Salmonfest is a well-known annual three-day music and arts festival held at the Kenai Peninsula Fairgrounds in Ninilchik, Alaska. Bringing together nationally recognized musicians, Alaska artists, conservation organizations and thousands of festival attendees; Salmonfest celebrates music, community and the protection of wild salmon and their habitat. The 2026 total attendance was nearly 9,000.
In celebration of its 15th anniversary, Salmonfest is launching a special ‘Season of Giving’, committing $15,000 in donations in the months of October, November and December to organizations and initiatives making a difference across Alaska. Festival coordinator David Stearns provided details of this new feature to the festival goals.
“SalmonFest started as a benefit. In essence, it is a concert and a festival to help protect Bristol Bay. As the festival has grown, our partner organizations have broadened, and so now, we remain steadfast in our commitment to protect Bristol Bay and work with you know the coalition out there, commercial fishermen and among others, you know, United Tribes, so that's still very much a part of the focus. But, what we're doing now with ARCHES, our new 501 C3 partner, is broadening the scope of the giving and so ARCHES' mission is a little bit more broad than just Bristol Bay. So, the season of giving reflects the broadening of that scope as the festival has grown and we’ve started to work on other things,” Stearns said.
ARCHES stands for arts, recreation, conservation, humanities, education and science.
October recipients from the Season of Giving include: Commercial Fishermen for Bristol Bay, the Ray Troll Legacy Scholarship, Mother Kuskokwim, the Ninilchik Food Pantry, the Ninilchik Spay Clinic, Cook InletKeeper and the Ninilchik Community Fund.
“We still have our eyes firmly on the statewide fisheries issues that the festival started with but we also are wanting to help closer to home: Ninilchik and the Peninsula. The food pantry is a weekly program that's completely funded by the festival and staffed by the festival, and has been a really important way to address food insecurity on the Lower Peninsula. So, that's an example of something that's not necessarily fish related, but helps right in our own backyard,” Stearns said.
The November and December recipients for the ‘Season of Giving’ have not yet been finalized, and the organization is still accepting submission suggestions.
To learn more about Salmonfest’s giving or to become a recipient organization, visit their website salmonfestalaska.org. Salmonfest 2027 is scheduled for August 6, 7 and 8th next year.
Reporting from Homer, this is Emilie Springer.
