The Yukon International Storytelling Festival has received $27,000 in funding from the federal government.

The annual funding is delivered through the Arts Presentation Canada program with the Department of Canadian Heritage.

The Conservative government sent Alberta MP Bob Mills to Whitehorse yesterday to make the announcement on behalf of Minister Bev Oda.

'It's a major part of the culture of this community,' said Mills. 'That's the sort of thing that Minister Oda is trying to increase funding for.'

Lil Grubach-Hambrook, the festival's executive director, attended the presentation and said the federal government has always generously provided money to the event.

'Whoever delivers it, I'm thrilled. Bring it on. Bring me more money.'

She said the funding will be used to cover travel costs of the artists coming to the territory and other related programming costs.

The festival brings together artists from around the world to celebrate the North's rich storytelling tradition.

'We get a lot of national and international people that we bring and people are really curious about what a storytelling festival is,' said Grubach-Hambrook.

'There's no cache behind storytelling if it doesn't go with Yukon storytelling. People are in love with the whole idea of the Klondike and living off the land and the idea of North, circumpolar, first nations. It's still exotic up here.'

Larry Bagnell, the Yukon's Liberal MP, said the continued federal funding of the festival is important for the territory.

'The history of the Yukon before 200 years ago was all oral. It's not just entertainment. It's the way messages and history and knowledge was passed on for generations and generations,' said Bagnell.

'To keep that 99.9 per cent of Yukon's history alive we've got to do it through storytelling.'

The festival is good for Yukoners and for the economy with the number of tourists it attracts, he added.

The federal funding is won through an application process and is directed at providing Canadians with access to tapping into culture through festivals, performances and artistic experiences.