MUSIC
More mandolin!
The Alsek Music Festival is on hiatus, but the Kluane Mountain Bluegrass Festival has gallantly raised the torch of high-quality live music.
If there’s one thing Yukon musicians can do well, it’s bluegrass. The territory’s greatest talents will be jammed into one drool-worthy catalogue, and joined by artists from across Canada and the United States.
Venues at the Convention Centre and St. Christopher’s Anglican Church. Schedule available at kluanemountainbluegrassfest.com.
Bring your banjo, lap guitar or voice—there will be workshops aplenty.
June 12 to14 in Haines Junction.
Sort of like Formal Monday, but with less drinking
Yukon musicians Kim Barlow, Kyle Cashen and Fiona Solon—the stalwart fixtures of Formal Mondays at Flipper’s Pub—have decided to spend this Monday at a venue free of plastic lobsters.
The trio presents the unsubtly named Evening of Music, a night of such acoustic clarity and lack of fishing nets that you won’t even notice the $15 ticket price.
Drinking out of mason jars is strictly prohibited.
Monday, 7:30 p.m. at the Old Fire Hall.
SCHMOOZE
Beauty and the beasts
Clearly in the back pocket of the skirt-and-girdle lobby, Yukon Commissioner Geraldine Van Bibber is once again hosting Dawson City’s annual Commissioner’s Ball.
Dust off your parasols and waistcoats, and prepare to enjoy yet another gold rush-themed Yukon tradition.
June 13, 2009 in Dawson City.
DANCE
Another Yukon dance society
Quite often, the dance-saturated Yukon is able to spin one of its own brood into the big time.
Nationally and internationally, Yukon-born dancers can be seen peddling whirls and pirouettes to the masses.
SYIDA—the Society of Yukon Independent Dance Artists—has come together to connect these accomplished dancers with the next generation of Yukon dancers.
Proteges and mentors—all under one big happy Yukon roof.
Watch the society’s first performance, Local and Abroad—this Friday and Saturday at the Old Fire Hall.
June 12 and 13, 8 p.m. at the Old Fire Hall.
DOG
Think of them as tiny horses
Inbred sled pullers, or icons of well-brushed beauty?
Find out this weekend at Yukon Kennel Club’s 38th Annual All Breed Championship Show.
Spaniel, retriever or shar-pei—the charming obedience of these tiny omnivores will be on parade all weekend.
Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Call 456-7995 or visit yukonkennelclub.com for more info.
HOLIDAYS AND COMMEMORATIONS
Do you really need all that blood?
Spurting blood adds a splash of colour to modern video games.
It also gives needed life to hundreds of thousands of Canadians.
The summer is a critical time for blood services. Blood donations are needed more than ever.
Just two donations can save up to six lives, and score you a free pencil and Fudgee-o—as well as a reduced bar tab.
One in every two Canadians will need blood at one point in their life—or know someone who will, says Canadian Blood Services.
Sunday is World Blood Donor Day.
Tales of brave Ulysses
Celebrations of Irish culture often result in extensive property and liver damage.
Not so with Bloomsday—an annual June 16 celebration of the life of Irish writer James Joyce.
On Bloomsday (named after Leo Bloom, the protagonists in Joyce’s novel Ulysses) Joyce proponents relive the events of Ulysses, all of which took place on the same day in Dublin in 1904.
Dressed in Edwardian garb, Joycites follow Bloom’s route around Dublin, focusing on key landmarks such as Davy Byrne’s pub.
Across the United States, hotbeds of Irish literature appreciation usher in Bloomsday with dramatizations, readings, Irish-cook-offs and ample doses of Celtic music.
Bloomsday has also seen some proponents attempt marathon readings of the tome—some going as long as 36 hours.
OUTDOORS
Some mystique with your mosquitoes
If your hiking life has grown a bit stale, try spicing it up with some spontaneity.
On Sunday, local writer Michael Dougherty is leading a “moderate dayhike” to locations unknown.
Your boots will be on, your bug dope will be at the ready, but the ground you will tread will be delightfully anonymous.
Sunday. Call 633-6579 for more info.
Caribou marmalade
For five years, the Yukon Wildlife Preserve has kept local fauna safe from the shotguns and truck grills of Yukoners.
Through hundreds of bus and walking tours, the 280-hectare preserve has brought sheep, elk and moose face-to-face with the wilderness impaired.
This weekend, leave the rifle at home and head on down to the preserve’s Fifth Anniversary Open House.
Food, music and free tours.
Saturday and Sunday, noon to 8 p.m.
KITSCH
Managed looting
Nothing says faith in humanity like a “pay what you can” garage sale.
A wealth of microwaves, record players and fondue kits—priced only by your guilt-ridden conscience.
Just to sweeten the deal, there are also pony rides and kids entertainment.
Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 2111 Centennial.
CRAFT
No Charlie Browns allowed
For those whose skills of tissue paper aerodynamics need work, let MacBride Museum show you the way.
Drop in to their Sunday kite-building workshop, and then watch as your handiwork gets enmeshed in pine trees.
Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m. at the MacBride Museum. $10 per family.
Contact Tristin Hopper at
tristinh@yukon-news.com
