A car decorated in Skagway’s July 4th parade in 2014. (Ivan Wong Rodenas/Flickr Creative Commons)
Skagway is gearing up for an event-packed Fourth of July.
The day kicks off with a children’s parade at 9:30 a.m., followed by the main parade at 10 a.m. The grand marshals are Duff and Karla Ray.
Blaine Mero from the Chamber of Commerce says after that, there’s something going on all day until the Ducky Derby at 5 p.m in Pullen Pond.
“It’s the biggest fundraiser for the Chamber of Commerce that we do in the year,” Mero said. “We sell tickets with ducks and the ducks are numbered to the ticket. And the first one over the line gets $1,000. And then we also have six random draws and they each win $100.”
Mero says there are events for people of all ages during the day, including an egg toss, tug-of-war and a bike race in which the slowest rider wins the prize.
There are also plenty of culinary options, with barbeques and food vendors. If you enjoy competitive eating, there are hot dog and pie eating contests.
Mero says Skagway’s celebrations are a great way to mark Independence Day.
“And if anybody hasn’t experienced a real Fourth of July in a small town, this is the day to do it,” Mero said. “Because Skagway does it right.”
The night will end with live music at the Skagway Brewing Company.
Like Haines, there is no official fireworks show planned.
The holiday falls on a busy tourism day. More than 10,000 visitors from four cruise ships will be in town.
A full schedule of events can be found in the June 23 Skagway News.
