I have been spending a lot of time lately working on new videos, researching Alaska stories and attempting to convince the internet that Anchorage content deserves a place alongside dancing pets and people reviewing gas-station snacks from inside their cars.
There is plenty more I want to create, and sponsors would help me make it happen. If you own or know an Alaska business that would like some extra exposure through a Mr Anchorage video, email me at [email protected]. Let’s make something that supports a local business while giving Alaskans content they might actually enjoy watching.
Speaking of supporting local businesses, CoasT Pizza recently announced that it will reduce its hours over the next two weeks and close by Labor Day weekend, with hopes of reopening in December or January. If this weekend takes you south toward Girdwood, consider stopping for a pizza while you still can. A road trip with pizza is simply better planning than a road trip without pizza.
If you are headed north, the Alaska State Fair starts tomorrow. Soon, traffic will be flowing toward Palmer, vegetables will be competing in weight classes and perfectly reasonable adults will be eating desserts with the structural integrity of carnival equipment.
Before we all get powdered sugar on our shirts, here are five ways to enjoy the weekend.
Black Barrel and the Bad Men
Where: Hilltop Ski Area, 7015 Abbott Road
When: Friday, August 21, 6–7:30 p.m.
Admission: Free
Do not let the name worry you. Black Barrel and the Bad Men are reportedly good men who simply understand that “Black Barrel and the Reasonably Pleasant Fellows” would never fit comfortably on a concert poster.
The Alaska band features lifelong friends and a father-son rhythm section, playing songs shaped by small-town roots, friendship, love and loss. Their sound moves between acoustic storytelling, soul and rootsy rock, with enough energy to start the weekend properly without requiring you to stay awake until midnight.
The performance is part of Hilltop’s Friday Night Music on the Patio series. Finn’s Kitchen will be open, and the mountain setting gives you live local music with considerably better scenery than your average parking-lot playlist.
Bring a layer, find a spot on the patio and enjoy a free concert under the late-summer sky.
More info: Black Barrel and the Bad Men at Hilltop and Music on the Patio
Alaska’s Field of Dreams: Baseball in America’s Far North
Where: Wineck Barn, Alaska State Fairgrounds, 2075 Glenn Highway, Palmer
When: Friday, August 21, 4–6 p.m.
Admission: Free
This event begins a little before the traditional Friday-evening starting line, but it continues until 6 p.m.—leaving late arrivals enough time to catch the final inning.
Presented by the Palmer Museum of History and Art, this America 250 program explores baseball’s history in Alaska. It looks at the players, ballfields and communities that helped America’s pastime take root in a place where early-season games can require both a baseball glove and an ice scraper.
It is a thoughtful way to begin opening day at the State Fair. Learn a little Alaska history, explore the fairgrounds and then reward your intellectual curiosity with something fried.
Alaskan Crafted Summer Market
Where: Midtown Mall, 600 E. Northern Lights Boulevard
When: Saturday, August 22, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
Admission: Free
If you want to shop locally without first consulting three weather apps and the direction of the wind, Midtown Mall’s indoor summer market has you covered.
A rotating collection of Alaska artists, makers and small businesses will be selling handmade jewelry, artwork, home décor, baked goods and other locally produced items. Since the vendors change throughout the summer, each Saturday offers a slightly different selection.
It is an easygoing, family-friendly opportunity to meet local creators and purchase something with an actual Alaska story behind it. Your money stays closer to home, a maker gains a customer and you leave with something more memorable than whatever you originally entered the mall to buy.
More info: Alaskan Crafted Summer Markets
SET to Sing! A Cappella Showcase
Where: The Lakefront Anchorage, 4800 Spenard Road
When: Saturday, August 22; doors open at 6 p.m.
Tickets: $15; cash bar available
SET to Sing! brings together barbershop choruses and quartets from Alaska and across the Pacific Northwest for an evening of ringing chords, musical storytelling and impressive vocal teamwork.
The lineup includes Alaska Sound Celebration, Midnight Sons and Fairbanks Frontier, plus award-winning quartets Rewind, Touchstone, Northern Blend and Bonfire. The evening also features a Novice Quartet/VLQ Extravaganza.
There are no guitars, drum kits or keyboards to hide behind—just singers listening closely and building a wall of sound one note at a time. When barbershop harmony locks into place, it is the musical equivalent of watching several people successfully fold a fitted sheet together.
More info and tickets: SET to Sing! on Zeffy
Race the Planes 5K
Where: Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, 5000 W. International Airport Road
When: Sunday, August 23, 10 a.m.
Registration: $40
Most Anchorage running events offer mountain views, wooded trails or the possibility of being silently judged by a moose. Race the Planes adds cargo aircraft to the experience.
This airport 5K raises money for American Cancer Society–Alaska programs that help cancer patients with transportation and lodging while traveling for treatment. Participants can also create personal fundraising pages and collect additional donations.
You probably will not beat an actual airplane. That is fine. The plane has multiple engines and did not stay up late listening to a cappella music. Run or walk at your own pace, support Alaskans facing cancer and begin Sunday with a story more interesting than “I went to the gym.”
More info: Race the Planes 5K
Honorable Mention: Alaska State Fair Opening Weekend
Where: Alaska State Fairgrounds, 2075 Glenn Highway, Palmer
When: Friday–Sunday, August 21–23; schedules vary by day
The Alaska State Fair returns Friday with rides, livestock, exhibits, vendors, live entertainment and vegetables so large that calling them “produce” feels insufficient.
Friday is Energy Day, Saturday is Recovery Day and Sunday is Trident Seafoods Day. AJR performs at 7 p.m. Friday, while Megadeth takes the Borealis Theatre stage at 7 p.m. Saturday.
There is enough happening to occupy an entire day, especially once somebody in your group insists on visiting every food stand before choosing lunch. Check the daily schedule before leaving, allow extra travel time and prepare for weather that may change its mind halfway through the parking lot.
More info: Alaska State Fair daily schedule
That is your weekend, Anchorage!
Listen to some music on a mountainside, learn how baseball found its way north, support an Alaska maker, hear what happens when a roomful of singers finds the right chord or spend Sunday morning attempting to outrun aviation.
If you drive south, give CoasT Pizza some love. If you drive north, bring your fair appetite. If you stay in Anchorage, we have enough music, markets and community events to keep you moving all weekend.
And if your Alaska business would like to sponsor an upcoming Mr Anchorage video, email [email protected]. I have the ideas, the camera and the determination. Now I just need to stop checking whether the algorithm has noticed.
Have fun, support local and remember: the giant cabbage is not judging you… but it has definitely seen things.
— Mr Anchorage