About Us

Yukon Educational Theatre

"Using theatre and applied arts as a tool for education, community building and in the development of creative and original pieces".

“It’s not so much winter that we’re burning away; people agree that there are things they like about winter. But it’s that dark feeling we sometimes go through during winter, when it’s dark.” ”

Event creator Arlin McFarlane

“Winter is a long and sometimes difficult season in the life of northerners. Rather than creating a self-help group to deal with personal woes and lethargy, the use of ritual (by Yukon Educational Theatre) as a means of engendering personal change is unique."

Inside Innovation Newsletter
Winter 2004

“When my children and I attend Burning Away the Winter Blues, I feel like we’re taking part in something timeless. We feel linked not just to the community members who are there, but also to those who’ve gone before us, who inhabited this place long ago. We’re able to celebrate a sacred time together, in an organic, simple way – with fire, light, drums and voices. It’s very special and something which few people in today’s world get to enjoy.”

Michele Emslie, Whitehorse resident

Burning Away the Winter Blues is staged by Yukon Educational Theatre, a registered non-profit society that has been in existence since the early 1980s. Located in Whitehorse, Yukon, the company has toured the territory with many workshops and theatrical productions over the years. Its mandate is “to use theatre and applied arts as a tool for education, community building and in the development of creative and original pieces.”

Yukon Educational Theatre receives financial support from a number of agencies and sponsors, in particular, the Arts Fund of the Government of Yukon, the Recreation Fund of the City of Whitehorse, the United Way and Lotteries Yukon.

Yukon Educational Theatre’s Inzanity Projects are dedicated to creating community celebration events that warm the heart and nurture the spirit.

Its three key events are Burning Away the Winter Blues, held each year around the Spring Equinox, A Celebration of the Harvest, held in conjunction with the last outdoor market in the middle of September and Winterval, the new Santa parade and Lantern Festival held at LePage Park in November.

Burning Away the Winter Blues

Burning Away the Winter Blues is an annual community-building ritual held in Whitehorse, Yukon. It was designed as a way to help Yukoners acknowledge the end of the winter and renew their spirits in time for spring.

Effigy in fire, arms akimbo, dark night surroundings

Participants take part in a torch-lit procession, led by a giant effigy of the Winter Blues, which culminates at the site of a great bonfire. There, the effigy, along with paper representations of the participants’ winter blues, are ceremonially burned as a symbolic gesture to bring closure to winter and to welcome spring.

The blues that are burned can be everything from chemistry notes - to symbolic last packages of cigarettes - to love letters - to just a few lines on a piece of paper describing what’s bugging you.

A Celebration of the Harvest

At the last outdoor market of the season, join us for our Celebration of the Harvest at the Fireweed Community Market Society in Shipyards Park in Whitehorse. The park is decked out in a colorful display and many harvest traditions will enliven your experience. Participate in workshops, make home-made ice cream, walk a contemplative labyrinth, watch artists perform live theatre, listen to music and tour the market. Spend an hour or spend the day.

Winterval

In partnership with the City of Whitehorse, Winterval starts at 1st and Main Street with the illumination of the giant tree! Follow Santa down Main to LePage Park with your lanters, and celebrate the arrival of Winter! Dance to the music, get your pictures with Santa and enjoy the artists and performers braving the weather with you!