During the summer months, a weekend doesn’t go by in Anchorage without at least one summer festival or outdoor arts and entertainment event taking place. There are so many, it's hard to keep them all straight! The Anchorage Calendar of Events is your go-to guide for finding out what’s happening when and where, but here are few annual summer festivals worth traveling to Anchorage for between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
Anchorage Market & Festival
Browse for crafts, sample the summer flavors of Alaska and enjoy free entertainment every Saturday and Sunday all summer. Local farmers and artisans sell their goods in a festival atmosphere. The market is a great place to get a bite to eat, soak up the sun and meet Alaska’s artisans.
Festival of Flowers
Anchorage certainly deserves its designation as the City of Flowers. Hanging baskets downtown, planters citywide, and in the heart of Anchorage – Town Square – the city explodes in a cascade of color. Alaska nurseries celebrate the coming summer with locally grown flowers. The festival features talks by master gardeners and other flora fun.
Anchorage’s colossal blossoms are also celebrated at the annual Garden Fair & Art Show, featuring music, crafts and tours of the Alaska Botanical Garden.
Downtown Summer Solstice Celebration
Alaskans celebrate the longest day of the year in Town Square with tons of events packed into one sweet celebration. Live musical performances keep downtown hopping until the sun goes down, a tall order on a day with 22 hours of functional daylight. Coincides with the Mayor’s Marathon – an Alaska summer solstice tradition; runners from all over the world convene in Anchorage for marathon, relay, half marathon, 4-miler, and youth events
Alaska PrideFest Parade and Festival
Each summer Anchorage’s gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and straight-allied community (led by Identity, Inc.) hosts PrideFest, a weeklong roster of special events including drag queen bingo, movies, barbecues and more. A parade and a festival on the Delaney Park Strip tops the event.
Girdwood Forest Fair (Girdwood, Alaska)
An annual event in this mountain community 40 miles south of downtown Anchorage, the celebration features Alaska artists, hand-crafted items, exotic foods, live music and entertainers.
Anchorage July 4th Celebration and Downtown Parade
Anchorage hosts an old-fashioned patriotic celebration complete with family oriented events such as the pancake breakfast, downtown parade, picnic, family activities, baseball and a fireworks finale.
Bear Paw Festival (Eagle River, Alaska)
The Eagle River community celebrates with five days of fun. A parade winds through the heart of town, the best salmon recipes go head-to-head at the cook-off and piscatorial agility is on display with the slippery salmon Olympics.
Blueberry Festival (Girdwood, Alaska)
Wild berries are a delectable treat and easy to find on the slopes of Southcentral Alaska. Celebrate the lush blueberry season with this family oriented outdoors event features more than two dozen crafts booths, live music and a variety of blueberry dishes.
Alaska State Fair (Palmer, Alaska)
The fair is a gathering place for Alaskans to show off monster veggies, crafts and culinary creations. Enjoy agricultural contests, farm exhibits, the Alaska State Rodeo, big name performers, carnival games, rides and more.
Fungus Fair (Girdwood, Alaska)
Primed for the mushroom picking season, Fungus Fair is a weekend of picking forays, naturalist presentations and an outdoor concert. The event benefits the Girdwood Trails Committee.
