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YAC and City of Whitehorse have partnered to create the Street Eats & Beats Cultural Festival

The new festival will highlight the city’s culinary and art scenes from Sept. 9-11
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Food trucks gather on Steele Street between Front and Second for the annual Street Eats Festival in August 2019. A new partnership between the Yukon Arts Centre and City of Whitehorse will bring the community the Street Eats & Beats Cultural Festival in September. (Julien Gignac/Yukon News file)

The Yukon Arts Centre (YAC) and the City of Whitehorse are teaming up to expand the city’s annual Street Eats food truck festival.

The new celebration, Street Eats & Beats Cultural Festival will “highlight our culinary, arts and music industry along the Whitehorse waterfront,” said a YAC press release.

The three-day event will be from Sept. 9-11.

Michelle Emslie, the YAC director of programming, said the partnership was serendipitous.

“The art centre received funding to put on cultural activities that we haven’t done before,” said Emslie. “The city wanted to enhance their annual Street Eats festival. It was the perfect partnership.”

All along the waterfront, between Shipyards Park and the Yukon Visitor Information Centre, the public will be able to experience plenty of events.

The food trucks and the main stage will be at Shipyards Park. At the Visitor Information Centre, there will be a children’s festival.

“When you wander along the waterfront, there will be a market behind the Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre and some art demonstrations,” said Emslie. “Then there will be activities at the wharf and art installations along the way.”

Emslie said after enduring the difficulties of the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival will be an “amazing opportunity for Yukoners to come together and celebrate our community through food, music, dance and art.”

“We can’t wait to provide our community a safe space to celebrate along the waterfront,” said Emslie.

Whitehorse Mayor Dan Curtis agreed with Emslie that this is an event locals need.

“Besides providing fun for all, festivals offer a host of economic and social benefits, foster community pride, strengthen relationships and bring communities together,” said Curtis. “This festival could not have come at a better time for us.”

The festival schedule, Emslie said, will be posted later this week. To see who is performing, people can check out the Yukon Arts Centre website for more details.

“We are really excited,” said Emslie. “We hope the community appreciates the opportunity to come and party, in a safe way. We are praying for good weather. We have the opportunity to dance safely and partake in this safely because we have lots of space.”

Contact John Tonin at john.tonin@yukon-news.com