Boat building, raven's tail weaving: 7th annual Adka festival begins in Whitehorse

Yukon's AdkaCultural Festival gets underway on Friday evening, with dozens of visual artists, artisans, and performers scheduled to take part in the seven-day event.

"Everything from birch bark baskets, to stained glass, carving, raven's tail weaving," said the festival's executive director Charlene Alexander.

More than 60 visual artists will be on site at the Kwanlin Dn Cultural Centrein Whitehorse, giving demonstrations and workshops through the week. Abigdraw this year willbe the boat-building demonstrations, already underway for days.

As part of Canada 150 celebrations, four Yukon artists were commissioned to build some traditional watercraft a dugout canoe, a skin kayak, a moose skin boat and a birch bark canoe.The boats will be launched in the Yukon River on Thursday, the closing day of the festival.

"They will be a big part of the festival. So, we'll get a chance to listen to the boat builders talk about the boats, you'll get to see the boats and touch the boats," Alexander said.

She says lots of tourists from all over the world have already beenchecking out the boat builders in action.

"Everyday we saw an increase in attendance," she said. "They were just blown away that they got to watch."

Most events at the festival are free, though there are some ticketedevents, including concerts by Jay Gilday, Celeigh Cardinal, and the Northern Cree Singers.