Grammy award winning singers Ani DiFranco and Jason Mraz are the headliners for Salmonfest 2019, three days of music, food, art and family entertainment that is also a rallying cry for the protection of wild salmon habitat in Alaska.
The annual festival at the Kenai Peninsula Fairgrounds in Ninilchik, set for Aug. 2-4, draws thousands of people to hear over 60 bands on four stages, with many festival goers camping in the area to attend all three days of Salmonfest.
DiFranco, who will perform on Aug. 2, is a singer, songwriter and activist with a focus on folk rock and alternative rock, influenced by punk, funk, hip hop and jazz. Mraz, whose music style is heavily influenced by Brazilian music, plays an eclectic mix of soulful, reggae, folk, funk and hip hop. The long list of other performers includes Ray Troll and the Ratfish Wrangler, of Ketchikan, the California Honeydrops, of Oakland, Calif., and Seward’s Blackwater Railroad Company.
Tickets are going fast, said Jim Stearns, festival producer, whose organization is also providing for a small fee a large area for campers in the area for this year’s event. The crowd limit for the fairgrounds is 8,000, and tickets for Aug. 3, the evening when Mraz will perform, were a particularly hot item. The daily crowd includes some 2,500 folks granted free admission, from children to band members and their staff and volunteers.
Due to the number of people camping, this year Salmonfest is making available 40 acres adjacent to the fairgrounds for camping, mostly car camping. Port-o-potties, water and garbage collection will be provided, but no electric power. Reservations may be made online.
The festival began in 2011 as Salmonstock, to promote awareness of potential adverse impacts of large-scale mining on land in the Bristol Bay watershed, including the proposed Pebble mine.
Now as Salmonfest, the event continues to promote protection of wild salmon habitat. Festival sponsors include the Kachemak Bay Conservation Society and Cook Inletkeeper.
Now in its ninth year, Salmonfest continues to promote a weekend of music, and advocacy of salmon habitat and the Alaska ocean and streams these fish depend on to survive.
Cook Inletkeeper takes the lead in the educational aspect of the festival, overseeing the Salmon Causeway of education and advocacy booths. Chefs Carrie Thurman and Sharon Roufa of Homer’s Two Sisters Bakery, and Jeff Lockwood of radio station KBBI will demonstrate how to make salmon chowder using the whole fish.
“We came in a couple of years ago to help keep the salmon in Salmonfest,” said Carly Wier, executive director of Cook Inletkeeper. Educational events for all ages include a screen printing and beeswax wrap workshop.
Information on ticket purchases, performers, volunteering, campground reservations and more is at salmonfestalaska.org.
