We’re squirming in our seats with excitement over here at BYTE. Not only because it’s our birthday — we’ve turned 15! — but because we’ve got an awesome announcement to make and keeping secrets is rather hard.
So here it is: over the past few months we’ve been working closely with the Yukon College. It just happens to be their birthday, too, although they’re a tad older at 50. To celebrate we decided to join forces and host a birthday bash September 6th and 7th at the Yukon College. To us, the party is about celebrating what is near and dear to our heart: community, sustainability, and of course giving voice to the incredible and talented Yukon youth. We’ve named the event the Future Routes Festival. It’s about honouring our past and setting an intention for an even brighter future.
We’ve brought together some of Whitehorse’s finest local talent to play the show. Remember Vision Quest who won Battle of the Bands this year? Or Solid Fuel? Ever heard of Nicole Edwards, one of BYTE’s founders? They’ll all be taking stage at Future Routes, alongside dozens of other local performers.
And if you’ve been following us on Twitter and Facebook the last few days you already know we’re going crazy over the two headliners we’re bringing up for the festival: Canadian rapper Cadence Weapon and BC’s Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra.
If you caught Cadence Weapon at the Dawson City Music Festival this summer you know you’ll be back to see this show. It seems like Cadence loves the Yukon just much as the Yukon loves him, and it’s no doubt this guy is going to light up all of Whitehorse when he plays Friday night. The next night Yukoners will be treated to the musical stylings of the Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra. Drawing on flamenco flourishes learned in Spain, on African percussion, on bluegrass and other roots music from across the Americas, these five young gentlemen will have your head swimming and your feet dancing.
We’re also proud to announce we’ve teamed up with the City of Whitehorse, who will be providing free bus transport from downtown to the college all weekend. Stay tuned for more information about our Friday green market place, sustainability talks, and a full list of performers. And visit the Future Routes Facebook page  to find out more information about tickets, etc.
 The Future Routes Festival is a partnership between Yukon College, BYTE and the Yukon College Student Union (YCSU). We’d like to give a huge thank you already to our major sponsors: Air North, Yukon Brewing, The City of Whitehorse, Inkspirationz Graphix and Kona’s Coalition.
Event Information