Kenai Peninsula Fairs & Festivals

On the Fourth of July, the pop­u­la­tion of Seward swells from around 2,500 to a report­ed 40,000. Main Street is com­plete­ly blocked off to traf­fic and the streets fill with peo­ple. Many come to run in or watch the Mt. Marathon Race, while oth­ers come to enjoy some of the most beau­ti­ful scenery in the world and take part in the fes­tiv­i­ties. Seward’s annu­al July 4^th cel­e­bra­tion fea­tures a packed hol­i­day sched­ule of spe­cial events, presentations,…  ...more

Accord­ing to folk­lore, the tra­di­tion of the Mt. Marathon Race began when two sour­doughs argued about the pos­si­bil­i­ty of climb­ing and descend­ing the moun­tain in less than an hour. ​“Impos­si­ble” one said. To set­tle the argu­ment, and the result­ing wager, a race was held, with the los­er to fur­nish drinks for the crowd. At the same time, enter­pris­ing mer­chants put up a suit of clothes and oth­er attrac­tions for the win­ner and pro­posed the race take…  ...more

The Seward Sil­ver Salmon Der­by® is one of the old­est and largest fish­ing der­bies in the State. Seward’s Der­by is equal­ly pop­u­lar with locals, oth­er Alas­ka res­i­dents, and vis­it­ing anglers from around the nation and world. Anglers vie for the largest Coho (Sil­ver) Salmon and try to catch tagged fish worth prizes. Anglers turn their fish in dai­ly, which are sold to raise funds for fish enhance­ment efforts. Der­by tick­ets go on sale Fri­day night…  ...more

Sum­mer Wednes­day evenings in Sol­dot­na are times that every­one looks for­ward to. That’s when the famous — and free! — Levitt AMP Sol­dot­na Music Series takes place in the beau­ti­ful Sol­dot­na Creek Park. It hap­pens week­ly from June through August, and on top of catch­ing some great music, it’s a fan­tas­tic chance to meet locals.

Vis­it local gal­leries and shops in down­town Seward to see fea­tured local artists and enjoy local Alaskan hos­pi­tal­i­ty. See hand­made jew­el­ry, pot­tery, pho­tog­ra­phy, paint­ings, met­al work, carv­ings, cloth­ing and more. Occa­sion­al­ly the event includes local musi­cians, dancers or drummers.

Some­thing mag­i­cal hap­pens in Sol­dot­na every year dur­ing the fourth week of July. That’s when the town comes alive with Sol­dot­na Progress Days — an annu­al com­mu­ni­ty cel­e­bra­tion worth plan­ning your vis­it around.

An annu­al, must attend event with fab­u­lous art, live music and dance per­for­mances. Local Alaskan arti­sans and food ven­dors are fea­tured. The Seward Art’s Coun­cil pro­motes this ever grow­ing event, with a com­mit­ment to youth involve­ment, edu­ca­tion, and cre­ative inspi­ra­tion; as well as a phi­los­o­phy of low envi­ron­men­tal impact. It is a fam­i­ly-ori­ent­ed fes­ti­val with chil­dren’s activ­i­ties and artist’s projects through­out the week­end; includ­ing the  ...more

An annu­al New Year’s Eve tra­di­tion, the Lumi­nary Ski is a free com­mu­ni­ty event on the Divide Ski Trails (at Mile 12 of the Seward High­way). The trails are lit by can­dle­light, and you can walk, snow­shoe, or ski, depend­ing on your pref­er­ence. Hot cocoa, cider, and a camp­fire are provided.

An annu­al event with local Alaskan artists, fea­tur­ing beau­ti­ful work for your hol­i­day shop­ping plea­sure. Don’t for­get to check out the food ven­dors, live enter­tain­ment, hol­i­day music and San­ta! Gen­er­al­ly the first week in Decem­ber at the Dale R. Lind­sey Alas­ka Rail­road Inter­modal Facility.

Seward’s Hal­ibut Tour­na­ment, in June, offers an ear­ly-sea­son focus on this famous fish, attract­ing anglers from all over Alas­ka and beyond

The first Sun­day of August brings a spe­cial event to Homer: the oppor­tu­ni­ty to step into pri­vate gar­dens that show­case the unique­ness of Alaskan gar­den­ing and get some real insight into what it’s like to work the land in a place where the grow­ing sea­son is short and the days long. Some 400 peo­ple come to Homer from all over, some of them gar­den­ers from oth­er parts of Alas­ka, and oth­ers from out­side the state who sim­ply have an inter­est in  ...more

This unique fes­ti­val in Homer, Alas­ka is an art-lovers dream.