Alaska State Fair celebrates record-breaking year

Anyone who went to the 2025 Alaska State Fair can tell you that this year felt different. Big crops, bigger acts, and the biggest crowds in recent history.

Officials with the Alaska State Fair recently reported that the 2025 fair was one for the records, continuing a streak of record-breaking attendance, sold-out shows and new state records, and ranking among the nation’s best state fairs in USA TODAY’s 10 Best Readers’ Choice Awards.

“Thank you to everyone who visited the 2025 Alaska State Fair,” said Fair CEO Jeff Curtis in a recent press release. “It was an overwhelming success! Voted the 7th-best state fair in the country, this year’s fair delivered a magical experience that celebrates Alaska and the people who call it home.”

Themed “Reach for the Stars,” the Fair ran from August 15 until September 1, drawing an all-time record of 388,798 fairgoers (up from 370,485 in 2024).

The ConocoPhillips Alaska Concert Series posted record ticket sales, with five sellouts including Rainbow Kitten Surprise, Billy Currington, Foreigner and both “Weird Al” Yankovic shows.

Meanwhile, expanded seating at the MTA Grandstand—home to the ever-popular Demolition Derby, All Star Monster Trucks and Rodeo Alaska Champions Tour—drove a 34% jump in grandstand attendance.

The 4-H/FFA Jr. Market Livestock Auction also continued to reach new heights, bringing in $742,000 from the sale of 136 animals raised by local youth, including poultry, rabbits, goats, lambs, swine, beef and more. Exhibit entries, which invite Alaskans to share their talents and passions in categories ranging from baked goods to beekeeping, also took a jump to 8,831 entries in 2025, up from 7,660 in 2024.

On the popular giant-produce front, Dale Marshall kept his crown at Alaska’s Midnight Sun Great Pumpkin Weigh-Off, easily taking first place with his 1,820-pounder. Though there might be a new contender looming as new grower Rob Passarella gave it a go and came in second, vowing to do better next year.It was a tighter race in the Giant Cabbage Weigh-Off, with Scott Robb taking first at 84.2 pounds, edging Paul Dinkel (80.7) and Brian Shunskis (79.0).

It was also a banner year in the crops department, with six new state records, including a 2.72-pound eggplant (Walter Chastain), 30.9375-inch cucumber (Dale Marshall), 6-foot-9.5-inch spinach (Joy Pollard-Sanderson), 4.8-pound mustard greens (Krystyna McRobert), 41.25-inch leek (Tabitha Bancroft) and 50-7/8-inch quinoa (Sandra Skaggs).

In addition to all the fun, fairgoers showed up for the community, too—donating 5,000 pounds to the Mat-Su Food Bank and helping volunteers recycle 49,543 pounds of aluminum, plastic, paper and cardboard. Since 2002, the Fair’s recycling program has diverted 962,808 pounds from the landfill.

The Fair also honored the 2025 Alaska Farm Family of the Year: the Mosesian family of Mosesian Farms of Alaska (Bell’s Nursery). For nearly 50 years and across four generations, the family has grown a diverse operation—from hanging baskets and poinsettias, to hydroponic tomatoes and cucumbers, to a greenhouse-grown vineyard with house-made wines, to café-style garden centers that double as community hubs—embodying the innovation and spirit of Alaska agriculture.

And as the vendors close up, the entries are returned, and the golden birch leaves litter the ground, plans are already in motion for the 2026 Alaska State Fair, which will be celebrating the Fair’s 90th anniversary—runs August 21–September 7. “I can’t wait to see everyone back next summer to celebrate the Fair’s 90th,” Curtis said.