Advertisement.
Whitehorse band Cows Go Moo took Yellowknife by storm at Folk on the Rocks 2024. In 2026, they’re back on the lineup and ready to rock the Beer Garden Stage once more.
“I think everybody was expecting more of an Old MacDonald kind of vibe,” lead singer Luke Welsh told Mornings at the Cabin of the band’s first appearance.
The group had a “hype cow” in 2024 – who is away with Students on Ice this year – and handed out cow costumes to dancers in the crowd.
Advertisement.
Advertisement.
Luke said the band’s members are “significantly” tighter compared to two years ago. They opened for Tom Cochrane in 2025, practising twice a week for months.
“We got a phone call when we were on the radio in Chilliwack and they told us we were going to be opening for Tom Cochrane and all of us were just freaking out in the car,” drummer Hannah Welsh said of the moment the band learned they would be opening for the singer, who wrote Life is a Highway. (Hannah said Cars, the band’s favourite movie growing up, featured a version of the song.)
In 2024, Cows Go Moo also wrote a Firesmart jingle for the Yukon following a wildfire near the Tahkini Hot Springs.
Given the band comprises high school students, they’ve recently experienced a unique challenge – Luke’s voice dropping.
Advertisement.
Advertisement.
While it means they’ve had to change their repertoire, “it also brought us into a whole new realm of songs,” said Hannah.
Luke said Folk on the Rocks was the band’s favourite festival and venue, partly because the weather is warmer than Whitehorse.
“The entire band, their favourite thing about being here was swimming every single day, all day,” said Hannah.
“There’s a very different vibe in Yellowknife that we don’t have in Whitehorse. The culture, everything’s much closer here. It’s really nice to walk around the streets of Yellowknife and see lots of people.”
Hannah and Luke’s fondest memories of Folk on the Rocks include performing at the beer garden during Warm the Rocks and seeing the reaction of the crowd. Afterward, Luke said, the band went cliff diving. They are looking forward to more of the same this weekend.
You can catch Cows Go Moo at 7:45pm on Friday night at the Canadian North Beer Garden Stage and 3:45pm on Saturday at the Lawson Landell Main Stage. Here’s a full schedule of everything happening at Folk on the Rocks 2026, which will be broadcast live on Cabin Radio starting at 6:30pm on Friday.
