Ketchikan Fairs & Festivals

King salmon hit town just after the snow melts and peo­ple are ready for the sun­ny days of sum­mer. With temps in the 60s and 70s for the first time in months, the whole place comes alive. The diehards are out weeks ahead of time to see where the Kings are. Vol­un­teers help out at the weigh-in sta­tions and give hourly updates to the radio sta­tion, which airs these along with fish-lad­der reports. 

The race course is an 8.2 mile cir­cum­nav­i­ga­tion of Pen­nock Island, mak­ing it one of the most unique – and one of the longest — open-water marathons. (Sea­soned swim­mers usu­al­ly take between 3 and 4 hours to fin­ish). Enter as a solo swim­mer or as a 2- or 4‑person relay, and there is a wet­suit cat­e­go­ry as well. 

Sea cucum­bers poached in green tea with Japan­ese sea­wood, sliced geo­duck with soy sauce and lemon, crab quiche with large chunks of Dun­ge­ness crab and shrimp ceviche with tequila. 

Show­cas­ing local res­i­dents kick­ing up their heels in a broad range of dance styles – from bal­let to boo­gie woo­gie to Fil­ipino break dancing! 

Pre­mier fish­ing der­bys are on the buck­et list of many a seri­ous fish­er­man: to Cos­ta Rica for sail­fish and tuna, to Prince William Sound to salmon shark, and to Homer or South­east Alas­ka for halibut.