By Delcenia Cosman, Heather Kallevig and Yonah Lempert Luecken 

Homer Independent Press

Like the Piano Man himself said, you can’t get the sound of music from a story in a magazine — or, in this case, from your local weekly online newspaper. So instead, a few of us at the Homer Independent Press thought we’d bring you some of the other highlights from the 15th annual Salmonfest music festival that took place last weekend at the Kenai Peninsula Fairgrounds in Ninilchik. 

15 years of music for a cause

By Delcenia Cosman

With more than 50 bands performing, dozens of vendors, a rotating film fest lineup and a three-day schedule of interactive art workshops, there’s no shortage of things to experience each year at Salmonfest. In the last three years that I’ve been attending, though, I like to check out the Causeway, nestled between the north gate of the fairgrounds and the Inlet Stage where attendees crowded together on low benches to hear the musical stylings of Nashville-based indie artist Hope Cassity, the Homer-grown Pushki Pickers and more.

Salmonfest came to life in 2011 in response to Pebble Mine, and for the past 15 years has continued to champion conservationist causes and coalitions. As the festival organizers put it themselves, the majority of attendees might come for the music, fun and friends, but the underlying rallying cry is for salmon and the waters and wilds that sustain them. Proceeds from each festival are donated to organizations fighting to protect Alaska’s salmon, and nonprofits set up shop in the Causeway to talk to people directly about their missions.

This year, about a dozen booths filled the Causeway: the Fairbanks Climate Action Coalition, protesting the proposed Alaska LNG pipeline; Cook Inletkeeper, sharing information about the potential adverse environmental impacts of the Johnson Tract Mine in Lake Clark National Park; the Mobilization Center, getting out the vote in the upcoming primary and general elections; Salmonstate, campaigning to ban bottom trawling and reduce salmon bycatch; Commercial Fishermen for Bristol Bay, advocating for continued sustainability of the world’s largest sockeye fishery; and more. 

As the Legislature conducts a third special session focused on the LNG pipeline, FCAC’s Sean McDermott voiced concerns Saturday about a lack of transparency to date from project leader Glenfarne and whether the pipeline’s development would benefit or bring economic and environmental harm to Alaskans. 

“None of this should be taken seriously until we have a reason to take it seriously,” he said.

Cook Inletkeeper community organizer Aaron Ford called the Johnson Tract Mine a “very timely” issue as the project continues to advance. The mine itself, which is reported to contain gold, zinc, copper, silver and lead, is located on inholdings owned by the Cook Inlet Region, Inc. Native cooperation within Lake Clark National Park, but operators want to expand an airstrip and build an access road to a barge landing in Tuxedni Bay to accommodate shipping of mined ore for off-site processing. Cook Inletkeeper, along with other environmental advocacy groups and local business owners near the site, have opposed the project because of potential adverse impacts to critical beluga, bear and seabird habitat.

On Saturday, Ford was collecting public comments from Salmonfest attendees in preparation for a future public comment period.

“Some of these things are being steamrolled through on the federal level as critical minerals, even though this mine deposit is primarily gold. Part of that designation is that they are not required to do a robust public comment period. It could be as little as seven days, and they may not announce it in advance,” he said.

Ford said that once the public comment period opens, Inletkeeper will “send them a nice, big heavy box of these and make sure that the people’s true feelings are conveyed to the federal government.”

In addition to collecting pledges to vote in the November election and to vote “no” on Ballot Measure 2, a proposition that if approved would repeal ranked choice voting, open primaries and campaign disclosure rules, the Mobilization Center partnered with Salmonstate to collect signatures on a petition asking Alaska’s Congressional delegation and governor to introduce legislation to ban bottom trawling in federal and state waters off of Alaska’s coast. 

Volunteer Julia Glotfelty said that the Commercial Fishermen for Bristol Bay are working to ban metallic sulfide mining in the Bristol Bay area.

The cause isn’t only limited to the Causeway, however. In between sets on each of the four Salmonfest stages, attendees could also listen to speakers from several advocacy groups. On Saturday at the River Stage, CFBB outreach and events coordinator Casey Coupchiak called for an Alaska-based solution — the Bristol Bay Forever Act — to permanently protect the Bristol Bay fishery. A lawsuit by Canadian mining company Northern Dynasty Minerals to overturn the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2023 decision to establish protections near Pebble Mine is expected to see a decision from a federal judge in the near future. The State of Alaska is another plaintiff in that lawsuit.

This is why winning federal protections isn’t enough on its own. We urgently need state-based legislation to protect salmon habitat for generations to come,” Coupchiak said. 

In the thread of recognizing continued advocacy for salmon, festival producer Jim Stearns presented the Salmon Warrior Award to Tim Troll, brother of well-known Salmonfest artist Ray Troll and executive director for the Bristol Bay Heritage Land Trust.

Tim Troll has been involved with the land trust since its founding in 1999, and in the years since has worked with local tribes, Native corporations and landowners to preserve Bristol Bay salmon habitat and culture, Stearns said. Troll is one of the many individuals responsible for blocking mining in the Bristol Bay watershed, as well as a proposed transportation corridor from Pebble Mine to Cook Inlet.

“There’s a saying we have in the environmental world: the problem with fighting battles like this is the opposition says, ‘Heads, we win. Tails, we flip again.’ So we’ve got to keep fighting, because they only have to win once, and we have to keep winning,” Stearns said.

On the Pebble Mine fight, Troll said, “We’re not done with it yet, but I think we’re almost there.” 

For the kids

By Heather Kallevig

I have attended Salmonfest with my family since our kids were 3 and 5.  Four years later, they are well-seasoned Salmonfest participants eager to dance, play and dress in their funkiest garb.  Weeks of preparation go into the event as we decide what food we’ll cook at camp, which bands we’ll watch, and which clothes and accessories to bring.  We arrive early Friday morning and depart Sunday evening carrying only our happy memories, glittery faces and dirty feet from hours of dancing barefoot. 

While the music is the star attraction, we find plenty of opportunities to step away from the stage and alternately relax or revel in other activities. The “cause-way” is always a must-see. While adults and kids alike learn about the most pressing issues in our state and have an opportunity to get involved, each booth has programs for young activists. My kids especially love the crafting options. My daughter loved creating Play-Doh sea creatures with Oceana while my son made us all “vote” buttons and screen-printed salmon flags alongside friends.  

We always make sure to arrive with cash in hand. One of the greatest things about Salmonfest is the variety of vendors. There are rows and rows of food trucks and vendor booths. The “bucking salmon” was this year’s family favorite.  Think of the Alaska version of a mechanical bull. Sampling the food is part of the fun, and everyone enjoys leaving with jazzy swag they won’t find anywhere else. After a long day of fun, nothing beats relaxing at camp or swaying in the River Stage hammocks. 

Salmonfest is all about fun, love, and celebration. The organizers have worked to make the festival a family-friendly event and have created spaces for children throughout the weekend.

When asked what they enjoyed about Salmonfest, one family replied, “As parents, you feel comfortable letting your kids just be in their space for long periods of time knowing they’re going to be safe and have fun.”

It’s rare to find a place where you can all wiggle, dance, play, be loud and run for three days straight. Thanks to this event, families can make these memories together while allowing their children to emulate the salmon we so revere: running wild and free.

The local music scene

By Yonah Lempert Luecken

Salmonfest bills itself as “3 days of fish, love & music.” The four stages provided space for spectacular music this year, from early Friday afternoon until Sunday evening. The only issue this reporter had was deciding which of the many bands to go hear.

The festival started with Hope Cassity, who provided an energetic opening set. From there, the festival only continued gaining momentum in the weekend of sun. Short presentations about the Native Youth Olympics, Bristol Bay, damage done by excessive bycatch, and other topics related to fish and Alaska were interspersed among the music, giving time for avid music fans to relax and reflect as they waited for the next musical act to start on each stage.

The bluegrass infused folk Alaskan duo The Heists followed Cassity on the River Stage, with audience members having to begin a weekend of difficult choices, as performers Jim Lewin, Sam ‘N Jam, and Lucy & Clark were simultaneously playing on the other stages. The Ninilchik fairgrounds were fairly bursting with music.

Homer favorite Jim Maloney & Friends continued the afternoon’s entertainment, with a quick decision necessary between Tim Easton, who followed Maloney on the Inlet Stage, and JUNOsmile on the Ocean Stage. Trying to see some of both, I went from the Inlet Stage to the Ocean Stage, and then heard the nonstop rhythms of Wiley Post, as well as some (not enough!) of the Anchorage based Roland Roberts Band at the Headwaters stage.

Music was varied, both in geographic origins and musical styles, with excellent performers from the Lower 48 and Alaska filling out the weekend’s schedule. Musicians seemed to be having as much fun as the audience, with Wally Wallace of the Roland Roberts Band declaring, “Salmonfest is the greatest festival on Earth!”

The abundance of music made it challenging to see all the bands on Friday. Some, like Girdwood’s reggae and jam-band influenced River Livers, had a second set later in the festival. I missed their Friday show, but the Sunday afternoon one was fantastic! Alaska musician Robb Justice and his band followed the thumping bass notes of California trio Blind Pony on the Headwaters Stage. Meanwhile, Anders Osborne and Jackie Greene, veterans of the North Mississippi Allstars and the Black Crowes, respectively, played at the River Stage Amphitheater, after Seward’s Blackwater Railroad Company.

I missed the Massachusetts band Guster, as some friends from Wasilla rolled into the festival and we traded stories and explored more of the festival until falling asleep after a full day of music intake.

Saturday was another day of the continuing conundrum: Too much music to easily choose from. Kenai Peninsula band the Pushki Pickers, who I fell in musical love with at this year’s Homer Harborfest, played their  bluegrassy Grateful Dead-ish set on the River Stage, followed by the Roland Roberts Band, which was fantastic.

Simultaneously with the Roland Roberts Band, Alaska band Good Company was jamming on the Ocean Stage, and Homer’s Jim Maloney & Friends played on the Headwaters Stage. San Francisco based Pamela Parker’s Fantastic Machine, which reminded me of musician Leon Russell’s bluesy inflected rock and roll, took up residence on the River Stage, followed by California band Dead Winter Carpenters. I had never seen them before. If you haven’t either, their roots-rock folk is well worth listening to. I hope to hear them again. My only problem was forgetting to run to the Headwaters Stage to catch some of Blackwater Railroad Company’s performance.

Hope Social Club on the River Stage led into the Minnesota band Trampled by Turtles, who were as amazing as we’d hoped. (I’d never seen them live before.)  Their string band jams led the crowd into enthusiastic dancing, priming everyone for an amazing set by Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country.

Like Trampled by Turtles, I hadn’t seen Daniel Donato either. A Nashville based country musician influenced heavily by late ‘60s rock music, especially the Grateful Dead, he took the stage with his band and proceeded to effortlessly flow through a set of magnificent jams, ending with Bob Dylan’s “Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn),” and then an encore of “Roll in My Sweet Baby’s Arms.”

I want to say that I saw the AK Fire Circus and Fairbanks Flamettes next, at 1 a.m Sunday morning, but went back to the campsite and, exhausted after a day of listening and dancing, fell asleep shortly afterward.

Sunday continued the musical momentum, with Steve Schoonmaker & Poets Anadromous, Molly Tuttle, second sets of the Dead Winter Carpenters and the Pushki Pickers, the Super Saturated Sugar Strings, Jenny Baker, Homer’s The Pudgies and then Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band.

Throughout the weekend, I asked festival attendees for their opinions of Salmonfest, and did not hear a single negative review. Stephen McCasland, who has attended all 15 Salmonfests, said of his repeat attendance at the festival, “Most festivals in Alaska are north of Anchorage, so you’re looking at five to eight hours to see an outdoor festival. But here, this is like in our backyard.”

Short interviews rendered the same verdict repeatedly: Salmonfest attendees appreciated the many styles of music to listen to, the friendliness of all the people at the festival, the plethora of foods and crafts available, and the focus on Alaska fish.

Alaskan Rick Cline, who has attended 14 Salmonfests, said, “I raised my kids bringing them here. They loved it. Now they come here.” 

He summed up the weekend by saying, “I think everybody left with a big ol’ smile.”