Dawson City’s annual Discovery Days celebration brings three days of sports, a flower show, and a parade to the historic gold rush town from August 14 to 16. The weekend of events leads into the Discovery Day statutory holiday on Monday, August 17.
The City of Dawson and the Klondike Visitors Association are once again organizing the festivities, with help from the Dawson City Museum, the Yukon Order of Pioneers, and other local groups.
This year’s lineup starts early with the Discovery Day Golf Tournament running August 12 to 15 at the Dawson City Golf Course. The Discovery Days Fastball Tournament takes over from August 14 to 16. On August 15, the Horticultural Exhibition gives local gardeners a chance to show off what they have grown during the short northern summer.
The weekend also features a parade, live music, and an arts festival. Discovery Days commemorates the August 17, 1896 gold strike at Bonanza Creek by Kate Carmack, George Carmack, Skookum Jim, and Dawson Charlie. That find sparked the Klondike Gold Rush, drawing nearly 100,000 prospectors to the region over the next two years.
The city has been looking for volunteers to help keep the celebration running smoothly. Discovery Day has been a Yukon statutory holiday since 1911, a tradition unique to the territory.
