What's on in Fairbanks, United States through the year

Busy — Winter / Christmas break in United States, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: Aurora season (21 Aug – 21 Apr), Deep cold and ice fog (1 Dec – 20 Feb (usually))

Busy — World Ice Art Championships

• Festival

  World Ice Art Championships

  15 Feb – 5 Apr · usuallyIce seasonCrowded

  Carvers from a dozen countries work blocks quarried out of a local pond, and the finished park stays lit and open into early April because it is cold enough to. Go after dark and dress for standing still. Source ↗

Still on: Aurora season (21 Aug – 21 Apr), Deep cold and ice fog (1 Dec – 20 Feb (usually))

Peak crowds — World Ice Art Championships, Spring break in United States

Nothing new starts in March.

Still on: World Ice Art Championships (15 Feb – 5 Apr (usually)), Aurora season (21 Aug – 21 Apr)

Busy — World Ice Art Championships

• Nature

  Nenana Ice Classic breakup

  20 Apr – 15 May · usuallyIce season

  An hour down the road a tripod stands on the frozen Tanana and the whole state bets on the minute it moves; the record runs unbroken since 1917. Break-up is the real start of the year here, not a date on a calendar. Source ↗

Still on: World Ice Art Championships (15 Feb – 5 Apr (usually)), Aurora season (21 Aug – 21 Apr)

Busy — one of its best months for weather

Nothing new starts in May.

Still on: Nenana Ice Classic breakup (20 Apr – 15 May (usually))

Peak crowds — Midnight Sun Baseball Game, Summer break in United States

• Hazard

  Interior wildfire smoke

  10 Jun – 20 Aug · usuallySmoke season

  Lightning fires in the boreal interior are left to burn where nothing is threatened, and the smoke settles into the Tanana valley for days. Some summers are clear; in a bad one the hills across the river disappear. Source ↗

• Festival

  Midnight Sun Baseball Game

  20–22 JunMajor festivalCrowded

  Fairbanks has played a ball game starting around ten at night on the solstice since 1906, and they have never turned the floodlights on. The Goldpanners host it now, and the street festival downtown runs the same weekend. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Golden Days, Summer break in United States

• Festival

  Golden Days

  15–27 Jul · usuallyMajor festivalCrowdedClosures

  A week of gold-rush pageantry ending in a Saturday parade, a street fair and a rubber duck race on the Chena. It is the one week the town is unambiguously in a good mood. Source ↗

Still on: Interior wildfire smoke (10 Jun – 20 Aug (usually))

Busy — Summer break in United States, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Nature

  Aurora season

  21 Aug – 21 AprBook early

  Sitting under the auroral oval, the town claims better than nine nights in ten over a three-night stay if you actually go out after midnight. Get away from the streetlights — Cleary Summit or the hot springs road — and give it more than one night. Source ↗

Still on: Interior wildfire smoke (10 Jun – 20 Aug (usually))

Busy — Summer break in United States

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Aurora season (21 Aug – 21 Apr)

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Aurora season (21 Aug – 21 Apr)

Busy — Thanksgiving break in United States

Nothing new starts in November.

Still on: Aurora season (21 Aug – 21 Apr)

Busy — Winter / Christmas break in United States, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Hazard

  Deep cold and ice fog

  1 Dec – 20 Feb · usuallyExtreme cold

  Cold air settles in the basin for weeks and exhaust and wood smoke freeze into an ice fog that sits over the low ground. Cars stay plugged in, and any outdoor plan needs a fallback that is indoors. Source ↗

Still on: Aurora season (21 Aug – 21 Apr)