Saturday\u2019s Maritime Festival won\u2019t only mark the beginning of the summer in Juneau, but it will also mark the opening of a new attraction in Juneau.<\/p>\n
The eighth annual festival will take place at the new Alaska Steamship dock \u2014 located next to the downtown public library, complete with the new cruise dock. This is a slight shift from the usual site at the adjacent Marine Park brickyard, but the annual event put on by the Juneau Economic Development Council will again maintain the same focus of honoring the region\u2019s maritime tradition.<\/p>\n
As JEDC Communications Specialist and Maritime Festival organizer Dana Herndon overlooked the new, large cruise ship dock Tuesday, she pointed out where the sailboat regatta will be, where Tracy\u2019s Crab Shack will be dishing out its signature bisque, where nonprofits will set up their booths and more.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is where it\u2019s all going down,\u201d Herndon said. \u201cThis is going to be the first time the community will really go and check it out.\u201d<\/p>\n
The cruise dock is being officially unveiled to the public in a ceremony Friday, but the Maritime Festival will be the first major event there. The usual events will take place, preceded by the Blessing of the Fleet at 10 a.m., with the festival itself running from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Admission is free, though donations are accepted.<\/p>\n
One People Canoes will collaborate the opening ceremony with Yees Koo Oo Dancing at 11 a.m. From then on, a wide range of activities, tours, contests and music will be featured. The Coast Guard will conduct a search and rescue demonstration at noon. Local fish processors will show off their skills with a fish filleting contest at 1 p.m. Locals will attempt to complete a relay race using a slick salmon instead of a baton at 3 p.m.<\/p>\n
One of the highlights every year is the tug-of-war competition, which will have a new twist this year. Local organizations field teams of seven or eight members, facing off on the wharf. Port Director Carl Uchytil and his Docks &Harbors team is looking to redeem itself after having its long winning streak snapped by the Juneau Police Department last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s good, clean fun for the Maritime Festival to have something that\u2019s nautical in that you\u2019re pulling on a rope, a line,\u201d Uchytil said, \u201cso it\u2019s all in good fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
It will become a little more nautical this year, however. The finals of the competition will take the fight from the land to the water, as the two final teams will board canoes and see which team can triumph. Uchytil is intrigued to see how the new venture turns out.<\/p>\n
The larger intent behind the festival is not to figure out who can tug a rope the hardest or who can fillet a fish the fastest, JEDC Executive Director Brian Holst said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur community could benefit from a reminder about how important all things maritime are,\u201d Holst said. \u201cEven though we have an incredible number of people that make their livelihood from fishing, seafood and working at processors, many of us don\u2019t think of ourselves as a fishing town, and really we are.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the NOAA Office of Science and Technology, Juneau\u2019s port ranked in the top 50 nationally<\/a> in both volume and value of commercial seafood in 2015. More than 300 vessels used for commercial fishing are registered to Juneau owners, according to JEDC<\/a>, and the U.S. Coast Guard is the largest federal employer in Juneau.<\/p>\n The cruise industry also fits under the maritime umbrella, and a record 1,055,000 cruise passengers are expected<\/a> in Juneau this summer who project to spend more than $1 million per day in town.<\/p>\n