Culture and Tourism Association is looking for artists, artisans, musicians and performers from the Yukon and abroad to be part of the seventh annual Adäka Cultural Festival, which takes place at the Kwanlin Dun Cultural Centre from June 30th to July 6th. “We generally reach out to the well-established group …
Yukon 48 hour Film Challenge Back Again this Year
If you’ve always wanted the challenge of making a film in a short amount of time, here’s your chance. The Yukon 48 Hour Film Challenge, hosted by the Klondike Institute of Art and Culture (KIAC) and the Yukon Film Society, will once again be offering filmmakers of all ages a chance to test their mettle …
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This is Home
Former Yukoner Jerome Stueart and Yukon author Marcelle Dubé will read together form their books on Dec. 13 at Baked Cafe. It will be an evening about fantasy novels.
Keeping the Dream Alive
When Jolie Angelina McNabb was buried 16 years ago, Kwanlin Dün elders gave her the name, Blue Feather Eagle Woman. The Bluefeather Music Festival started in 2010 as a tribute concert to Jolie, who committed suicide. She had a dream, that she wanted to do something for youth, something to give them hope so they …
The Life and Times of Teenage Metalheads, WaRRmAuth
WaRRmAuth is one of the most intriguing bands at the forefront of the Whitehorse metal scene revivalt. These teenage stars rock hard.
A Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis)
I am pleased to announce that I recently had my first encounter with a sandhill crane. I have never gone to the Crane and Sheep Festival in Faro, which is held in May, and the time and place when the cranes fly over the town. Years ago, I saw flocks of sandhill cranes in November …
For the love of beer
Kaori Torigai loves beer in much the same way others love baseball. Or World of Warcraft. Like baseball, there are a mind-boggling array of statistics to consider. And, like World of Warcraft, there is a huge cast of characters. And, as in both baseball and World of Warcraft, beer is social, it can be shared …
Eat Your Art Out
‘Tis the season where giant vegetables are being harvested from gardens and potentially prize-winning jams are being churned out for display in the hopes of gaining a ribbon. This was the case at Dawson City’s horticultural exhibition as part of Discovery Days last week, but you won’t find large or entertaining vegetables adorning the tables …
Do Festival-Goers Dream of Electric Beats?
Over two days, 20 DJs, local dance troupe BoSo and a live painter will perform at the 11th annual Paradise Electronic Music Festival.
The Yukon Culinary Festival Tells a Story of the Yukon, Through Food
The Yukon is filled with culinary hidden gems, according to Eric Pateman. A culinary expert, Pateman had no idea how rich the Yukon food scene was until Debra Ryan, manager of strategic planning for Air North, finally persuaded him to visit. Now he is a main organizer of the Yukon Culinary Festival, running from August …
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Priska Wettstein: A Love Affair with Photography
Priska Wettstein’s love affair with photography began in 2008 when husband Paul presented her with a camera.
Chronicling the Peace
From her cabin on her parents’ farm near Fort St. John, B.C., Jody Peck can see the broad, meandering Peace River, not far from where her family first settled in 1924. On a recent Friday afternoon, Peck was about to start assembling the merchandise she and her band, Miss Quincy and the Showdown, hope to …
Bringing Crowds to Dodge: 38th annual Dawson City Music Festival
The Dawson City Music Festival (DCMF) is a major draw. “One of the bands getting a lot of attention is called the Wet Secrets,”
Underground at the Core
By the time Danny Fernandez was 10, he had visited over two dozen countries during six years spent aboard a floating hospital that provided free surgeries and medical care to some of the world’s poorest people. “I don’t think I realized how cool it was at the time. Looking back, I definitely feel being immersed …
For the Love of Northern Art
Every year for 10 days, northern artists and art lovers gather in Inuvik, a small town of 3,400 in the NWT, to celebrate culture and creativity. Entering its 28th year, the Great Northern Arts Festival features almost 60 artists from the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut. Running from July 15 to 24, the activities …
A Cultural Affair
One of the fun things about fermented foods is passing on bits to others, knowing they will grow and spread like a great idea. It required a bit of a mental leap to go from creating my first ferments to seeing this possibility, kind of like going from growing your own lettuce each year to …
Sharing Words
In 2015 Victoria-based poet Yvonne Blomer paid a visit to Whitehorse and did a reading of her poetry book, As If a Raven. In her poems she described various types of birds and also amused the audience by imitating the call of a peacock. Blomer is returning this month and will read at the Atlin …
Living Blues Legends
Director Daniel Cross visits the southern United States with his latest documentary I am The Blues (2016), highlighting living blues legends in the heart of American music origins. As it became more ingrained into the South’s economy during the antebellum years in the early to late 1800s, the cultivation of cotton brought a heavy concentration …
Atlin Arts and Music Festival: A Feast for the Senses
The Atlin Arts and Music Festival, music, visual arts, film and food, is about building community through music and art.
Aroused and Ecstatic
Ping pong might be what prevents Shawn Hall from harpooning Matt Rogers, or keeps Rogers from dismembering his musical partner with an axe. The duo known as The Harpoonist and the Axe Murderer discovered the stress-relieving game in London, England during a recent tour. “We went to a night club and there were 75 ping …
Resisting and Resurging
This year the Yukon Film Society (YFS) returns to the Adäka Cultural Festival with more First Nations programming. The collaboration between Adäka and YFS allows all the screenings to be free. Screenings run July 3 and 4 at the Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre during the festival, which takes place July 1 to 7. Screenings begin …
2016 Adӓka Cultural Festival: An Exploration of Old and New
2016 Adӓka Cultural Festival: Kaska drummer Dennis Shorty , Gwich’in fiddler Boyd Benjamin, & Inuit throat-singer Kathleen Merritt
Polaris goes Polar
Music-industry types mingled with arts funders and a few musicians at the Yukon Transportation Museum on June 15 for a different kind of brown-bag lunch event – a team from the Polaris Music Prize was in town to announce its long-list of 40 candidates for this year’s win. The prize aims to recognize “artists who …
A Canada Day Celebration Worth Driving To
Mayo Arts Festival offers a unique way to celebrate Canada’s birthday with artists, workshops and musicians from the Stewart River Valley
Out of the Rec Room
Scott Wilson doesn’t credit either ’50s TV host Arthur Godfrey or campy falsetto Tiny Tim with the current popularity of the humble ukulele. Instead, the Whitehorse musician thinks it likely stems from a few years back, when Hawaiian singer Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s hauntingly beautiful medley of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and “What a Wonderful World” became …
Farewell Winter, Hello Summer
After a long Yukon winter, you look forward to packing away your warm winter coat. We all look forward to the warmer days.
5 Must-See Pieces at Nuit Blanche
Back for a third year, the annual Whitehorse Nuit Blanche all-night arts festival brings together national and local artists for an unforgettable solstice weekend. Fancy yourself a night owl? Get ready for 12 hours of engaging and artsy fun as you wander downtown to see exhibits take over Whitehorse. You’d rather go to bed early …
Chalk It Up
I had a great chat recently with Heidi Loos. She is organizing the first Yukon Chalk Art Festival for Unlikely Events Yukon. The Festival will run June 11 and 12, 2016, 10 am. to 5 pm. at the Kwanlin Dun Cultural Centre parking lot. Two workshops will take place at the parking lot of Dana …
Follow Our Trails
Audience members with program “maps” in hand will be guided through the Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre for a unique performance adventure from Gwaandak Theatre, showcasing the spectacular riverfront and Yukon stories about who we are and where we come from. Gwaandak Theatre in association with the Yukon Arts Centre and Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre (KDCC) …
I Know What You Did
In Giovanni Boccaccio’s 14th century collection of novellas called The Decameron, seven young women and three young men entertain each other with stories for 10 days inside a secluded villa near Florence as they tried to escape the Black Death. More than 650 years later, Toronto playwright and multidisciplinary theatre maker Jordan Tannahill found himself …
On Top of the World at the Top of the World
Ever wanted to toss a log or throw a 20-pound rock? Top of the World Highland Games and Celtic Festival in Dawson City is for you.
Big, Loud and Funky
Major Funk and the Employment is a big band with a big sound. It has some big changes since bassist Etienne Girard put the group together.
O Brother, It’s Bluegrass
The Foggy Hogtown Boys will make their Yukon debut at this year’s Kluane Mountain Bluegrass Festival, June 10-12, 2016
Pickin’ on The Junction
In the pines, in the pines, the Kluane Mountain Bluegrass Music Festival will take place June 10, 11, and 12. It is held annually at the St. Elias Convention Centre and St. Christopher’s Log Church in beautiful Haines Junction, Yukon. The mostly volunteer-run festival is the first of many music festivals held throughout the Yukon …
His Saturn Returned and He’s Heading Out
Saturn is somewhere in its grand orbit when you’re born. When it comes round again, 29.5 years later, astrologers say it can mean big changes in your life. For Whitehorse musician Jona Barr, it was during his own period of Saturn returning that he wrote the songs for the new Old Cabin EP, Saturn Return. …
Stay on the Trail
“It requires a lot of discipline to stay on the trail – not just the ski trail,” says Gary Bailie, “but the trail of life.” Skiing is definitely a way of life for Bailie, who has been running and coaching the Whitehorse-based youth cross country team the Kwanlin Koyotes since 1999. His hard work and …
Oh, Beer. Maybe Next Year?
It’s a gathering where you may sip the tingly bitterness of a pale ale, sample salty snacks from the “bacon booth” and lock eyes magically with your future spouse. No wonder tickets to the Haines Beer Fest have sold out faster than ever this year. The event takes place May 27 and 28, in Haines, …
It’s Not All Greek
When you think of the Greek philosopher, Plato – if you think of him at all – the expression “party animal” might not come to mind. But Zuppa Theatre Co. would like to change that. The Halifax-based troupe has taken one of Plato’s best-known works, The Symposium, and re-cast it as a modern party – …
Who’s Out There?
Don’t bother asking Damien Atkins whether or not he believes in UFOs. He won’t tell you. What the Toronto-based playwright and actor will do instead is talk about his one-person play, We Are Not Alone, which he’s bringing to Whitehorse next month as part of the Magnetic North Theatre Festival. “When I do interviews about …
Life, Love and Trevor
Dogtown: the Musical, a story based on the life and fate of a local dog named Trevor, will be one of the many productions featured during the Magnetic North Theatre Festival, taking place June 9 to 18 Nakai Theatre and the Yukon Circus Society are the co-presenters of Dogtown: the Musical, which will be playing …
Nothing, Nothing, Nothing… Then Honks Galore!
Sometimes it seems like maybe they might not come. Then you hear them: the faint, high-pitched croaking, growing louder and louder. Then the sky fills with hundreds of sandhill cranes, flying in huge Vs that morph and swoop as the birds soar to catch rising thermals. Everyone in Faro drops what they’re doing to look …
The Next Act
Longtime Yukon teacher Mary Sloan and rapper Eminem have something in common. They both got their careers started in Detroit’s notorious 8-Mile district. However, Sloan’s teaching environment from the beginning to the end could not have been more different. Growing up in Michigan, Sloan was just 20 years old when she began her first teaching …
Intimate, Insightful and Non-Traditional
It’s 1929, Virginia Woolf publishes her famous extended feminist essay, called “A Room of One’s Own,” exploring the gender disparity between women and men. Fast forward to 2016 and discussion around gender politics has widened to include people living beyond the male/female binary. Cyn Lubow’s documentary film A Womb of Their Own asks the question, …
Converting Adventure into Books and Film
Dianne Whelan is an award winning filmmaker, photographer and author who lived, until fairly recently, in Vancouver. At the time of this interview she was in New Brunswick, in the midst of a project she calls “500 Days in the Wild.” “It’s what I do for a living. I do these adventures, make films and …
National Theatre Festival Comes to Whitehorse
“It’s the only national theatre festival in Canada,” Selene Vakharia tells me. She, along with a handful of other local creatives, are working on the Yukon end of the traveling theatre festival: Magnetic North, based in Ottawa, which moves to a different Canadian town every second year. “This year they picked Whitehorse,” Vakharia says. With …
The New Girlfriend is French filmmaking at its best
The New Girlfriend (Une Nouvelle Amie), a French drama from acclaimed director and screenwriter François Ozon, had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2014. It has received several international award nominations and won best picture at Spain’s San Sebastián film festival. The New Girlfriend is loosely based on the 15-page crime …
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The Danish Girl Attracts Controversy on Several Fronts
At some point, perhaps, acting credentials and not gender identity, will dictate who gets what role. Until then, high profile films like The Danish Girl and Dallas Buyers Club will continue to raise hackles in the transgender community for having cisgender (a term coined in the 1990s to denote a person whose self-identity matches their …
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Year 17 sees an abundance of Yukon Films at the Festival
On Easter weekend the ballroom of the Oddfellows Hall will be filled with hundreds of short film fans celebrating the 17th edition of the Dawson City International Short Film Festival (DCISFF) and cramming in as much as they can of the 500 hours of screen time that will fill up the days. This is the …
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OUT North Queer Film Festival Turns Five
Freeheld Throughout Freeheld we are reminded of how people are so often a combination of the ordinary and the extraordinary. A fictional account of the Oscar-winning 2007 documentary short of the same name, Freeheld is the true story of police detective Laurel Hester (Julianne Moore) and her fight to transfer her pension benefits to her …
A Room within a Room
The intensely charged film Room was the Winner of the Audience Choice Award for Best Canadian Feature at this year’s Available Light Film Festival. If you missed it in February, The Yukon Film Society is bringing it back to the screen March 20th. Adapted from Ireland-born writer Emma Donoghue’s Booker Prize nominated novel of the …
Valentine’s Events for the Discerning Singleton
I have mined to come up with activities that might make Valentines Day as awesome as any other day of the year, even if you’re flying solo.
Frostbite is Back
Yukon’s winter music festival, Frostbite is back for 2016, finally. A small group of volunteers have been working hard to make this happen.
Hone Your Craft
This year marks the 14th anniversary of the Available Light Film Festival. Each year, the festival seems to grow and attract greater talent from a variety of places. This year also has a substantial amount of filmmaking workshops, some free and others requiring tickets. The festival’s keynote address will be from Dylan Marchetti, chief creative …
Cinema for Lunch
The Available Light Film Festival running Feb. 6–14 there will be showing films during the daytime, right in the middle of your lunch hour. So pack a sandwich or a smoothie and head over to either the Yukon Arts Centre or the Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre for some truly fascinating cinema. Here is a rundown …
Art Crawl Dawson Style
Blair Douglas and Carly Woolner are hoping you’ll join them outside to have some fun this weekend. They are organizing the second annual edition of The (s)hiver Winter Arts Festival, taking place in Dawson City on Jan. 30 and 31. “We want to get people out to celebrate when everything is shut down and quiet,” …
The Must-See Guide to the Pivot Theatre Festival
By La Compagnie L’Immédiat/Camille Boitel Jan. 27-29, 8 p.m., Yukon Arts Centre Co-presented with the Yukon Arts Centre, this European classic comes all the way from Paris, France. Perhaps more exciting than the distance travelled, or the point of origin, is that its Yukon debut will also be its North American premiere. Yukon audiences will be …
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Awesome Canadian Films
For years Canadian cinema was referred to as invisible cinema for its lack of global impact and struggle to compete with Hollywood’s massive export of blockbuster films. Each year film festivals around Canada aim to disprove this notion and push the potential and visibility of Canadian cinema to other parts of the world – and …
Available Light Film Fest shines on Canada’s North
This year’s Available Light Film Festival (ALFF) features a series of films draw audiences’ attention to the experiences of life in the Canadian Arctic and sub-Arctic regions. The North on Screen series comprises a third of the Yukon Film Society’s 14th Annual film festival, which runs Feb. 7 to 14 in Whitehorse. Nunavut Inuk filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk (Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner) returns …
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Perogy Blessings
Perogies have always been a part of my life. Every meal that includes homemade perogies is a special occasion. Learning the best way to make them has been a lifelong process. I am the child of first generation Canadians. My mother’s family emigrated from Finland; my father’s from the Ukraine and Poland. My father, who …
Making Plans for the Midnight Sun
Rumour has it the 2015 lineup is the Kluane Bluegrass Music Festival’s best yet. No shortage of interest in headlining 2 decades in.
Holiday Gift Guide
As we enter the holiday season where advertising, social media, and storefronts are shouting at us about all the things there are to buy, one might wonder whether all this shopping will lead to anyone’s happiness. Researchers out of Cornell University had a similar thought. Thomas Gilovich and Amit Kumar published their research in the …
Invitation for an Authentic Experience
Yukon First Nations are planning ways to offer authentic cultural experiences for visitors. The plan to bolster cultural tourism among the Yukon First Nations has been in the works for a while, but this week people from across the Yukon Territory are getting together for a conference in Whitehorse to discuss ways to strengthen this …
Folks Rocking the Blues with Soul
Whitehorse-resident Selina Heyligers-Hare, or as she’s billed in the upcoming Blue Feather Music Festival, Selina H., is only 18 years old. She just graduated from high school. However, she has 13 years of experience making music and can hold her own on a big stage. When Heyligers-Hare was five years old she started playing the …
Blue Feather Turns 15
Gary Bailie has taken a personal tragedy and turned it into the fuel that powers him to produce the popular Blue Feather Music Festival. Now in its 15th year the annual music event was never meant to be the large-scale music festival it has become. It initially began as a celebration of life for Bailie’s …
Telling stories
Sharon Shorty and I first met back in 2005 when I worked at the Yukon College Library with her awesome husband, Derek Yap. Sharon was born and raised in Whitehorse and is a member of the Teslin Tlingit First Nation. She is a storyteller, beader, regalia maker, wife, playwright, mom, and actor. But what I …
Deep Ecology
The year was 1971. Three Dog Nights’ “Joy to the World” became RPM’s top chart hit alongside The Stampeders’ “Sweet City Woman”. Pierre Trudeau was Prime Minister and James Smith was Commissioner of the Yukon. Smith was instrumental in creating the Kluane National Park and Reserves and designating the Chilkoot Trail as a National Historic …
Taking His Music Around the World
Homegrown singer-songwriter Gordie Tentrees is releasing his sixth album, Less is More, with a Northern tour this month. Tentrees is playing in Skagway, Dawson City,Keno City, and two shows in Whitehorse. This Northern tour follows his recent tours through British Columbia, the United States and Australia. In the next six months he plans to tour …
Good beer is like fine wine
“Tasting beer is a very similar process as tasting wine,” says Kaori Torigai, president of the Yukon Beer Festival Society.
Unravelling the layers of existence
A brilliantly layered and sensitive look at the contrasting stages of life, the 2014 film The Clouds of Sils Maria stars Juliette Binoche as Maria Enders, an accomplished stage actress who becomes painfully aware of the relationships between herself and the characters she portrays when she is asked to perform in the play that kick-started …
The beauty and the decay of life around the planet
Since being presented the Palme D’Or and Best Director credits at the Cannes Film Festival for Paris, Texas (1984) and Wings of Desire (1987) respectively, German filmmaker Wim Wenders continues to be intrigued by the human condition has ceased to allow his intrigue of the human condition to weaken. Wenders’ more recent films Buena Vista …
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Revisiting the Klondike Big Inch
Each year during the Riverside Arts Festival, the ODD Gallery sponsors a paired set of exhibitions called The Natural and the Manufactured, each dealing with some way in which people and their plans have had an impact on the environment around them. This year one of those exhibits, the one indoors at the gallery itself, …
The Paradise Beat
“Welcome to paradise,” Kevin Jack says. Thus begins my tour of a property that edges onto the swampy back of Marsh Lake. An old gold mining site, it is a refuge for old gold mining things: a tiny log cabin with grass growing out of the roof; metal drums sunken into the ground on a …
Wild Cards
The 4th Dawson Daily News Print & Publishing Symposium, part of the annual Yukon Riverside Arts Festival, is taking a walk on the wild side.
Boulder On!
Do you like climbing rocks? Do you enjoy hiking in a gorgeous valley? What about making friends? Walking a tightrope suspended between two giant boulders? Do you like having fun and being happy? If you answered yes to any of these, you’re in luck. This Saturday, the local climbing community will host a revival of …
Concierge at Large
Most youngsters try on adult roles from time to time, but few go from role-play to reality as seamlessly as Eric Pateman moved into a career in hospitality. The founder and president of Edible Canada has photos of his 5-year-old self with a waiter’s towel draped over his arm, serving lunch to his grandparents, complete …
Pop-up Fashion
Jessica Vallenga has an eye for quality-made clothes; she is an artist trained in textiles, and she makes clothes. She turns embroidery into pendants and earrings, and she makes lingerie. As well as making clothing, Vallenga keeps her eyes peeled for second-hand finds wherever she goes. Most recently, it was Seattle, where she found a …
Atlin’s Ian Fest
Ian Tyson, iconic minstrel of life in the West/North. 68yr old hearing an 81yr old singer at Atlin Arts and Music Festival felt young again.
Festival Fare
Festival season is in full swing, and every weekend sees crowds descending on another Yukon community for a bit of all-night sun revelry. My personal favourite, and often my only festival of the summer, is the Atlin Arts and Music Festival. This year’s festival had an impressive array of food vendors who seemed to be …
Frolic for Foodies
At the end of July, foodies from across the country will travel north to take part in the 2015 Yukon Culinary Festival. Now in its third year, the festival will showcase and celebrate the Yukon’s local food movement to visitors and locals alike. Taking place over four days, from Thursday, July 30 to Sunday, August …
Rambling North for the Dawson City Music Festival
The Slocan Ramblers often get asked how it happens that four lads who live in Toronto came to be interested in bluegrass music. Bass player Alastair Whitehead says there’s a fairly vibrant bluegrass scene in Toronto and even a lot of interest in really old time bluegrass. “There’s been a weekly gathering with groups at …
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Media Arts on the Waterfront
A few years ago the Yukon Film Society (YFS) unsuccessfully bid on a lease for the Hatch House in Shipyards Park, in hopes of hosting an artist residency. Although that didn’t work out, it planted a seed that has borne fruit this summer. Throughout the spring, summer, and fall YFS will support an artist residency …
Writing Across the Borders
An ambitious pan-Northern ensemble of seasoned musicians from all three territories will make its debut in Whitehorse next week as one of the performance highlights of the fifth annual Adäka Cultural Festival. The New North Collective will bring together the songwriting and performing talents of four Yukoners, two residents of the Northwest Territories, and a …
Playing With Fire by Theo Fleury
I heard Theo Fleury speak at the Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre in Whitehorse last summer during the Adäka Cultural Festival, but hadn’t had a chance to read his autobiography, Playing With Fire, until recently. I finished it quickly. He writes forcefully about his addictions and the abuse and neglect that underpinned them. Much of the …
The Midnight Sun Camera Obscura Festival
A camera obscura is an optical device, and is the prototype of the photographic camera we know today. It consists of a box or room with a hole in one side. Light from an external scene passes through the hole and strikes a surface inside, where it is reproduced and rotated 180 degrees. Camera obscuras …
When the Darkness Bleeds Daylight
June 17 – 21 2015: Dawson City Midnight Sun Camera Obscura Festival. This is the follow up to last year’s Dawson City Solstice Symposium
More than just music
Meet Jordi Mikeli-Jones — a renaissance woman. She is the owner of the popular Triple J’s Music, Tattoos and Piercing. She is president of Kona’s Coalition, a non-profit organization that works towards improving animal welfare in the Yukon. She was the first female resident DJ in Whitehorse, and she is the founder and promoter of …
First Nations share through fashion
It’s her first day on the job and Chantal Rondeau is starting with a list of the Yukon’s 14 First Nations. “I cross them off when I get a piece of their clothing on the runway,” she says. The producer of the Adäka Fashion Show, the splashy finale of the upcoming Adäka Cultural Festival, June …
Ancestral Ways
Juanita Growing Thunder-Fogarty lives in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, in the tiny community of North San Juan, on the same property her paternal ancestors settled during the California Gold Rush of 1849. But her heart is inextricably linked to the Great Plains territory of her Sioux and Assiniboine forebears, and the beading …
Sometimes doing the Badd thing feels so good
Cover Me Badd VII is back this summer for another evening of rocking good fun in Dawson City. On June 5, from 7 to 11 p.m., Dawson City Music Festival (DCMF) and the Klondike Institute of Art and Culture (KIAC) will co-host this evening of music and entertainment. Emily Farrell, Executive Director of DCMF, emphasizes …
Full Circle
On June 12, the Yukon’s annual bluegrass bash is heading back to Kluane Country, where it all began. After a three-year sojourn in Whitehorse, the Kluane Mountain Bluegrass Festival will celebrate its 12th anniversary next week in what artistic director John Faulkner calls its “ancestral home” of Haines Junction. “It’s feeling good to everybody,” he …
Girls Rock Camp
The closest I’ve come to being in a band was brought about through my love of the Spice Girls. When I was eleven, my friends and I entered a big impersonation contest at the mall, practicing our dance moves and lip-syncing for weeks beforehand. As we grew older and our tastes evolved, we began visiting …
The Newest Coffee and Beer Headquarters
Micah Quinn likes a challenge — whether it’s hiking the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada (4265 kilometres) alone, or re-imagining a local Whitehorse coffee shop as a dynamic new hub for the community, he’s up for it. Late last year Quinn was finishing a contract at Yukon College. He had spent the last …
Cranes Fly High Up in the Sky
The thermals above the town of Faro may account for the “tens of thousands” of sand hill cranes that fly above it each spring. Or so Rose Fulton speculates. Fulton works for the town, and is the Faro Crane and Sheep Viewing Festival coordinator. She says she’d be the event coordinator, but there aren’t enough …
Flowers in the Concrete
Rich Hill, playing at the Yukon Arts Centre on Sunday, is a poignant observational snapshot of three boys on separate, but similar, journeys through the early days of youth, as spent in America’s povertystricken heartland. Poverty is crushing. But it’s always amazing to see that the human spirit, especially in children, is remarkably diffi cult …
OUT North comes of age
Contemplating what to write about this weekend’s OUT North Film Festival, which runs from April 17 to 19 at the Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre, my brain landed on the word “age”, and stubbornly refused to budge. So, with apologies for the occasional reach, what follows is a quick tour of how the thread of age, …
Her Next Plan is Coming to a Television Near You
A television mini-series is being shot in Dawson between April 7 and 17. The two episodes of Her Next Plan are being produced by the newly formed Big Plan Pictures Ltd. Dawson filmmaker Lulu Keating (Red Snapper Films) and Max Fraser (Hootalinqua Motion Pictures), formed the new partnership to bring this short series to the …
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Meds to Media
Dawson City has created a filmmaker out of a doctor. So says Suzanne Crocker, creator of All the Time in the World, a full-length feature film that is making waves around the country. It will be screened in Dawson City at the Odd Fellows Hall on Thursday, April 2 at 7:30 p.m.The film documents the …
The Midnight Sons Band: Working Hard and Going Far
The Midnight Sons Band is making a mark on the Whitehorse music scene and is now looking to build a national fan base.
The Wild & Scenic Film Festival Makes a Whitehorse Debut
The Wild & Scenic Film Festival (WSFF), screening at the Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre on March 5, aims to create a space “where activism gets inspired”; it is the largest environmental film festival in North America. The group behind this festival, the South Yuba River Citizen’s League (SYRCL, pronounced “circle”), is California based organization that …
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East Coasters Come North
When I reach Jon Mckiel he’s in the middle of a New Brunswick snowstorm. I’m in the Yukon, where the temperature has dipped below -30°C. We talk about what to expect when he arrives in Whitehorse to perform at the Available Light Film Festival on February 13. He’s never been here, and I’ve never been …
ALFF Breakdown, Part Two
Thursday, February 12th The day kicks off with the festival’s final installment of the Fire Hall Film Talks, a series of free lunchtime discussions between filmmakers and artists about behind-the-scene development of projects. Thursday’s talk is on the changing face of music videos and narrative film. Panelists are singer-songwriter John Southworth; Violent director and member …
Film Festival Round Up: Part One
The 2015 Available Light Film Festival is bringing a jam-packed program to Yukon Arts Centre this February. The first half of the festival, Feb 7 to Feb 11, is covered here. Itinerary from Feb 12 to Feb 16 will be in next week’s paper. Prices of events may vary. Get your day planners ready — …
The Many Faces of Claire Ness
I’m in the ‘98 drinking water (sober January) and waiting for Claire Ness to arrive. “London Calling” by The Clash is playing, which, for some reason, doesn’t feel out of place here. Once Claire arrives, the first topic we land on is her upcoming adventure with her Frenchman: they are looking for the sweet chassis …
Tanya Tagaq Reclaims Stories of her People
For those who missed Tanya Tagaq on stage at music festivals in Dawson and Atlin, the Available Light Film Festival (ALFF) is giving Yukoners another chance to experience this acclaimed musician’s work on February 10 at the Yukon Arts Centre. Tagaq rocketed onto radar-screens last year when her newest album, Animism, won the 2014 Polaris …
Two 4 One Breaks New Ground
Move over Ben Affleck and Julia Roberts, the Canadian filmmaking world would like to thank you for solidifying conventions for the romantic comedy genre, so Two 4 One can break those conventions into a million pieces. This progressive look at real-life love is refreshing and accessible: a movie about a transgendered Canadian in which an …
The Wooden Sky Kicks Off ALFF
For Yukoners who miss having a music festival in February, the Yukon Film Society has stepped up. This year, the Available Light Film Festival (ALFF) has expanded to include musical performances. Andrew Connors, ALFF director, explains: “It’s twofold. We realized that the way we configure the Yukon Arts Centre for cinema, we move the screen …
Dan Mangan is Back in Town
Dan Mangan is almost as excited to see the Yukon again as Yukoners are to see him. In 2010, Mangan played both the Frostbite and Dawson City Music Festivals and was impressed by the local cultural scene. He says, “it seems to me like there’s a really good music community up there, a really strong arts …
Music for the community
I’ve been the opening act at the last two monthly coffee houses. We meet on the first Saturday of every month in the Odd Fellows Hall ballroom. We’ve been doing these evenings for the better part of a decade. I know because I was still teaching during the first couple of years, and this month …
(S)hiver Festival
A brand new event will be taking place in Dawson City on Saturday, January 24. The (s)hiver festival promises a night of art, light, and creativity in response to the dark cold of a northern winter. Originally from Vancouver, festival organizers Blair Douglas and Carly Woolner arrived in Dawson last summer. Both are artists; Douglas …
Imagination and pain on display in Newfoundland yarn
Joel Thomas Hynes’s blackly tinted, yet poignantly observant perspective, brings you his best film yet. Cast No Shadow, playing at the Yukon Arts Centre on February 10, is a beautifully filmed narrative about the most terrifying demon of all: the one within. Set in the ever-shadowy outport Newfoundland, a world of dilapidated musty kitchens and …
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Kluane Mountain Bluegrass Festival returns to the Junction
The summer of 2015 will see the Kluane Mountain Bluegrass Festival, which went on temporary hiatus last year, returning to Haines Junction.
The Web of Family
Two distinctly different takes on the theme of family are among the highlights of this year’s Nakai Pivot Festival, which kicks off on Saturday, January 17 . Ralph + Lina is a two-handed “acrobatic comedy” performed by the husband and wife team of Dan Watson and Christina Serra, who first conceived the project while they …
Coffeehouse Folks
Twenty-five years ago, the Folk Society of Whitehorse (FSW) began as an event for people of all ages to enjoy. Today, it is on a roll — hosting monthly events. Paul Davis is the president of FSW, but he admits that he can’t do it on his own. “ We have about 20 volunteers, which …
A Sourdough Scrapbook
How much do Yukoners look forward to Rendezvous? A quick glance at the Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous website gives you a hint: they have a clock counting down to the start of the 2015 festival — and it’s accurate to the second. Whether your preferred event is flour packing, the one dog pull, or just a good …
People Will Always Need Stories
“ One hundred writers from around the world in 86 events”, was the motto of the 2014 Vancouver Writers Festival. It kicked off with an author many were looking forward to hearing from: Karl Ove Knausgaard, a literary sensation from Norway, who has published an autobiographical six-book-series called My Struggle. He writes about big issues …
Premium Suds
2014, craft beer options were the T & M lounge or the Yukon Beer Festival. Brainchild of Andrea Pierce now Kaori Torigai will be president.
The Scientific Lens
The Yukon Film Society and Yukon Arts Centre present the return of the Available Light Cinema series on Sunday, September 21 with two films of the scientific variety. The science fiction film screening at 9:00 p.m. is Jonathan Glazer’s chilling parable Under the Skin. Scarlett Johansson stars in it, and it has been compared to …
Northern Exposure
My first time skinny-dip comes among a swirl of firsts. It happens in Atlin, my first time in that pretty town, in my first month living in the Yukon. It’s my first time taking my clothes off where strangers can see me, my first time standing tall and nude in the unshielding bright of day. …
Busy Weekend in Dawson City
“This weekend is an iconic celebration of what’s great in Dawson,” says Paul Robitaille. Discovery Days, the Riverside Arts Festival & more
Whirlwind of Yukon Flavour
It all began with fireweed pepper jelly. I did not know such a thing existed, but I am very glad I discovered it. I arrived at Rivendell farms at 6:00 p.m. for the Feast of Farms, the closing event of the Yukon Culinary Festival. As I made my way across the parking lot, I was …
Not Easy Being Green
If you’re heading out to Circle D Ranch for a few days of music and food this weekend, you’d be well-advised to bring your own eating and drinking gear, or at least a toonie to “rent” a plate. The three-day outing, now known as the Frog Food Festival – Served with Music, is being billed …
A Foodie’s Dream Come True
Birch syrup, fireweed jelly, juniper berry shortbread, and low bush cranberries are a few of the ingredients that will rise to the occasion for the Yukon Culinary Festival. Among the festival events is the Tastes of Whitehorse food crawl, beginning July 31 at 5:30 p.m. It will encompass the tasty delights of five local restaurants …
Pig-roaster with Serious Cred
Chris Irving has cooked for Queen Elizabeth II and the royal family of Spain. He’s made sushi and fried chicken for the four “just normal kids” of David and Victoria Beckham. He’s cooked on luxury yachts and in fancy hotels, not to mention the private mansion of master chef Gordon Ramsay. Now he’s coming home …
2014: Atlin Arts and Music Festival
Atlin Arts and Music Festival is an institution. Now in its 11th year, the event draws visitors and performers from across Canada and beyond.
Makushan-maker
Florent Vollant’s first exposure to music was in his family’s cabin on a trapline in Labrador. After a successful caribou hunt, the family would celebrate with traditional songs and dances, in the Innu tradition of the makushan, or pow wow. “I was four or five years old the first time I remember the sound of …
Feels Like a Celebration
First, she says, it allows artists, performers and cultural sector workers “to come together once a year to share inspiration, to share ideas, to learn new skills, to inspire each other.” Alexander is a co-founder and executive producer of the four-year-old festival, which runs this year from Friday, June 27 through Thursday, July 3 at …
The Sunstroke Music Festival is a Sign of Summer
Solstice is nearly upon us, which means the annual Sunstroke Music Festival is almost upon us, too. For those who are new to the festival, it’s a non-profit fundraiser for Kona’s Coalition. The coalition helps animals in the Yukon by educating people, advocating for animals, and providing financial support when needed. It is a two-day …
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Taxicab Theatre
Gab in a cab, do time in the hole, or ponder what lies behind schoolyard shootings. These are just some of the options available to audience members as Nakai Theatre presents version six of its Homegrown Theatre Festival next week at the Guild Hall. The lineup of 12 local shows runs the gamut from a …
Around the world in a weekend
Dawson City International Short Film Festival (DCISFF) started in 2000, Dan Sokolowski has been organizing the festival for eight years.
Canadian Indie Filmmaker Heads Our Way
The Animal Project, a new feature film by prolific Canadian indie filmmaker Ingrid Veninger, began as a leap of faith. To begin creating the film, Toronto-based Veninger met 100 actors, one at a time, with no script in hand, no concept for the plot, and no characters. “The project was born out of a desire …
One Foot in a Moccasin, and One in a Sneaker
Culture has been described as the immune system of a people, and in a world where so many distractions are coming at us on a regular basis, Yukoners can take comfort in knowing that we are home to a beautiful and thriving culture. Last year, Yukon First Nations celebrated the 40-year anniversary of the document, …
A Flood of Activities
The middle of March is important for more than just spring break — it also marks Canada Water Week. Described as the week to celebrate water across the nation, Canada Water Week is held annually in the third week of March, coinciding with the United Nations’ International World Water Day on March 22. Heather Jirousek …
More Quality Films to See on a Big Screen
Fresh from one of its most successful festivals to date, the Yukon Film Society presents a trio of superb films in its monthly Available Light Cinema series, March 22 and 23. Headlining the bill is the triple-Oscar winning Twelve Years A Slave, followed by award-winning documentary Cutie And The Boxer, and a new Coen Brothers …
Films from the Out-side
The Yukon Queer Film Alliance are hosting the third annual film festival OUT North this weekend at The Old Fire Hall in Whitehorse. The eclectic festival delivers a variety of lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender-related films. “The first OUT North was in 2012,” says festival co-producer Debbie Thomas. “We take it a tiny bit at a time and try …
Finding the Essence of Experience in Nature
Yukon artist Helen O’Connor’s textural, organic, large-scale sculpture, assemblages, and installations beg the viewer to reach out and touch them. The works seem as though they are part of the natural world, not made by human hands. Indeed, O’Connor’s works are made with reverence to nature. However, instead of literal depictions, she tries to find …
The Boost a Battle Can Give
For many bands the step to a big stage is challenging. That’s the Battle of the Bands in Whitehorse has been a continued success.
Filling the Frostbite Void
For 35 years the Frostbite Music Festival has been bringing bands to Whitehorse to showcase new music to an appreciative audience. Year after year organizers chose acts that were a combination of emerging talent breaking onto the music scene in a big way, as well as established musicians and unknowns. Except not this year. They’re taking …
The Dawson City Music Festival Focuses on Quality over Quantity
2014: Frostbite and the Kluane Bluegrass, are taking the year off, Dawson City Music Festival (DCMF) soldiers on.
The Little Film Festival that could
It’s a film festival in a town that doesn’t have a theatre. It’s an international film festival in a town that doesn’t have an international airport. But the 6th Dawson City International Short Film Festival is still a hot ticket. Its producer, Lulu Keating, says she was impressed when she first attended as a guest. …
An Invitation to Experience the Thrill and the Grit
The mix of open-flowing creativity, with a dash of fear, makes for a high that’s addictive for theatre performers — and especially for playwrights who perform their own plays. Usually the audience goes home with ideas swimming around, but we’re not buzzing the same way. Next week we can come close. The Pivot Theatre Festival, …
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Lanterns, Costumes, Action: Winterval lantern workshop and parade takes place Nov. 30
“It’s all about magic,” says Maryne Dumaine, the production and marketing manager for this year’s Winterval festival. The event has become a regular part of the Christmas season, and Yukoners can expect a unique take on holiday cheer from the Yukon Educational Theatre (YET). “We want to make art fun and more accessible for people …
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Poignant Labour Docs Screen in Whitehorse
The Canadian Labour International Film Festival (CLIFF) celebrates its fifth anniversary in the Yukon on Wednesday, November 20. CLIFF is an initiative of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), presented locally by the Yukon Employees Union (YEU). Designed to showcase the realities of working life in Canada and around the world, CLIFF will present …
Clowns running amok at Yukon Arts Centre: Humour in the finest traditions of Bugs Bunny
Skating on wash buckets, pratfalls, explosions and fart jokes – Fart jokes! What can be better than fart jokes? – combine for a rollicking fun circus show. “It’s the funniest show I’ve seen on a Canadian stage in five years,” says Eric Epstein, the artistic director of the Yukon Arts Centre. He had heard good …
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Gearing up for 48 Hours of Filming Madness
The date may have changed this year, but the timing is the same. Contestants in the Yukon 48 Challenge still have just 48 hours to devise, film and edit a short film for presentation. While usually held in January, this edition of the contest will take place Nov. 15 to 17 in both Dawson and …
The three faces behind the Yukon Film Society: There’s more than one way to eat popcorn
A group of movie lovers gathers on a frigid Sunday in Whitehorse. In an apartment living room, they watch movies and eat popcorn. They laugh with a good comedy and are swept away with a gripping drama. But the home of Yukon Film Society president Michael Vernon is not being used just for a good …
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Frostbite brings music from all over the world: It’s the Thrill on the Hill
Brenda Barnes knows that the best way to get rid of cold is to get lots of bed rest. But the Frostbite Music Festival begins Friday, Feb. 11, and she is its producer. But, two weeks ago, it was Day 12 of her cold and the list of her emails (the ones that arrived before …
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Short films advertise short films: For the Dawson City International Short Film Festival
DAWSON CITY — CBC North is looking for short films to advertise a festival about short films. The Dawson City International Short Film Festival is again looking for the best public service announcement to be aired on CBC North. The winning entry will receive $100. “Story, story, story,” Lulu Keating tells people who are looking …
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The Good, the Old and the Creepy: A look at the Available Light Cinema’s eclectic new season
Andrew Connors has you in mind. All of you. And it isn’t even creepy. Well some of it is — like Upstream Colour — but most of it is just harmless fun. “Diversity in programming was the point,” says the Yukon Film Society’s executive director about this fall’s Available Light Cinema roster. “We are trying …