Southeast Alaska State Fair lineup packed with regional favorites

The Rain Dogs are scheduled to perform at the Southeast Alaska State Fair.

By Rashah McChesney

Chilkat Valley News

Six Alaska bands are headlining the Southeast Alaska State Fair set for July 31 to August 3.

They’re part of an entertainment lineup that pulls in a number of Southeast Alaska musical acts, alongside dance groups, a hypnotist, a clown, a talent show, wearable arts, a fiddling contest and the Sunday staple singer-songwriter showcase.

The Rain Dogs join the Roland Roberts Band, Whiskey Class and Air Jazz, the Lacks, and Dude Mountain headlining the fair’s entertainment lineup.

Rain Dogs singer Anna Mahanor and guitarist Avery Stewart said this will be the first time the band plays at the Haines Fair. They describe their music as sad girl pop punk with a cheap beer marinade. Mahanor writes most of the songs, but credits Stewart for a few of them.

“I think our shows are just, it’s like music to bop around too,” Stewart said.

The band came together in a very Alaskan way, with Mahanor and drummer Keenan Wright meeting at an open mic night in downtown Juneau. Then they played their first Folk Fest set and convinced Jacob Eberhardt to play bass. Then Stewart came along and the band has been playing together since early 2024.

They’ll be landing in Haines coming off a tour that took them to Sitka and Hatcher’s Pass, where they saw the Roland Roberts band in action. Stewart said he’s excited to see them on the lineup for this year’s fair, and generally looking forward to an Alaska-heavy showcase.

“I’m looking at the schedule and not only is it a ton of bands that I really want to see, but it’s all of our friends too,” he said. “I’m really excited to see the Getting Strangers and every time Dude Mountain plays they tear the house down. There are other little shows on the Klondike stage where Josh Fortenberry is playing. It’s going to be hard to choose which show to go to every single day.”

That lineup can be attributed in part to Haines-local Henry Leasia who took on booking bands this year.

All told there are 34 acts. Leasia said they started booking in February, but didn’t finalize the schedule until about three weeks ago.

Leasia said it’s fairly laborious sorting out the logistics of who can travel when and where, and who wants to play on which of the Fair’s three stages.

“A lot of performers tend to like the Klondike stage, so that one got filled up faster,” he said.

Leasia, who is no stranger to local stages himself as a solo musician and with local bands Keep the Pool Open and Nalimu, said that particular stage is appealing because the band isn’t on a platform.

“So when people are dancing and enjoying the music, you feel like you’re with them.”

Still, Leasia said the Park stage is appealing to musicians as well because it has the best sound and is located in a quiet spot near the community garden.

“The sound crew does a really good job. They do a good job on the mainstage too, but it’s a little quieter by the Park stage,” he said.

Another barrier to booking acts this year was that a number of Canadian acts pulled out of the lineup, including the popular Whitehorse-based Cows Go Moo.

“Its always been a bit difficult to get Canadian bands that aren’t already touring in the U.S. because they need to apply for a permit to work and it’s expensive and time consuming,” he said. “So, if they don’t have a couple of gigs lined up in the U.S., it’s usually not worth it to them to come through.”

In the end, Canadian bands end up paying something like $1,000 Canadian to get all of their paperwork in order, Leasia said. One popular Canadian band, Kingswardfish, is returning.

In addition to the musical acts, Leasia said the lineup features two local Alaska Native dance groups including the Haines mainstay Chilkat Dancers at 12:30 p.m. Thursday and the new Haa Ḵu.óo Tuwáadax at 11:30 a.m. Saturday.

“I’m looking forward to seeing them,” he said.

Like many other parts of the fair, the entertainment is kept running smoothly by volunteers.

Leasia said they’re still looking for a few, particularly to help with transporting some of the visiting acts to and from the fairgrounds. Anybody interested can email him at henry@seakfair.org. henry@seakfair.org.

• This article was originally published by the Chilkat Valley News.