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Fishtival 2015 rocks out while fish roll in

Hannah Colton/KDLG

Festival organizers raised double the funds to bring more art and music to this year's 4-day festival. 

This weekend’s Fishtival in Naknek and King Salmon was attended by perhaps fewer fishermen than usual, but still drew enthusiastic crowds of locals and visitors. Especially popular were daily performances as part of the Bear Grass Music Festival. KDLG’s Hannah Colton reports festival planners raised twice as much money as last year for a full four days of entertainment.  

Audio transcript:

*music* *how's about cookin' something up with me?...*

On Sunday afternoon, a couple dozen people were enjoying live music on the patio at Dolly’s Hall. Standing just outside, Fishtival organizer Mellisa Davis was thrilled nearly to tears with the success of the event.

"This parking lot is full, the band is playing, and there's a lot of people out there!"

Three years ago, Davis heard that the previous organizer of Fishtival was moving away. She decided to take on the project, using skills she’d recently learned in a grantwriting class.

"I decided that my first project through that class was to try to fundraise to do a music festival and keep the Bear Grass thing going… and it worked!"

Originally from the art-saturated city of Chicago, Davis was determined to bring more live music to Naknek. In 2014 the Bristol Bay Borough granted her $4,000 for the festival.

Credit Hannah Colton/KDLG
Anchorage-based artist Emma Hill plays at the Bear Grass Music Festival during Fishtival on Sunday, June 19.

"We stretched every single penny as far as we could, and we were able to fly in Emma Hill and a couple other great artists … it was so successful that when I came back and requested the funds again this year, they doubled it and gave me $8000."

With that, she says, they were able to bring in several other Alaskan artists. This year’s festival featured Emma Hill in addition to two Anchorage groups, the honky tonk Goat Rodeo and the acid country rock band the Mushroom Cowboys. *music*

Davis says bringing in these Alaskan artists is central to her number one goal – to get local kids more involved with the arts. 

"Johnny Donkersloot from the Mushroom Cowboys grew up here and he learned to play guitar here. But they had an art and music program in the school when he was growing up - they don't have that anymore. So I think him coming back and sharing his talents and expressing himself in his community is really important to everybody… I know kids out here who’ve never heard anybody play guitar before."

So it was a special treat for Davis to see some young performers out on Sunday.

Eva Vukich teaches music lessons in Naknek during the summer. She brought a few students to Fishtival. The kids aged 8 to 15 played violin, piano, and cello…

Credit Hannah Colton/KDLG
Students of Eva Vukich performed during the Bear Grass Music Festival on Sunday, June 19.

"I told them there was going to be a chance to play at Fishtival, and they were super into it. And they chose this song and said can we do it? It’s actually kind of complicated with the chords, but they were very motivated to practice in three weeks. It ended up being a six part ensemble so…"
*music*

While music played on, a fine arts competition was set up inside the Naknek Native Village Council. Kids, amateurs and professionals had submitted a variety of media, from salmon skin shoes, to jewelry to paintings.

Later that afternoon, community members began painting a 16 by 8 foot mural that Davis hopes will one day hang on the wall of a cannery building - another part of her plan to bring everyone in Naknek - both seasonal and full-time residents - together through the arts. 
 
Other well-attended events were the parade Saturday morning, the grand opening of the new Bristol Bay Historical Society museum, Ray Troll’s presentation “Fish Worship: Is it Wrong?” and Saturday’s lively bazaar in the school gym.

See more of KDLG's Fishtival photos on our Facebook page.

Contact the author at hannah@kdlg.org.