Under the midnight sun, I saw the Yukon in a new light

Дата публикации: 18-08-2026 19:10:03

What a mid-July journey through Dawson City and Whitehorse reveals about Canada’s North

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I step through a tented tunnel onto the grassy Dawson City Music Festival grounds just as Major Funk, a Whitehorse-based seven-piece funk band, takes the stage. Festivalgoers throw their arms in the air while children weave through the crowd, laughing and playing beneath a sky so bright I have to wear sunglasses. 

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Curious, I check my watch. It’s nearly midnight. 

I glance back at the stage, then up at the glowing sky. Nothing about this moment feels late. No one is packing up. No one is looking for the exits. Without darkness to signal the end of the day, it feels as though time has become irrelevant. 

Spectators take in the Dawson City Music Festival. Photo by BIANCA BUJAN /POSTMEDIA

Rather than chasing the Northern Lights, I’ve come to the Yukon to experience the midnight sun and what happens to travel when nightfall no longer signals the end of the day. I knew I’d love the glow of the longer days, but I didn’t expect how quickly I’d stop relying on darkness to tell me when the day was over. 

In Dawson, the day refuses to end 

I fly Air North from Vancouver to Whitehorse, listening to Dan Mangan’s introspective indie-folk as I watch the rain fall outside my window. My eyes drift to the aisle, where I spot Mangan himself walking past me to take his seat. The Canadian singer-songwriter is headlining the Dawson City Music Festival, where I’m headed for my first few nights in the Yukon. 

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A colourful creamery serves treats in Dawson City. Photo by BIANCA BUJAN /POSTMEDIA

My first dinner in Dawson is at The Evergreen Table, a plant-based restaurant inside Yukon Spa, a wellness retreat with a rooftop Nordic spa. I’d expected the Yukon’s food scene to centre on meat and potatoes, so I’m caught off guard by a fluffy bao bun stuffed with what I’m convinced is shredded pork soaked in teriyaki. When co-owner Lee Manning joins us, I learn I’ve been fooled. “That’s actually shredded soy,” he says, grinning at my surprise. 

Over dinner, I ask Manning if he loves the extended daylight of summer, a contrast to the darker skies of the U.K., where he grew up. I’m surprised to learn it’s not his favourite season. 

“There’s something healing about the darkness,” he tells me. “The extreme cold and extended darkness allows for a reset and the return of daylight brings new beginnings.” 

His words stay with me as I head to Diamond Tooth Gertie’s for its famous high-kicking can-can show. When the performance wraps, I step outside and squint, cupping my hands over my eyes. Confused, I check my watch. It’s 11 p.m. 

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At Diamond Tooth Gertie’s for its famous high-kicking can-can show. Photo by BIANCA BUJAN /POSTMEDIA

The night isn’t over. We stroll over to the Dawson City Music Festival, where the music continues into the early hours beneath a sky that still refuses to go dark. 

Beyond the Gold Rush 

The Gold Rush is only part of Dawson’s story. 

I’d heard about the Klondike era that put the town on the map in the late 1800s, but I want to understand what happened to the people who were already here. Through Parks Canada’s Red Serge, Red Tape interpretive program, I learn about the impacts of colonialism on the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in, whose traditional territory includes present-day Dawson City. 

The guided walk through the Commissioner’s Residence explores the taking of Indigenous lands and displacement of Indigenous people through artifacts and audio recreations of letters from the era. Hearing this history through an Indigenous perspective, our group grows visibly emotional. It’s a reminder that Dawson is far more complex than the Gold Rush narrative I had known before arriving. 

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My thoughts are still with the stories shared on the tour as I stroll through Dawson’s farmers’ market. There, I meet Peggy Amendola, a local who has lived in town for decades. I ask if she loves the extended summer days. “The produce is big and beautiful from all the extra daylight,” she says. “You should see the cauliflower!”  

But when I ask about her favourite season, she, too, admits she prefers winter. 

Learning to live by the light  

By the time I leave Dawson, I’ve stopped checking the time. When I arrive in Whitehorse, I realize the biggest change isn’t the midnight sun itself, but how quickly the extra daylight has changed my behaviour. 

Writer Bianca Bujan on the Spirit Canyon hike. Photo by BIANCA BUJAN /POSTMEDIA

I’m picked up by Yukon Roots co-owner Nicole Nielsen, a proud citizen of Champagne and Aishihik First Nations. We head toward Spirit Canyon, where she leads me on a hike. 

Along the trail, I catch the subtle, sweet scent of northern bedstraw, its tiny clusters of flowers tucked along the path. At the top, craggy cliffs rise above the canyon, their rock faces splashed with shades of orange. Beyond them, the Takhini River Valley stretches toward the Sifton Range. 

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When I ask Nielsen if she loves the extended daylight, she doesn’t hesitate. “I love the colours in the summer — the shades of green everywhere. I really miss it throughout the winter, and the smells, and being able to be outside all day long every day. I love that.” 

Spirit Canyon. Photo by BIANCA BUJAN /POSTMEDIA

But when I ask if summer is her favourite season, she laughs. “Oh, the summer is too hot. I like fall when you have cooler nights. That’s hunting season for us, which is a really big deal in our family. Not long into summer, we’re already talking about how excited we are for the next season.” 

As we make our way back down the mountain, I realize this hike could just as easily happen late into the night, when the sky is still glowing almost as brightly as it is at noon. 

Following the river into the night  Miles Canyon from above in Whitehorse. Photo by BIANCA BUJAN /POSTMEDIA

On my final night, I join Kanoe People for an evening paddle along the Yukon River, where the quiet rhythm of the water offers a different perspective on the landscape — and the midnight sun. 

We paddle for 3.5 hours, covering 24 kilometres of river. The only sound is the dip of our paddles breaking the surface, the river carrying us through a landscape suspended between day and night. 

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A view of the glacial green water that flows through Miles Canyon in Whitehorse. Photo by BIANCA BUJAN /POSTMEDIA

Along the way, bald eagles perch on sandy cliffs, watching as we float past. When it’s time for dinner, we pull ashore and climb a cliff to a clearing overlooking the glacial green water. There, we unpack a locally sourced picnic dinner prepared by Aster, The Nomadic Table. 

Squinting as the sun shines directly into my eyes, I’m thankful for my sunglasses. As we push toward shore, I glance at my watch. It’s just past 9 p.m., yet the sky is still a brilliant blue. 

A different kind of northern light 

Most people visit the Yukon hoping to see the Northern Lights, but in summer, the real spectacle isn’t something you watch — it’s something you experience: the way extended daylight changes how you move through the North. 

My flight home lands around 9 p.m., and by the time I’m home, the sky is completely dark. I think about how, just the night before, I was paddling down the Yukon River beneath a bright blue sky and about the people I met who prefer the darkness and cool air of winter, a concept I still can’t quite understand. 

They say you can’t buy time, but in summer, you can buy a ticket to the Yukon and get more daylight. And that’s something I hope to do again. 

The writer was a guest of Travel Yukon, which did not preview this story before publication.

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