Great Alaska Music Festival to kick off great Alaskan summer at state fairgrounds Memorial Day weekend

PALMER — For decades, promoter Sam Lichter has been fighting the always challenge battle of getting headline-worthy musicians to come up from the Lower 48 to perform in Alaska.

Those efforts have yielded some huge scores — like the Grateful Dead, Journey and Joe Cocker, to name a few, but it’s never been easy, and given the state’s recent financial hiccups, it hasn’t gotten easier.

“It’s always been hard. We’re far away and the problem is, there’s so many other places that have these festivals that have been going on for many years, whether it’s Bonnaroo, Coachella… those are all part of the music landscape for the summer,” Lichter said. “It’s hard to get artists because there’s other people giving more money to play bigger venues.”

At the same time, Lichter had seen the relative success of Salmonfest — previously called Salmonstock in recent years. But to get to Salmonfest, fans have to go all the way to Ninilchick in the Kenai Peninsula and usually camp out on what tends to be a rainy and muddy August weekend.

Why not put on a festival closer to the population base of South Central Alaska?

That and having 30 years of experience as a club owner in Telluride, Colo., home to the Blues and Brews Festival, among others, gave Lichter a unique opportunity to try something new in Alaska.

His concept: The Great Alaska Music Festival at the Alaska State Fairgrounds on Memorial Day weekend.

His connections from Colorado helped lure some top-notch festival draws, including the Yonder Mountain String Band, Asleep at the Wheel, Kyle Denson’s Tiny Universe, featuring Rolling Stones band member Kyle Denson, the Kyle Hollingsworth Band, Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen.

Add to that mix Alaska favorites Hope Social Club, Super Saturated Sugar Strings, Denali Cooks and the Great Alaska All-Star Super Jam, and you have, what Lichter hopes will be a jamming two-day festival that can bookend the great Alaska summer.

“Memorial Day weekend gave us some specific time frames to work with,” Lichter said. “We needed to have a festival closer to where everybody is; a lot of people can’t give up a day on either side (of a weekend) to go to a festival… Weather is always a factor and the best weather in the state (in summer) is in Palmer at the State Fairgrounds.”

Lichter said camping will be available and encouraged at the fairgrounds on Saturday night.

“They’ve had camping at the state fairgrounds before but they’ve never had it as close to the Borealis Theater,” Lichter said. “Being able drive your RV that close to the venue and plug in to electrical outlets right there — to go to the campsite, to the RV, back and forth and mill about vendor booths, it is a convenience. That is unusual, the parking and camping. Usually it’s far, far from venues.”

Licther said camping is $50 per night at the fairgrounds and RVs are $75.

Tickets go on sale today, starting at 10 a.m.