After decades as a Dawson City Music Festival volunteer, he's hanging up his lanyard

The 47th Dawson City Music Festival has wrapped up — and so has one man's decades-long relationship with the festival as a loyal volunteer.

"It's really tough," Xander Mann told CBC News on Sunday. "[The] music fest has been a big part of my life, and my family's lives, for decades."

Mann said he will be moving out of Dawson City later this year after 40 years in the Yukon community, and there's a chance his family might move out of the territory.

Mann said his family first moved to Dawson City in 1985 and that shortly after, his mother started volunteering at the festival. He said the festival then was nowhere near the size it is today, but he says it's always been the "heart and soul" of the community.

"Back then it was such a small group of people that made this happen," he said. "But it's the people of the community that come together and put tents up, cook meals, drive people around, and put performers up in their homes. That's what I mean by the heart and soul of this community."

The Dawson City Music Festival (DCMF) is one of the territory's biggest and most popular annual events. For three days, the town hosts musicians, entertainers, locals, and visitors from all over the country, and sometimes beyond, for a weekend of good music and good vibes.

Performances at this year's festival, which wrapped up on Sunday, included big names like Jeremy Dutcher, Charlotte Cornfield, Rich Aucoin, and Toronto hip-hop artist Shad.

Corbin Murdoch is DCMF's executive director.

"All of the artists have been blown away by the community and how supportive they are of the arts, and supportive they are of this festival," he said. "That's really what it's all about, is getting to introduce about a hundred artists to this amazing community and this part of the world."

Murdoch said upward of 250 volunteers were involved with this year's event with many wearing multiple hats over the weekend but also in the weeks leading up to the event. He said the festival wouldn't be possible without all the volunteers.

"When you throw a party for 1,200 people, and there's 250 volunteers, there's a few mountains you've got to climb — but this is an amazing team," Murdoch said. 

Xander Mann said he'll always cherish the times he spend on the grounds, rocking out to bands, and being security on the final night of the festival. He said it's bittersweet to finally hang up his "volunteer" lanyard for the last time, but he knows the festival will continue to live on in Dawson, and his heart.

"Welcome to Dawson music fest," he said. "Feel the fury. Feel the passion. And feel the love."