Food, fun, and fireworks-Houston celebrates 56th annual Founder’s Day

Under the specter of grey skies ready to spill the already saturated Houston area, the city held its 56th annual Founders Day on Saturday.

The celebration marks Houston’s 56th birthday, and while slightly scaled back from pre-COVID festivities, hundreds of residents from Houston and surrounding communities came out to celebrate.

Even though Founder’s Day is an annual event, there are always first-time visitors.

“My daughter’s friend told us about it, and it’s nice because it’s smaller than the fair,” said Kendra Casas of Wasilla.

Whether people fancied the medieval knight combat battles between knights, sponsored by Barony of Selviergard of the Society for Creative Anachronism, were wowed by the high-flying aerial acrobatics from Alluring Aerial Acrobatics, or preferred to jam out to the Wild Cat Trio, Founder’s Day provided a little something for everyone.

“My favorite part has been the music and the aerial dancing (acrobatics),” said, Emmalie Casas, who along with her friend Maverick Lundale, feasted on a large bag of kettle corn, cotton candy, and some delicious, and quite large lemonade that was served with the free Gourmet Hot Dog Feed, served up by the Houston Fire Department and sponsored by Three Bears, Willow True Value Hardware, Denali 420, and E-Z Rentals.

For the kids, there was a petting zoo with adorable baby goats, to which one little boy could be overheard asking if he could take one home. There were also free kids field games and inflatables so parents could take a break while kids were able to burn off energy from the first week of school.

Meanwhile, there was serious business taking place indoors with a Poker Tournament. Some attendees got an education with the Earthquake Simulator brought in by Ready.Alaska.gov. The “quake cottage” was able to simulate an earthquake measuring 8.0 without risk of breaking any household items.

Other highlights included a Blueberry Pie Eating Contest, with a Waldo who looked suspiciously like Houston Mayor Virgie Thompson, and performance from the Alaska Fire Circus.

While the Founder’s Day may be a bit smaller than the Alaska State Fair, the idea is to celebrate the community, give back a fun event to the residents on come together for food, fun, and fireworks.

Speaking of fireworks, no Founder’s Day event would be complete without and of course, the fireworks show, sponsored by Gorilla Fireworks, to cap off the fun.

“I am looking forward to the fireworks,” added Casas, who was also excited about the Fire Circus. She and her daughter made the trip out from Wasilla, but they are no strangers to Houston and Big Lake.

And many attendees shared Casas’ enthusiasm for the fireworks show, with plenty of “oohs” and “ahhs” and thunderous applause for the fireworks.

“Best fireworks display I’ve ever seen! We had an awesome time visiting the Houston Founders Day Event,” said Hannah Nida.

“It’s truly the best place and event to see fireworks in Alaska while we’re not freezing,” concurred Houston resident Cindy Boyles Lewis.