Nome Fairs & Festivals

Plung­ing into the Bering Sea’s frigid waters takes a lot of nerve, but each year dozens of folks jump in with gus­to as part of the Nome Rotary Club’s Polar Bear Swim. Many get out as fast as they went in, with gasps, smiles and a rush to the near­by bon­fire. It’s all part of Nome’s wacky annu­al cel­e­bra­tion of sum­mer solstice.

Can your home­made raft sur­vive a race down a five-mile stretch of the Nome Riv­er? How about when water bal­loons and squirt guns are in play between race par­tic­i­pants and even spec­ta­tors? The Nome Riv­er Raft Race, held each June as part of the Mid­night Sun Fes­ti­val, is one event where get­ting wet is not only part of the fun – it’s a requirement!

Nome res­i­dents have cel­e­brat­ed the Fourth of July since before the town was even incor­po­rat­ed. A fes­tive parade and range of games is always on the agen­da, from the high kick, to gun­ny sack and bicy­cle races. And in Nome, the fun isn’t just for kids. There are race cat­e­gories for all ages!

“You too can clean up your act,” promise spon­sors of Nome’s wacky Labor Day Bath­tub Race. Whether a par­tic­i­pant or a bystander, be pre­pared to get splashed as tubs full of water, bub­bles – and a bather – are raced 100 yards down Front Street. For Nome, this is good, clean fun!

Min­ers took a lot of gold out of Dex­ter Creek, just north­east of Nome, and the Wyatt Earp Dex­ter Chal­lenge takes par­tic­i­pants through this back­coun­try on the Dex­ter Bypass Road. Walk­ers, run­ners and bik­ers com­plete dif­fer­ent course lengths, but all cov­er some of this ridge-lined ter­ri­to­ry on the back­side of Anvil Mountain.

From Nome to your home: You can cap­ture the spir­it of the Idi­tar­od Trail Sled Dog Race and stay active dur­ing win­ter no mat­ter where you live through Nome-based char­i­ty fundrais­ers: Idi­ta-splash and Idita-walk.

When you see berry pick­ers dot­ting the tun­dra around Nome, you know the Blue­ber­ry Fes­ti­val is just around the cor­ner. Don’t miss this one-day gath­er­ing that cel­e­brates all-things blue­ber­ry: from music to arts and crafts, and so many blue­ber­ry-based food concoctions.

The 200-mile Nome-Golovin Race is held on the sec­ond Sat­ur­day in March. Rac­ers begin and end in Nome after fol­low­ing 100 miles of the Idi­tar­od trail down the coast to Golovin and back. It takes just a few hours, so you can catch both the start and fin­ish – and maybe even catch the Award Cer­e­monies, held a few days later.

Each Feb­ru­ary a select group of hardy souls sets out from Knik Lake to test them­selves against Alaska’s harsh win­ter ele­ments. Their mis­sion? To tra­verse the famed Idi­tar­od trail, by moun­tain bike, ski, or on foot – with lit­tle to no trail sup­port. Crazy? Maybe. Inspir­ing? Definitely.

Snow­ma­chines are part of dai­ly life around Nome, but you usu­al­ly have to mind the speed lim­it. Not so in the Can­non­ball Snow­ma­chine Race each April, when rac­ers tear up the trail in mul­ti­ple laps around Nome.

There’s no place like Nome at sol­stice time. The com­mu­ni­ty gath­ers for a cel­e­bra­tion like no oth­er: the Mid­night Sun Fes­ti­val. Spir­its are high, as locals take advan­tage of more than 21 hours of direct sun­light. Events include a parade down Front Street, a mock bank rob­bery, and an icy plunge in the Bering Sea.

Come on out to watch some com­mu­ni­ty soft­ball, a pas­sion for many res­i­dents. Nome usu­al­ly fields near­ly a dozen teams, offer­ing pret­ty com­pet­i­tive soft­ball for a small town on the far reach­es of Alas­ka. With games through­out the sum­mer and a Mid­night Sun Fes­ti­val tour­na­ment, the ball is in play sev­er­al days a week, rain or shine.

The Nome Com­mu­ni­ty Thanks­giv­ing Din­ner, made pos­si­ble by dona­tions and lots of vol­un­teer help, is open to all com­mu­ni­ty mem­bers and vis­i­tors. Stop by for a meal, pitch in to help with the turkey, and enjoy the com­pa­ny of friend­ly Nome-ites, who warm up even the cold­est of Novem­ber days.

Learn about the far north through the eyes of cre­ative film-mak­ers (many of them local) in this 2‑day film fes­ti­val orga­nized by the Nome Arts Council.

Billed as the ​“World’s Longest, Tough­est Snow­ma­chine Race,” the Iron Dog course totals 2,274 long win­ter miles. Begin­ning at Big Lake (north of Anchor­age), the race course leads to Nome, and then ends in Fair­banks. Rac­ers and the Nome com­mu­ni­ty enjoy a fes­tive ban­quet halfway through the race.

In Nome you can find tru­ly unique, hand-made items dur­ing local arts and crafts fairs. The largest of these takes place dur­ing Idi­tar­od Week in mid-March. Take advan­tage of the local fla­vor and pick up a hand-spun qivi­ut (muskox fibres) gar­ment, ivory carv­ings or a seal­skin hat. 

Run­ning the Gold Dust Dash in Nome offers a beau­ti­ful view along the 5K race course up and back along the shore­line of the Bering Sea. A gold nugget is on the line for first place fin­ish­ers, so most run­ners enjoy the view at top speed. The Gold Dust Dash is the first of many events cel­e­brat­ing sum­mer sol­stice in Nome.

Tee off in the ice and snow of the frozen Bering Sea in this 6‑hole char­i­ty golf clas­sic that includes a manda­to­ry stop-off at a local bar after the first three holes. Par­ka, fur hat, and heavy boats are advis­able for one of the most unique golf out­ings you’ll ever experience.

Expe­ri­ence Nome’s col­lec­tive cre­ative spir­it at the Nome Arts Coun­cil Open Mic events, held in mid-Novem­ber and in March dur­ing Idi­tar­od Week. They are always well-attend­ed, so arrive ear­ly to enjoy some of Nome’s best music, dance, poet­ry and story-tellers.

Nome is a star attrac­tion for bird­ers, who might be sur­prised by hun­dreds of yel­low ducks drift­ing down the Snake Riv­er on Labor Day.

Rob­bers with guns drawn stride down Nome’s Front Street each sol­stice with one goal: to rob the bank and get away with bags of loot. The plan is some­how always foiled, but that doesn’t mat­ter. Those rob­bers keep try­ing, year after year! Watch for the bad guys to come call­ing at high noon just after the Mid­night Sun parade.

The water’s cold, but there’s def­i­nite­ly gold to be found in the ​“Poor Man’s Beach Gold Pan­ning Con­test,” held annu­al­ly in Nome’s Anvil City Square. Grab a pan and a bag of pay dirt and see if you can find the gold faster than any­body else. 

Youth tal­ent is on dis­play at Nome’s Sum­mer­fest, an end-of-July cel­e­bra­tion held in Anvil City Square. Face-paint­ing, a tal­ent show, bounce-house and com­mu­ni­ty booths are all part of the fun in this annu­al event that hon­ors youth, the arts, and healthy choices.

See what it’s like to be ​“Nome for the Hol­i­days” at the much-antic­i­pat­ed Christ­mas Extrav­a­gan­za fills Old St. Joe’s Hall with music, San­ta and his elves, live rein­deer, and just about every­body in town. 

Kick up your heels dur­ing Nome’s Salmonber­ry Jam, a three-day music fes­ti­val with work­shops, guest artists, local musi­cians, danc­ing, hand-made crafts, and a com­mu­ni­ty cook­out and jam.