Yukon's Frostbite Festival not doing so hot

Yukon's Frostbite Music Festival is in trouble.

The event, which took place last month in Whitehorse, lost a lot of money this year. Organizer John Layman won't say exactly how much, but said "it's bad."

"I'm not going to quote any number," he said. "We just weren't successful, financially." 

The festival — a popular mainstay on the Yukon events calendar for decades — had almost become history in recent years. It was cancelled in 2014 and 2015, saw a sort-of revival in 2016, and then was shelved again in 2017.

This year's event was meant to be a full-scale revival, with several acts brought in from outside the territory — including Juno-nominated Iskwé, alternative rockers Bend Sinister, and harmonica virtuoso Mike Stevens. There was also a long list of local performers, and it all happened in a new venue — the Kwanlin Dun Cultural Centre.

'More than we realistically had budget for'

It was maybe too much, Layman says.

"With an extra set of eyes, or two or three, we probably could have had somebody say, 'that's not wise, going that far.' We tried to do more than we realistically had budget for."

He says the festival was also put together in a bit of a last-minute rush, and that made it hard to find sponsors.

"You need the longer timeline, you need to have the funding to cover expenses," he said. "Budgets need to be scrutinized closely and they need to be followed — period."

Still, Layman says it was a good festival, and organizers heard "lots of positive feedback." He even thinks it will return next year — with some fundraising planned in the meantime.

"Frostbite needs some help."