Dawson City Music Festival called off for first time in 4 decades

It's one of Yukon's biggest and longest-running annual events — but it's not happening this year.

Like so much else, the 2020 Dawson City Music Festival (DCMF) has been cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Organizers made the announcement on Thursday.

"We are terribly heartbroken," said Andrea Vincent, the festival's producer.

"Longtime volunteer Glenda Bolt said it best — she said [the festival] has faced forest fires, and floods, and more. And it took a worldwide pandemic to stop us as Yukon's longest-running music festival."

The July festival was marking 42 years this summer. Over its history, it's become one of Yukon's best-known events, both among local music lovers and musicians across the country.

Even though the festival was still months away, and it's uncertain how long physical distancing orders might be in place, Vincent said a decision had to be made now.

"It does leave us in a fairly dire situation because of course we've already incurred so many costs," she said.

"Now we're in the time of the year [when] we would be spending large sums of money, you know, booking flights and booking equipment and all of that."

Some acts were already booked for this year, including Begonia, Cartel Madras, and Zaki Ibrahim. Vincent hopes to rebook them for next year, or maybe the year after.

She said people are disappointed with the cancellation, but they get it.

"DCMF is a summer highlight for so many. I mean, folks are naturally feeling very sad with the call, but they've been so understanding ... it's been really heartening to see the response."

Anybody who has already bought tickets for this year's festival will get a full refund, she said. Organizers will be emailing ticket holders in the coming days.

She's not sure what the future holds for the rest of the year. She hopes when restrictions start to loosen up, they'll at least be able to organize some shows or fundraising events.

"We have a wonderful list of ideas that are floating around," she said.

"It's going to be a struggle, but we trust in our community and trust in our supporters."