Salmonfest will return to the Kenai Peninsula Fairgrounds in Ninilchik next week, running from Aug. 2-4 and featuring music, festivities and art.

There are more than 50 bands and artists on the lineup this year, and Assistant Director David Stearns said the mix is eclectic — featuring performers from the Kenai Peninsula and Alaska alongside others from different continents.

Last year, Stearns said the 2023 lineup was the festival’s “deepest” ever. On Thursday, he said last year’s was a difficult act to follow, but this year they’ve leaned into bringing more varied performers that will surprise attendees.

He pointed to The Cat Empire as one example, saying that they’re “massive” in Australia. The band happened to be playing nearby in Vancouver, Canada, for another festival, and seized the opportunity to keep exploring the Northern Hemisphere. In the United States and Alaska, they may be an unknown quantity, Stearns said, but “people are going to be blown away.”

Stearns also pointed to group Michael Franti and Spearhead as an exciting returning name that’s making waves on the national stage.

He said Dawes, a band of brothers from Los Angeles, will bring classic Americana.

The Kitchen Dwellers, he said, deliver “boot stompin’ bluegrass.”

“Those guys absolutely rip.”

That’s not to forget the lineup of Alaska bands, which Stearns said is as strong as its ever been. He looked to The Super Saturated Sugar Strings, Black Barrel & the Bad Men, Blackwater Railroad Company and Hope Social Club as only a few of the highlights.

The mix of national and local talent is part of what makes Salmonfest so dynamic, Stearns said — “the recipe seems to be working.” He said that putting on so many bands, with a dense schedule spread across four stages, is a tremendous technical and logistical undertaking only possible because of hundreds of staff and volunteers.

Salmonfest is, Stearns said, “a musically infused family reunion.” Though they’ve seen attendees from 20 different countries and all over the United States, he said it’s Alaskans who make up the bulk of the crowd. Everyone gathers in Ninilchik, and people see old friends.

The goal, he said, is for Salmonfest to be “a magical, separate world” with sights, sounds and food that pull attendees from their everyday lives.

That stretches beyond the music to other performances like a Native Youth Olympics demonstration and the Salmon Champions, speakers who share salmon stories and culture between performances. The nearby ARCHES Campground is also expanded this year.

“So much of the festival is what people make of it,” Stearns said.

Art and vendors will be showcased, the Smoked Salmon Super Bowl competition will be held and money from the event will be used to advocate for “all salmon-related causes,” per the event’s website.

The festival runs from noon to 2 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 2; from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 3; and from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 4.

Tickets and more information can be found at salmonfestalaska.org.

Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.