Photo courtesy of Mayumi Arimitsu
By Libby Sterling | For the Juneau Empire
Juneau's annual Autumn Festival will celebrate its fifth year this weekend with a move to the rain-free Juneau Arts & Culture Center.
From noon until 10 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 18, attendees can partake of the sweet fruits of locals' labor through various arts and crafts offerings, and can enjoy live music and games. There will also be food aplenty, including Kettle Korn, Fry Bread and Chef Stef's catering. Edibles will be accompanied by a beer garden, sponsored by the Rendezvous and the Alaskan Brewing Co., opening at 2 p.m.
For the first four years of its existence, the festival was held at Marine Park. This year, the festivities have outgrown their former wall-less setting and organizers have opted to move the event indoors - just in case the weather happens to be less-than-desirable.
Founder, organizer, and master delegator Rachael Juzeler said she is interested in seeing how the change in venue will affect the turnout.
"People will hang out longer, I'm guessing," she said. "When we did it downtown, we didn't get so many passersby because people weren't really walking downtown anyway. They came down exclusively for this. It's super community (oriented), everyone knows each other, there are kids running around like crazy, and I expect nothing less again," she said.
Juzeler said she and a friend got the idea for a street fair around the time that Marine Park was constructed. The city was on board with the concept, but with the stipulation that the festival would have to wait until the cruise ship season came to a close, timing which naturally accommodated an autumn theme.
"It's a good kickoff for winter," Juzeler said. "It's a great place to do all your Christmas shopping in advance."
Musical performances will run all day long, and will include sets by Teri Tibbett, Train Wreck, Slow Gun Runner, Brook Morgan and others. There will also be time dedicated to impromptu performers during an open mike session.
Between musical performances, the Alaskan Brewing Co. will present awards to the winners of this year's Autumn Pour Homebrew competition. Ale-brewing champions will be announced at 4 p.m.
Another highlight will be a game called cornhole. This recreational activity is closely related to horseshoes, but rather than tossing an iron crescent around a stake, players fling cornhole bags filled with corn, beans, or sand at a target on a raised platform.
Arts and crafts tables will include work made by local jewelers, ceramicists, glass workers, knitters and more. There will also be interactive tables for children of all ages to discover and express their inner autumn creativity.
Juzeler said she expects the arts and crafts tables to sell out of products and close down around 5 p.m.
"That always seems to happen at this festival because we do have a lot of people that come through," she said.
Juzeler runs the festival as a volunteer, and is not necessarily affiliated with or sponsored by any one organization.
"It's basically just me. I have a lot of good volunteers that come and help me set things up," she said.
Admission is free, and proceeds will benefit the Juneau Arts & Humanities Council.
"It's basically just a community event with community people playing and community people all working together and showing all their stuff," Juzeler said.
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