Yukon's Dawson City Music Festival Cancels 2020 Event Due to COVID-19

This marks the first-ever cancellation in the fest's 42-year history

BY Brock ThiessenPublished Apr 16, 2020

The Dawson City Music Festival has just become the latest Canadian event to cancel its 2020 edition due to COVID-19.

Organizers announced today that Yukon's longest-running music festival will no longer take place in 2020 due to the pandemic, marking the first time the fest has been cancelled in its 42-year history.

The 42nd annual Dawson City Music Festival was originally scheduled to take place July 17 to 19 in Dawson City, Yukon.

In the organizers' statement, they write: "2020 would have been a year to remember — Begonia, Cartel Madras, and Zaki Ibrahim are just a few of the artists who were looking forward to heading north."

It continues: "Our priority is the wellbeing of festivalgoers, performers, volunteers, staff, and our community. Understandably, there is no clear timeline regarding the lift of public gathering restrictions, social distancing practices, and self-isolation measures and therefore we are not able to responsibly move ahead with the production of the festival. We are confident that we will successfully navigate these difficult times and look forward to hosting the festival when it is safe to do so."


For now, ticket holders will be notified of their options via email, with one of those options being a full refund. You can learn more at the festival website, where you can also read organizers' full statement about the cancellation.

You can follow Exclaim!'s list of Canadian music and film events affected by coronavirus.

Latest Coverage