The list below highlights annual events and activities worth traveling to Anchorage. Visit the Anchorage Calendar of Events for dates and an extensive list of events in Anchorage.
January
Great Alaska Beer & Barley Wine Festival
Whether you fancy stout or prefer pale ale, this annual showcase of suds has a pint for you. Showcasing beers of the Northwest and beyond – with special attention to Alaska’s brews – the whole weekend is a celebration of brewing beer, mead and barley wine.
Anchorage Folk Festival
Anchorage unplugs with great folk performances from passionate local musicians and masters from beyond the state.
February
Alaska Ski for Women
The Alaska Ski for Women takes over Kincaid Park. In this annual event held every year on Super Bowl Sunday, participants don elaborate, colorful costumes for the race, making it an amazing spectator event as well. Ski for Women has a twofold mission: encourage women of all ages and abilities to take part in an organized Nordic skiing event and raise money to support local nonprofit organizations that provide safe harbor and support services for women and children affected by domestic abuse.
Anchorage Fur Rendezvous
Celebrate winter like nowhere else during Alaska’s largest and oldest winter festival. The newest event, Yukigassen, could be called controlled chaos. All the rage in Japan, these team snowball fights are gaining in popularity and Anchorage hosts the state and national championships. Yukigassen joins fan favorites and zany events that include outhouse races, snowshoe softball and the Running of the Reindeer, a mad dash down Fourth Avenue with sprinting domesticated caribou giving chase. These are just a few of the more than 100 events that make up Rondy.
March
Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race® Ceremonial Start
A field of more than 60 world-class mushers and their dog teams mush toward the Bering Sea coast through rugged, remote mountain ranges and snow-capped forests in the "Last Great Race on Earth." The Iditarod’s 1,049 miles of pure adrenaline begin in downtown Anchorage the first Saturday in March.
Tour of Anchorage
Glide into a pair of skis, grab some poles and push off to see some of the most breathtaking sights in Alaska. The event is part of North America's longest-running and largest citizen's ski racing and touring series. Designed for all abilities, this point-to-point marathon has 50K, 40K and 25K routes. Whatever the distance, the course crosses Anchorage on pristine trails.
April/May
Alyeska Spring Carnival and Slush Cup
Elvis navigating downhill and skimming the surface of a slushy pond is an image that stays with onlookers a long time. Usher in spring with the costumed insanity of the Slush Cup, great skiing and snowboarding.
NYO Games Alaska
Watch Alaska youth from across the state compete in games based on traditional Alaska Native skills. Competitions such as the two-foot high kick and the one-hand reach seem to defy gravity and physics. The games test hunting and survival skills, and increase strength, endurance, agility and the balance of mind and body.
June
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.
Mayor’s Marathon
In an Alaska summer solstice tradition, runners from all over the world convene in Anchorage for the marathon, half marathon, five-miler, relay and youth events. A Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training and Neurofibromatosis (NF) team event, the Mayor’s Marathon empowers novice runners to participate in marathons while raising vital funds for lifesaving research.
Downtown Summer Solstice Celebration
Alaskans celebrate the longest day of the year in Town Square and along Fourth Avenue 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. A highlight of the celebration is the Hero Games, which pits teams from the police, troopers, fire department and military in “friendly” challenges such as “rescue the cat” climb, the bucket brigade and tricycle races.
Alaska Pride Fest Parade and Festival
Each summer Anchorage’s gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and straight-allied community (led by Identity, Inc.) hosts Pride Fest, a weeklong roster of special events including drag queen bingo, movies, barbecues and more. It is all topped off by the parade and a festival on the Delaney Park Strip.
July
Girdwood Forest Fair
An annual event in this mountain town 40 miles south of 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
The community of Eagle River celebrates with five days of fun. A parade winds through the heart of town, the best salmon recipes go head-to-head at the cookoff, and piscatorial agility is on display with the Slippery Salmon Olympics.
August
Blueberry Festival
Wild berries are a delectable treat and easy to find on the slopes of Southcentral Alaska mountains. Celebrate the lush blueberry season in Girdwood with this family oriented outdoor event featuring more than two dozen crafts booths, live music and a variety of blueberry dishes.
Big Wild Life™ Runs
With a children’s run, 5K, half and full marathons and a team relay, this is the Anchorage Running Club's premier event of the year. Spectacular scenery waits on the course through downtown, along the waters of Cook Inlet and onto the trails and greenbelts of Anchorage.
Alaska State Fair
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
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.
North Face Climb-a-thon & Vertical Challenge
This race is literally an uphill battle. Competitors show off stamina found only in Alaska as they run up the North Face Trail, a 2.2 mile path with 2,000 feet of vertical elevation gain, hop the aerial tram for the ride down, and repeat the run as many times as they can. The 2009 winner finished 11 laps – the same elevation gain as climbing Mount McKinley in a single day!
September
Make It Alaskan Festival
A trade show featuring unique, high-quality and authentic “Made in Alaska” products. Browse Alaska’s signature gifts and one-of-a-kind finds and beat the holiday rush.
October
Kendall Hockey Classic
Watch collegiate hockey at its finest as four Division I college teams compete in the tournament. The contest features the talents of the city’s hometown University of Alaska Anchorage Seawolves.
November
Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout
One of the hottest college basketball tournament in the country features men’s and women’s teams drawn from across the university universe.
Downtown for the Holidays
The kickoff to the holiday season starts the day after Thanksgiving with entertainment, the official lighting of the downtown holiday tree and a visit from Santa with his (live)reindeer.
Crafts Weekend and ReadAlaska Book Fair
Set amid the Anchorage Museum’s beautiful atrium - which is transformed for the holidays - Crafts Weekend is the only juried holiday crafts show in Anchorage. Alaska artists sell their handmade, one-of-a-kind works. Crafts Weekend runs in conjunction with the annual ReadAlaska Book Fair, featuring Alaska authors and illustrators selling their work. Whether crafted with a paintbrush, a potter’s wheel or a pen, the weekend highlights the creative works of Alaska.
December
Anchorage International Film Festival
Provocative and independent films are screened at Anchorage’s best big screens and venues. The festival is a showcase of “films worth freezing for.”
NECA/IBEW Fire and Ice Extravaganza
The city of Anchorage lights up the night with a big, wild celebration for the whole family. Live performances, skating in Town Square and fireworks mark the end of one year and the beginning of another.
Torchlight Ski Parade
Skiers traverse Mount Alyeska with glowing lights in hand, followed by an awesome display of fireworks to ring in the New Year.
