Fur Rendezvous Anchorage 2025

Fur Rendezvous Anchorage 2025

Fur Rendezvous is an Anchorage tradition since 1935. Spanning the last week of February, the festival usually includes a carnival, parade, snow sculpture competition, fireworks show, dog sled races, and more unique Alaska fun.

• Stay at the Hotel Captain Cook,  rated “Superb” by guests with spacious rooms, a modern gym and delicious breakfast options with a great location for exploring the best of Anchorage.

The Event

• Known locally as Fur Rondy, the Fur Rendezvous event has proudly represented the pioneering spirit of Alaskans.
• The event started in 1935 as a three-day sporting event timed to coincide with the return of miners and trappers loaded down with the fruits of a winter of work. The original event featured skiing, hockey, basketball, boxing, and a children’s sled dog race down Fourth Avenue.
• In addition to more than 20 official cultural and sporting activities, the Anchorage community hosts nearly 50 Rondy Round Town events, offering wacky winter fun for all ages.
• Hotels in Anchorage in the downtown area tend have poor guest ratings. We recommend you stay a little outside the downtown district for better options. The Aloft Hotel is 2km from the centre with a beautiful pool, spacious rooms and superb service.

Outhouse Races

• Saturday – Awaiting dates – Spectators gather on the Fourth Avenue to watch 10-20 teams racing homemade, themed outhouses on skis down Fourth Avenue, in the heart of downtown.
• Outhouses are recognized for best theme, most colorful, cleanest, most realistic and more.
• The races are classic Alaska and truly a sight to behold.

World Championship Sled Dog Races

• Friday – Awaiting dates – In the Rondy World Championship Sled Dog Races, dog teams and their mushers complete a high-speed loop daily for three days with the fastest time the winner.
• The sled dog races traditionally begin on Fourth Avenue at D Street, and run out and back to Campbell Creek on 4th Ave and D Street.

Blanket Toss

• Saturday – Awaiting dates – Fur Rondy’s Blanket Toss mimics an ancient Alaska Native whaling tradition in two ways; a walrus skin is used, and everyone can have a turn to either jump or grip the blanket’s edge while tossing others as high as 20 feet into the air. What a view!

The snowshoe softball tournament

• Saturday – Awaiting dates – The snowshoe softball tournament will get your adrenaline pumping.
• You might not be so quick on your feet in a pair of snowshoes, but the fun you’ll have will easily make up for it.
• Teams participating in this tournament dress up in their wackiest outfits (think snowsuits plus tutus).

The Ice Sculpture Championship

• Awaiting dates –Head down to Ship Creek to check out all the Snow Sculptures and cast your vote for the People’s Choice Award!
• Watch as artists of varying levels create miracles from 8ft x 8ft x 8ft blocks of compressed snow.
• Division 1 winners go to the US Nationals to compete as Alaska’s team.
• View daily from 10am to 10pm.

The Fireworks Extravaganza

• Saturday – Awaiting dates – The highlight of the event is the Fireworks Extravaganza.
• The event is held in Downtown Anchorage, Facing Ship Creek and the Small Boat Harbor.
• Pyrotechnic artists paint the sky with blasts of blazing rockets, bigger than any others used in Alaska.
• The winter sky over Anchorage will never be brighter!

Running of the Reindeer

• Saturday – Awaiting dates – Fan favorite, the Running of the Reindeer, is a mad dash down the streets of Anchorage with caribou at the racers’ heels. Always draws a crowd. Its a mad dash to outrun the reindeer.
• Takes place at 4th Ave between H and D Street.

Where to stay in Anchorage?

Here are the Hotels we recommend that keep you close to all the action,

Sheraton Hotel & Spa,  Marriott Downtown,  Four Points by Sheraton,  Comfort Inn Ship Creek