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 […]
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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
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Panning for glory
Yukon’s mining heritage will be celebrated this summer in Dawson City. On July 4, from 1 to 4 p.m., the Yukon Gold Panning Championships will
Twice A Day the Whistle Blows
It’s 5:00 and I’m sitting at the table in my summer office which, whenever possible, is our veranda. Seven blocks west and about two north
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The Fire Siren is Good News
On any Wednesday evening, at any time during the year, most residents in the core historic zone of Dawson City can hear the sound of
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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
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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
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
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Freddie Osson
If you haven’t met Saxophone Freddie up in Dawson City, you should. He is, after all, the first face you see when you fly into
Explaining Travel Realities to People Outside
In just a few days we’ll be loading our little Toyota Yaris onto a freight truck and shipping it to Whitehorse to have a new
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The Break-Up Comedy Festival
Breaking up is no laughing matter. But the Break-Up Comedy Festival, taking place in Dawson City on May 16, definitely is. The idea for the
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World Heritage Planning Gets a Big Boost
The Yukon Government (YG) finally decided to sign on in a substantive way to the push for UNESCO World Heritage Status for the site designated
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Gerties is now a Municipal Heritage Site
Diamond Tooth Gerties is an iconic Dawson building. It’s the cash cow that finances most of the operations of the Klondike Visitors Association. As of
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Getting Around in Dawson
I recently listened to a court debate concerning the streets connected to 2nd Avenue in the north end of town, and which turn you would
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Honest, Aggressive Rock n’ Roll
The best album I heard last summer, and probably all year, came out of Dawson City. Hope, the debut album by The Naysayers, totally rocks.
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A Handler’s Tale
When I showcased my subpar dog handling skills in a race for the first time, it was the 2006 Yukon Quest. But I was no
The Dedicated Volunteers of the Yukon Quest
Judy Beaumont talks about the early days volunteering in the Yukon Quest office. The cramped space was shared with the Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous in the
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Rocking the Klondike
116th Brier, an event that started in the Klondike Gold Rush and is considered the Yukon’s oldest continuously running event.
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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
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Here Comes the Sun
At the request of some Facebook friends I spent about a week in late December taking a series of pictures showing the retreating daylight hours.
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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
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(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
How The Double Bob Bash Came To Be
Despite claims of memoirists galore, who say they walked the Chilkoot Pass with Robert Service, the man now known as the bard of the Yukon
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The Wasteland
Andrea Kastner has been fascinated by garbage for years. The Montreal native, who now makes her home in Hamilton, Ontario became interested in waste while
Keeping Busy Now that the Tourists are Gone
Most of the tourists are gone in mid-October and the Klondike is settling into its off-season routine. Across the river in West Dawson and Sunnydale,
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Greg Hakonson – One Man’s Dream Of The Arts As An Economic Engine For Dawson City
The way Greg Hakonson tells it, the Dawson City Arts Society (DCAS) had its beginnings in a chance encounter with his across-the-street neighbor, artist John
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Where Have All The Colours Gone?
On the day I am writing this, Whitehorse and Haines Junction are inches deep in their first winter snow and Dawson, while chilly and damp,
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Keeping Busy On The Berton House Beat
Last evening our current writer-in-residence, Anik See, presented two of her essays to 15 people at the Dawson Community Library. See focuses particularly on landscape
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Landscape and Solitude
In 1938, when Anik See’s maternal grandparents wanted to get married, they had to satisfy the authorities in their German homeland that neither side had
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The Glory Days of Outhouse Races Past
The Klondike Outhouse Race was inspired by chatter in a bar. “the barnstorming biffies charge through Dawson like a dose of castor oil.”
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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
Dan Sokolowski Can’t Stay Away from the Dempster
Dan Sokolowski doesn’t disguise his fascination with the Dempster Highway area. “There’s something in the air that makes you feel the people that have been
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Not Content with Watching the River Flow
Some people are just not content to watch the river flow.They have to get in it and, as Ratty said to Mole in The Wind
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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
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Dawson’s Public Gardens Are A Treat
Dawson has a long history of dressing up with flowers and plants. When Martha Louise Black was the chatelaine at the Commissioner’s Residence on Front
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Why does Dawson Need a Dike?
The Yukon Gold Panning Championships were held on the well-used greensward between Front Street and the dike. The greensward wouldn’t be here if the dike
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Grand Times at the Palace
The second full revival season has been launched at the Palace Grand theatre. Marveling at the theatre is past due; It’s time to celebrate that
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Front Street’s Elegant Showcase
The Commissioner’s Residence sits on Front Street, just past St. Paul’s Anglican Church, in Dawson City. It is one of six buildings in town designed
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The George Black Ferry Links the Two Dawsons
The George Black Ferry splashed into the Yukon River shortly after 2:00 p.m. on May 15, bringing to life the summer time link between the
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The tripod met an unusual fate this year
I was in Calgary in the middle of a snowstorm when the ice went out in the Yukon River this year. Two days earlier, it
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Talking Points about “Klondike” for our summer visitors
There’s all sorts of misinformation about the Klondike Gold Rush out there. One of the most obvious is that a lot of Americans, other than
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Dawson’s reverse speed bumps slow people down
There are lots of places where people tend to drive a little too fast. Some of these places have had various ingenious traffic control systems
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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,
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What Does Klondike Mean to the World?
From the very beginning there’s been some confusion connected with the word “Klondike.” It started with new arrivals — the gold rush stampeders — who
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Dawson Gets Ready for Spring with Thaw di Gras
The mostly family oriented weekend event is a lot of fun for locals – and draws in visitors, too. It includes a lip sync event
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The Trek Will Be Coming Soon
The 21st running of the Trek Over the Top snowmobile run from Tok, Alaska, to Dawson City and back will take place from March 6
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Getting into the Skins of Things
Rebekah Miller is fascinated with zippers, with how they both conceal and reveal, how they open and close. She’s also fascinated with coverings – whether
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The Yukon Quest takes care of the Winter Blues
The Yukon Quest is an annual event in the North that can banish your winter doldrums, lift your spirits, and get you cheering. The Quest,
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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
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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.
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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
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Dawson City Yukon: A Living Ghost Town
Dawson City Yukon, on the shores of the Klondike River, has often been described as a living ghost town. Which means, of course, along with
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Naked neighbours
After fifteen years of modelling, I finally decided to ask a couple of artist friends how they handle drawing the naked body of someone they know.
The Legacy of Dick North will Endure
The late Dick North used to quip that with a surname like his it was no mystery that he worked as a journalist in the
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Proposing World Heritage Status for the Klondike
The headline on the front page of the July 24, 1997 edition of the Klondike Sun proclaimed, “Berton Proposes Dawson for World Heritage Site Status.”
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The Sourtoe Cocktail: A Popular Gag
Thousands of people have touched their lips to the Sourtoe and have swallowed the notion that it is part of Dawson’s quaint charm.
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Delving into the History of Bear Creek
Bear Creek Compound is owned by Parks Canada now, but it was once the thriving centre of operations for the Yukon Consolidated Gold Corporation (YCGC),
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Dredges Kept the Klondike Alive
Despite iconic images of a solitary miner with a pan or a group of men drifting into a hillside, the dredges of the corporate-mining-era are the main reason that Dawson outlasted the usual boom-and-bust cycle common to gold rush towns.
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Authors on Eighth
Taking a stroll along the Writers’ Block — from the corner of 8th Avenue and Hanson Street to the corner of 8th and Firth —
There’s a Market for Art in Dawson City
There is a buzz of excitement among the arts community in Dawson City. Starting last weekend, and continuing every Saturday throughout the summer, Dawson will
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Coping with the Summer’s Heat
The most common question from visitors is the one I was asked by a lady from Alabama this afternoon. I was on my way home
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Thaw Di Gras is winter’s ‘going-away party’
The closer you get to the Arctic Circle, the more you deserve a good blow out as the end of winter approaches. Instead of shaking
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Celebrating the Yukon’s Birthday
The event that led to the formation of the Yukon occurred on August 16, 1896: it was the discovery of gold on what was then
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Discovery Days and the Underwear Cannon
It always amazes me what northerners will do to prove they are unique and unlike people from Outside. See the Discovery Day long weekend.
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This is What They’ve Been Up To: Part 2
It must be a wild ride to work at the Yukon School of Visual Art (SOVA) in Dawson City. This year they had a student
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George McConkey Breathes Life Into the Harmonica
Discover the magic of George McConkey’s album, inspired by Robert W. Service, featuring powerful songs and lyrics.
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Making Culinary Art from Local Trees
You know that thing that happens when you taste something and it is so delicious that the experience goes beyond just eating something to this
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It’s gonna be a ‘blue’ folklore
Skookum Jim Friendship Centre is doing something different this year with its 2009 Folklore Show on Saturday, Jan. 31: it will be A Night of
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LuLu Keating
Originally from Nova Scotia, Lulu Keating often gets asked the question: “Why the hell did you move to the North?” Her short film, Dawson Town
You are what you eat …
Options for locally-produced and higher quality food are about to get a whole lot better in Dawson City, if the Dawson Food Secure Advocacy Group
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The science and fun of Mining and Geology Week
Joanne Rice wants everyone to know that May 11 to 17 is Mining … and Geology … Week. “It’s because when people think of mining
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Real entertainment from Fred Eaglesmith and Gordie Tentrees
You have to be thrilled for Gordie Tentrees. The first time his ears perked up to enjoy a folk tune, it was at a Fred
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Digits comes to Dawson
When Alt Altman, a.k.a. Digits, had the chance to participate in the Dawson City’s Songwriter in Residence program in February, he jumped at the opportunity.
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2013 Thaw Di Gras Explodes with Festivities
What is Dawson City‘s answer to the winter blues? The Thaw Di Gras spring carnival, a three-day event from March 15-17. The Klondike Visitors Association
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Dawson Looks After Those in Need
Food banks often start with the churches, which are acting out their faith’s instructions to look after the poor. In Dawson, the Transients’ Dinners that
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Artrepreneur: A Retreat Opens Its Doors Wider Still
The Ted Harrison Artist Retreat hopes more artists and arts organizations can benefit from the gorgeous space it has to offer. To that end, it
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The audience-friendly DCMF
“Last year there were lineups,” says Amy-Lynn Karchut, Dawson City Music Festival’s producer. “And that is against our mandate; we are not about lineups.” And
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The Double Bob is a Dawson Tradition
John Tyrrell, a former Dawsonite now living in Cyprus, where he is Dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral in Nicosia, writes to say that the anglophiles
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Down by the riverside
Throughout history, rivers have been associated with life. It seems appropriate, then, that those who create would celebrate alongside the Yukon River. The Yukon Riverside
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The Dempster adventure
In 2002, I embarked, with the love of my life, on a Yukon adventure I never experienced in the 29 years I lived here. Here,
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Driving North in July
In this haze the Yukon skyline, normally full of distince edges, has become a Tony Onley canvas, vistas folding into each other, fading with the
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Caramel Cliffs on the Yukon River
I had anticipated the kayak trip for a full year. The four days I had spent the previous year on the Yukon River, with my
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World of Words: The rugged history of Yukon libraries
Dawson’s first public library opened in a tent on Front Street in 1897, with 1,500 volumes donated by the Forty Mile Prospectors to “the mushing
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Friday Nights are Bombay Nights in Dawson City
Not many people know that an annual winter tradition in Dawson City started seven years ago as a joke. In 2006, Bombay Peggy’s, a popular
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Ghost Stories Creep from Street to Street
Ghost stories are one kind of conversation that sticks with you, often in unexpected ways. There are so many stories about hauntings at the Palace
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Film Festival Goers will be Reeling On Easter Weekend
On the day we met to discuss the 11th Dawson City International Short Film Festival, producer Dan Sokolowski was just finishing getting the 40-page program
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The Marvelous Tale of Musher McHugh
There are strange things done on the Percy run when the mushers hit the trail. There are tales that are told of the ice and
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Decaying Memories
Iremember the steamboats, the old man said. I remember them coming in spring. I remember the paddlewheels churning the water and bringing us many good
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
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When the Outhouses Get Running
Poetry à la Commode If you’re looking for good weekend sport then Dawson’s still holding the fort. Be real spiffy and bring your own biffy
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The New Faces of Dawson
While it’s rare to find a weekend in the Dawson summer when there’s not a major event, things do tend to slow down a bit
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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.
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Choosing sides for the Klondike winter
Twice a year in Dawson City, lives are disrupted, homes are abandoned and the big question is, “What side will you be on?” Is Dawson
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When the Fire Hall Got Hauled
Back in Column #2 of this series, I promised you a couple of moving stories about Dawson buildings. My last column should certainly have made
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Where Did You Say That Was
There are lots of people in Dawson who couldn’t give you street directions to save their lives. Part of the confusion is the problem with
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Afternoon and Evening Delight on Commissioner’s Day
At the last of the Transients’ Weekly Suppers this year, one of the special speakers at the event made reference to the Commissioner’s Residence and
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Early Adventures in Yukon Tourism
Watching visitors to town wander about taking pictures of things that seem quite ordinary to those of us who live here is a reminder that
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When the Whistle Blows
It seems only fair to warn strangers to the fair metropolis of Dawson City that there are certain hours of the day when it would
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Down and dirty in Dawson
They’re getting down and dirty in Dawson City – dirty actions of the gardening kind, that is. Dawson City Community Gardens, now in its third
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