Cam Choy, associate professor of art at Kenai Peninsula College, works on a salmon sculpture in collaboration with the Kenai Watershed Forum during the Kenai River Festival at Soldotna Creek Park in Soldotna, Alaska, on June 8, 2019. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion file)

Cam Choy, associate professor of art at Kenai Peninsula College, works on a salmon sculpture in collaboration with the Kenai Watershed Forum during the Kenai River Festival at Soldotna Creek Park in Soldotna, Alaska, on June 8, 2019. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion file)

Kenai River Festival to bring education, music to Soldotna Creek Park

The festival will run 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday

Next weekend, on Friday and Saturday, the 31st Annual Kenai River Festival, hosted by the Kenai Watershed Forum, will again fill Soldotna Creek Park with music, food, drinks and educational booths and activities. The festival will run 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday. Admission is free.

That educational element, about the river and its resources, is the biggest focus for the forum, Development Coordinator Sara Aamodt said Wednesday.

The forum is hosting that content in the Kenai Watershed Forum Education Zone, formerly the Kids Zone. Aamodt said this year that content has expanded in scope to approach adults as well as kids.

To that end, the forum has partnered with a variety of other organizations to bring that material. She said that folks including the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, government agencies and private entities will all be participating. She said the breadth of providers serves to engage attendees with what’s around them, hopefully encouraging them to “appreciate what Alaska has to offer.”

For adults, that content is largely based on safety. One of the topics, Aamodt said, will be cold water immersion.

In addition to the Education Zone, there will be live music both days, including performances by the Tune Weavers, the Ridgeway Rounders, Big Chimney Barn Dance, Baker and Nervis Rex. Music starts at 5 p.m. on Friday and at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday. Saturday’s music lineup opens with a square dancing session headed up by Big Chimney Barn Dance.

Aamodt said there will also be a variety of vendors and food options, as well as a beer garden featuring Kenai River Brewing, Kassik’s Brewery, Stony Creek Brew House and Cooper Landing Brewery.

Saturday morning ahead of the festival opening, the Run for the River 5K and 10-mile race will be held. The race will start at Soldotna Creek Park and continue north along the Kenai River. Online registration will be available until noon on Friday, or registration can be done in person at the forum office, at the Runner’s Feed that Friday night or before the race.

The Kenai River Festival is “the biggest event the Kenai Watershed Forum puts on each year,” Aamodt said. She said it was an opportunity to put the educational aspects of their work front and center, as well as to give the forum a high-profile public outing.

“We’re around and we’re doing projects,” she said.

For more information about the Kenai Watershed Forum or the Kenai River Festival, visit facebook.com/KenaiWatershedForum.

Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.

More in News

Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion
Brad Snowden and Julie Crites participate in a Seward City Council candidate forum at the Seward Community Library in Seward on Thursday.
Seward council candidates discuss issues at election forum

Participating in Thursday’s forum were Julie Crites and Brad Snowden

Cam Choy, associate professor of art at Kenai Peninsula College, works on a salmon sculpture in collaboration with the Kenai Watershed Forum during the Kenai River Festival at Soldotna Creek Park in Soldotna, Alaska, on June 8, 2019. (Peninsula Clarion file)
Soldotna adopts arts and culture master plan

The plan outlines how the city plans to support arts and culture over the next 10 years

Architect Nancy Casey speaks in front of a small gathering at the Fireside Chat presented by the Kenai Watershed Forum on Nov. 30, 2022, at Kenai River Brewing in Soldotna, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai Watershed Forum’s Fireside Chats return Wednesday

The chats will cover a range of interesting topics, centered on knowledge, research and projects

Erosion of the Kenai bluff near the Kenai Senior Center. (Photo by Aidan Curtin courtesy Scott Curtin)
Kenai to sign bluff stabilization agreement Monday

A signing event will be held at 5:30 p.m. at the Kenai Senior Center

Engineer Lake Cabin can be seen in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge on Nov. 21, 2021. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)
Public comment accepted for proposed rate increases for overnight fees at refuge

Campsites would increase $5 per night and cabins would increase $10 per night

Abigal Craig, youth winner of the Seventh Annual Kenai Silver Salmon Derby, is presented a novelty check by Kenai River Sportfishing Association Executive Director Shannon Martin, City of Kenai Mayor Brian Gabriel, and Kenai Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Samantha Springer at the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Silver Salmon Derby nets fish, funds for river protection

116 fish were weighed by 79 anglers across the six days of competition

Soldotna Public Works Director Kyle Kornelis talks about the Soldotna field house project during a Soldotna City Council meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna awards field house contract

Anchorage-based Criterion General, Inc. will construct the facility

Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Peter Micciche testifies before the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly during a meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Assembly to let borough mayors speak sooner during meetings

The mayor’s report will now be given after the first round of public comments and before public hearings and new assembly business

Assembly members Lane Chesley, left, and Richard Derkevorkian participate in a borough assembly meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Haara/Peninsula Clarion)
Assembly asks state to allow term limits for school board members

Alaska Statute does not allow term limits to be imposed on school board members

Most Read