The summer festival season gets underway this weekend in Haines Junction, with the annual Alsek Music Festival and Kluane Mountain Bluegrass Festival.

The lineup for Alsek includes a wide assortment of local bands, said music director Richard Godson.

'We always enjoy presenting Yukon music for Yukoners, and I think this year's line-up has an interesting mix of old pros and emerging artists,' he said in an interview Thursday.

'There's a real next generation' emerging,' he added. 'For example, there's Scotch, which has two of the Bergman kids. Bruce and Deb Bergman have been artists at many past Alseks and last year, Scotch stole the show during the afternoon on Saturday.

'So this year they're playing the last set Saturday night the anchor spot for our biggest dance.'

The festival gets underway with an adult dance tonight featuring Crippled Hunter Settlement, Marco Claveria Band and Soire de Semaine.

Saturday afternoon, three stages give people the opportunity to see and hear more than 20 acts, including Steve Slade, Mary Caroline Cox, Nicole Edwards, Interstellar Ska Propellor, Brenda Berezan, Bleary Goodlings, HammerHead, Didier Delahaye, Kim Barlow, Gordie Tentrees, Lana Rae and Dan Halen.

Now a longtime favourite of the festival, Barlow said Alsek was the first Yukon fest she ever attended.

'I worked for the tech crew, and I don't think I've missed once since!' she said with enthusiasm.

'I love that it heralds the summer festival season, and all the local musicians come out to play in various configurations,' she added. '(It's) a warm and sunny place to catch up with friends.'

Halen, who will be playing with the 11th Hour Band, echoed these sentiments.

'Playing the first music festival of the summer at Alsek washes away the dust of everyday life from the soul,' he said.

'In the moment, music becomes the art of conversation without words, and sometimes I'm fortunate enough to be holding onto the guitar when it says something intelligent.'

Headlining the Saturday evening concert are The Big Band, Dave Haddock and Scotch.

For Haddock, Alsek is an inspiring festival where the emphasis is truly on the Yukon.

'The Alsek festival has always been for me a grass roots local music scene kind of festival where the players from the Yukon get to strut their stuff or maybe try something new,' he said.'The landscape is a wonderful inspiration, so I'm happy to have a reason to go to Haines Junction and be reminded of nature's grand beauty,' added Haddock.

Alsek winds down Sunday afternoon with an assortment of bands playing on the smaller, Riverside Stage, including Simple Messengers, One Way Track, Acoustic Tears and McIntyre Creek.

In all, the lineup includes an array of new and returning acts, said Godson.

'Everyone starts somewhere, and Alsek is proud to have been a stepping stone for many new acts over the years,' he said. 'And we hope to continue to be.

'Our festival is about regional music in all its forms, and we're happy to introduce new artists of all types to the scene whenever we can.'

Fiona Solon sings lead for HammerHead, a band appearing at Alsek for the first time, and is eager for the event to get underway.

'The Alsek Music Festival is a great venue for showcasing northern talent,' she said. 'I'm super-happy to be going there as a performer and an audience member. HammerHead is going to totally rock out.'

Commenting on the band, Godson said, 'HammerHead has an incredibly tight, straight-ahead rocking sound.'

For Delahaye, a former resident of Haines Junction, Alsek holds a special place in his heart.

'Alsek is always a bit of a coming home,' he said. 'It has always been the perfect opportunity to catch up with friends and acquaintances and greet the arrival of the Yukon summer at the glorious feet of the so-familiar Front Ranges.'

Joined by artists he had met through Alsek, Delahaye will play his unique interpretations of works by French folk singer Georges Brassens.

'In my humble opinion, Alsek epitomizes what a Yukon festival can be,' said Delahaye. 'It has never outgrown its breeches and is truly a musical Yukon rendezvous.

'It is to my knowledge the only festival with an exclusive northern content, something which is a lot more of a revelation than a limitation.'

Down the road at the Haines Junction Community Centre will be the Kluane Mountain Bluegrass Festival.For this extravaganza, now in its fifth year, organizers are bringing back four headliners from the first four years as a 'best of the best' festival.

Those headliners are The Steep Canyon Rangers, The Wilders, The James King Band and Down to the Wood.

In addition, an assortment of other local and northern acts will play, including Four Chords of Wood, Kim Beggs' Oldtyme Trio with Steve Dawson, Bluegrass 101, Simple Messengers, Canyon Mountain Boys, Green Wood, Annie Lou and Art Johns.

Festival director Bob Hayes said the decision to bring back the best acts was to set a standard for the 10th and 15th annual festivals to follow.

'We brought back our favourite bands because we felt we wanted to celebrate our fifth festival,' he said. 'The idea came from James King in 2005 who asked to come back in 2007.

'We decided to invite other bands. And here they are.'

Though the Bluegrass festival has been sold out since April, there are plenty of free events which anyone can take part in. They include all-instrument workshops, the band scramble, four concerts in the Bluegrass CafÈ, open mic and slow jam sessions, a dance workshop and a Sunday morning gospel concert.

Alsek, which sells tickets at the gate and has a very large venue space, has never completely sold out, said Godson.

'Could this be the first year?' he asked.

Some cross-over will occur between the festivals as well. Annie Lou, Anne Louise Genest's band, will be joined by Barlow.

'There are great jams in the parking lot, and with the added mass of musicians at the Bluegrass festival, it's double the fun!' she said.

Playing more than anyone else this weekend will be Rob Hunter.

'I'm very fortunate and lucky to be playing six sets at the festival with different bands, probably more than anyone else,' said Hunter. 'I just love the fact that it's Yukon musicians and it's in the most beautiful city in the Yukon.'

His primary band is Crippled Hunter Settlement, or CHS.

'Playing music is what I do,' he confessed. 'I love nothing more than being on stage at Alsek, seeing all my friends dancing and playing along beside me, looking out at the beautiful mountains and watching the endless sun in the sky.'

Godson had high praise for Hunter.

'I remember first seeing him at Alsek several years ago when he was a teenager,' he said. 'Now he's one of the most in-demand musicians at the festival.Couple this type of youthful energy with the polish and inspiration of a Dave Haddock, Steve Slade or Andrea McColeman, and you got a heckuva show.'