Welcome to the Alaska Day Festival website. Alaska Day Festival annually commemorates the Purchase Transfer of Russian claim of Alaska to the United States of America at Sitka on Oct. 18, 1867, and celebrates the diversity of cultures and historical perspectives of our people.

News Update

"celebration of the 50th anniversary of Alaska Statehood"

The Alaska Day Committee meets Tuesdays at 7:00 p.m. at Centennial Hall before the Alaska Day Festival but is done with meetings for 2009. For the roster of members, check out the Committee Page.

For the the 2009 Alaska Day Festival schedule of events, click here. Additional dates will be posted as they are confirmed.

Please join us for Alaska Day Festivities - October 9 - 18, 2009

Alaska Day Parade 2009 - Alaska Airlines

Click on the image to view the PDF version.

Historical Tidbit:

On March 29, 1867, Baron Eduard de Stoeckl, Russian minister to the United States, and William Henry Seward, secretary of state under President Andrew Johnson, completed the draft of a treaty ceding Russian North America to the United States, and the treaty was signed the following day.

Celebrating Alaska Day

In this place, Sitka, Alaska, on October 18, 1867, the great land of Alaska was transferred from Russia to the United States.

The Russian Double Eagle was lowered for the last time, and the Stars and Stripes made their first appearance over Alaskan soil in a ceremony formalizing the transfer of the territory of Alaska from Tsarist Russia to the United States of America at the incredible purchase price of approximately two cents per acre.

The first recorded celebration of Alaska Day, in 1949, was highlighted by the unveiling of the bronze statue of "The Prospector" on the lawn of the Pioneer's Home. Molded by sculptor Alonzo Victor Lewis is the image of William Fonda, better known as "Skagway Will", the two-ton statue is a tribute to Alaska's pioneers.