Anchorage Summer Solstice Festival celebrates 20 years

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Summer is a season many Alaskans look forward to after a long winter, and while it might not be as long-lived as other places, there’s one day that gives a whole new meaning to the term “land of the midnight sun.”

It’s the 20th-anniversary celebration of the Downtown Summer Solstice Festival, put on by the Anchorage Downtown Partnership.

Event organizer Kris May said they always pick a weekend before or after June 21 — the actual summer solstice this year — so that means June 24 is the chosen date.

“It’s just an excuse to come together, celebrate each other, local vendors, local music, local art,” May said.

May and her team started planning for the festival in January, and said one of the exciting aspects of this year’s event is the return of the festival to Fourth Avenue downtown, between E Street and G Street.

The celebration has been spread out at different locations across the city in past years. The family-friendly and free event allows Alaskans to enjoy all that this year’s festival has to offer, and according to May, it’s a lot.

“This year we have five bands, 3-on-3 basketball, we have a petting zoo, we have over 25 arts and crafts vendors, we have food trucks, we have a beer garden, we have hip hop performances, salsa performances, we have the hero games coming back,” she explained.

The festival runs from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, June 24.

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