Following the difficult decision to cancel the 2020 Alaska State Fair, it’s announced that the 2021 Alaska State Fair will return for an expanded 14-day schedule for this year’s event.
The theme to the 2021 Alaska State Fair is Seeing Is Believing, and it will be held Friday, August 20 through Monday, September 6 at the state fairgrounds in Palmer. Hours will be from 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. daily. During the 14-day run, the Fair will be closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays (that includes August 24-25 and August 31-September 1).
Jerome Hertel, Alaska State Fair CEO said that the fair will be adhering to the recommended precautions from the CDC, “Our goal by adding another weekend is to help spread out the Fair crowds and keep fairgoers as safe as possible as Alaska continues to respond to the global pandemic. The expanded schedule will also provide an additional economic boost for the over 400 vendors at the Fair and, of course, provide an extra weekend of fun for our guests.”
The schedule for the 14-day Fair will look much of the same as previous years, with a few exceptions during the first weekend of August 20 – 23:
- The first weekend will feature fairgoer favorites, including carnival rides, vendors and concerts.
- The first weekend schedule will also include a free-with-Fair-admission RAM Trucks Timed Event Challenge in the Grandstand.
- The Farm Exhibits building will be closed the first weekend, as the livestock and their owners need the extra week to prepare. Animals will be in the barn on Thursday, August 26.
- Perishable exhibit items will also not be featured the first weekend.
- Early admission prices will be extended through Monday, August 23.
The cancellation of the 2020 Alaska State Fair is the second time in the Fair’s 85-year history that the event was canceled; the previous time was a hiatus from 1942 – 1946 due to the War.
For more information, visit alaskastatefair.org.
