Yukon Girls Rock Camp wants to spread wings across North
One of the more popular events on the Yukon's summer music calendar is taking the year off.
Organizers of the Yukon Girls Rock Camp say camps will not be offered in Dawson City or in Whitehorse in 2019, while organizers and volunteers plan for the future.
That includes forming a non-profit organization.
"Nothing really will change in the front end," said Lana Welchman, the founder of Yukon Girls Rock Camp.
"It's just making sure the society and the organization and the people kind of behind the scenes are, that we have a good foundation to keep this thing going for the years and years to come," she said.
The rock camps have been part of the Dawson City Music Festival since 2015. Welchman is also behind Whitehorse's first girls rock camp in 2018.
Participants aged eight to 18 are given an instrument and form bands on the Monday. By Saturday they are ready to play their original song at a concert.
During the week they discuss topics like consent and how to deal with the male-dominated music industry.
Welchman said one goal is to look at encouraging similar camps across the North.
"One of the directions we envision ourselves moving is helping to bring this programming all across northern Canada," she said.
One of the mandates for the coming years to focus on social justice, said Welchman. That includes, "empowerment and amplifying the voices of marginalized people," she said.
Welchman said the rock camp will return to the Dawson City Music Festival after the hiatus. It gives the participants the chance to play to a crowd of several hundred people.
She said typically the rock camp audiences are made up mostly of family members.
Welchman said there are about 150 girls rock camps worldwide.
