The battle lines over the renaming of the Yukon Rendezvous Festival remain entrenched over the weekend.

The festival organizers found themselves in a world of controversy Friday, days after announcing they were dropping “Sourdough” from the name of the venerable winter get-together.

The firestorm of opposition grew intense enough for the management team to take down its Facebook page.

It has so far refused to offer any kind of statement clarifying the situation or updating the status of the festival.

As it was on Friday, the festival was contacted by the Star again this morning. The organization did not respond to nor acknowledge the request for an update.

Accusations of the festival organizers being harassed, bullied, threatened and intimidated have been rife on social media since the uproar began, along with charges of racism, but no specific examples have been flagged amongst the hundreds of comments perused by the Star.

Numerous examples of thoughtful comments on both sides of the issue have been noted, particularly a very eloquent post from Anne Turner.

“My best thoughts and wishes go out to the Board and Staff of Rendezvous,” she wrote.

“To my community, I implore you to engage this discussion passionately and respectfully. I did not expect to feel as strongly as I do about this, so wanted to share a few thoughts. I think it is imperative that we do not be reductive in our conversation by oversimplifying this as having two sides: one for change/inclusiveness/positive and the other as ‘racist, prejudiced, old-school,’ and worse.

“This is not as simple as a re-branding or a name change of an organization (which has every right to adapt, grow, and change).

“Mammoth Agency and Rendezvous decided that a word we have celebrated, embraced, and promoted, as a key part of our identity as Yukoners, alongside other parts of our identity, for the better part of a century was suddenly something to be ashamed of.”

Turner went on to write, “By definition a sourdough was someone who became a Yukoner after spending a winter here – a title that demonstrated they were INCLUDED and part of this community.

“Yukoners celebrate the critical role that Yukon First Nations played in helping those who followed (basically the rest of us Yukoners), who would not have survived, or thrived without their guidance, support, tradition and culture and we are still learning from each other today – both the mistakes that were made and how to forge a better path together. We can celebrate our history AND learn from it to do better today.

“The concern is not whether this talented, committed, passionate group of people at Rendezvous, who help us break our cabin fever, and bring us together to celebrate Yukon each year, can re-brand, change their name, or otherwise ensure a safe, respectful, inclusive event – it is that a choice was made to turn a key part of our identity into something else – something to be embarrassed and ashamed of – without an understanding of what it would mean to many of us who celebrate being a Yukoner, respecting the land, people, traditions and shared cultures.

“This was done without enough discussion, education, and certainly not with an inclusive approach. It is time to begin the work of bringing us back together – the most important part of Rendezvous.”

More than 2,000 people had signed a petition posted on Change.org asking for the name change to be reversed by 10:40 a.m. today.

The Star contacted Myles Dolphin, the manager of communication for the City of Whitehorse, for comment on the situation from Mayor Dan Curtis.

“The mayor does not comment on the operations of local non-profits,” Dolphin wrote in an email.

The Star also reached out to Jeanie McLean, the minister of Tourism and Culture, on the issue, but did not receive a comment.

Rendezvous is perhaps the pre-eminent festival in the Yukon, and, under normal circumstances, a huge tourist draw.

See letters.