Yukon's Kluane Mountain Bluegrass Festival returns for 1st time since pandemic began
'Everybody's thirsty [for] culture, shows and events and festivals,' said a visiting act
Haines Junction, Yukon, was alive with the sound of fiddles and banjos over the weekend as the Kluane Mountain Bluegrass Festival revved up for the first since 2019.
The annual bluegrass festival was cancelled the past two years due to COVID-19 restrictions, but according to Mark Nelson, one of the festival's organizers, this year's events got off to a "roaring start."
"You could tell the energy was really excited to get back here and actually hear live music again," he said Saturday.
The festival took place over three days from Friday to Sunday and featured local and international bluegrass music acts.
Nelson said tickets sold out several months before the festival started, and the concert hall in the St. Elias Convention Centre was packed every day.
Veranda, a bluegrass band from Montreal, Quebec, was one of the visiting acts.
"I feel that everybody's thirsty [for] culture, shows and events and festivals," said Léandre Joly-Pelletier, one of the band members.
It was Veranda's first time visiting the Yukon and the group will also be making stops in Whitehorse and Dawson City later in the month to perform.
Seth Mulder & Midnight Run, a band from Tennessee, performed at the festival Saturday night.
"Bluegrass is all about togetherness and family… It's just an inclusive thing," said guitarist Ben Watlington.
Mandolin player Seth Mulder said Yukoners welcomed the band with open arms.
"It's like being home away from home," he said.
Volunteer security guard Rick Nadaud has been helping out with the festival since it was created in 2003.
The Haines Junction resident said locals "love the music."
Nelson says the festival wouldn't be possible without all the volunteers that help out every year. The festival was still looking for volunteers a few days ago, but Nelson said those positions were filled in time for the event.
"The motto is 'Music, Mountains, Magic,' right?," said Nelson. "And I think that does sum it up pretty well."
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