Note: This first appeared in Lynn Lovegreen's blog, www.lynnlovegreen.com
Summer is a special time in Alaska. Not only is it a great time to enjoy the outdoors, it's also a season when Alaskans gather in their communities. Here are a few examples of festivals in the summer. I can't list them all in one blog post, but I'll try to give you a good cross-section of events.
Summer Solstice is a highlight of the year. I've written about it before (https://www.lynnlovegreen.com/post/summer-solstice) but I have to mention here that towns from Anchorage to Fairbanks to Seldovia to Moose Pass all have Solstice festivals. The Seldovia Summer Solstice Music Festival just sent me a link: https://www.seldoviaartscouncil.org/festival
Pride Month is celebrated in Alaska as well. Anchorage hosts a Pride Bar Crawl, the Rainbow Run, Pride Parade, and Pride Festival. There's also Underground Pride at the Palmer State Fairgrounds, and Fairbanks hosts the Pride Hike, Pride Prom, and Pridefest, to name a few.
Other June festivals include Juneau's Celebration, Sitka Music Festival, the 3 Barons Renaissance Fair in Anchorage, the Last Frontier Theatre Conference in Valdez, and Juneteenth in Anchorage and Fairbanks.
I'll talk about July 4th in another blog post. Other July festivals are the Homer Peony Celebration, Girdwood's Forest Fair, the Eagle River Bear Paw Festival, Fairbanks' Golden Days, the Gold Rush days in Valdez and Wrangell's Bearfest. (The photo below is of downtown Wrangell.)
August includes Salmonfest in Ninilchik, Ketchikan's Blueberry Arts Festival, Ester Fest near Fairbanks, and Anchorage's Galway Days and Alaska Greek Festival.
If you're traveling to Alaska in the summer, look up the towns you'll be visiting and see if you can drop in on a local festival. It's the best way to meet the locals and see what we do for fun.
Lynn Lovegreen is a longtime Alaskan. After twenty years in the classroom, she retired to make more time for writing. She enjoys her friends and family, reading, and volunteering for her local library. Her young adult historical fiction is set in Alaska, a great place for drama, romance, and independent characters. See her website at www.lynnlovegreen.com.
4 comments:
Wow! I could go to a fair every week if I lived in Alaska and wanted to travel the state. Fairs are a great way to meet local people and have a taste of what they love to cook, back, can, etc.
Yes, they are! Thanks for stopping by, Judith.
This would be good information for cruise lines to know,especially for guests not big on tours.
Fun, informative post, Lynn! I have found memories of the Kodiak Crab Festival!!! Alaska is a wonderful place to visit, especially in the summer.
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