Whitehorse's Frostbite Music Festival returning after 2 year hiatus

Whitehorse's Frostbite Music Festival is back on this year, after taking a two-year break.

The once-popular winter festival happened every February since 1979, until it was cancelled in 2014 due to "budgetary restraints." There were plans to bring it back in 2015, but organizer Amos Scott said that was unrealistic.

"Once we got in there and realized all the work we had to put in to make it possible, we realized we really had to plan more for a 2016 comeback," he said.

It won't be a total comeback in the sense of reviving a multi-stage festival with big name acts from outside Yukon (past acts include Sarah McLachlan, the Rheostatics, Ani DiFranco and Carole Pope). Scott admits times have changed, and Frostbite is no longer the only thing that happens in February in Whitehorse.

"There is a lot more going on at that time of the year now," he said.

Scott says this year's event will be a smaller and more "locally-focussed festival." Confirmed acts include Major Funk and the Employment, Speed Control, Soul Migration and the Dakka Kwaan dancers.

"Frostbite has always been a real treat in the winter," Scott said. "I believe Frostbite has a genuine place in this community."

The festival will run from Feb. 12 to 14, but organizers have not announced the location. Tickets are expected to go on sale next week.