Drone shows, food and a waterskiing squirrel: Here’s what to expect at the Alaska State Fair

What you need to know:

• The Alaska State Fair opens Friday and runs through Sept. 7, featuring new attractions including a three-night, 500-drone show and performances by Twiggy the Water Skiing Squirrel.
• Food options include fair staples such as Aloha Whip, Bushes Bunches and Denali Cream Puffs, with food truck Papaya Tree joining the lineup for the first time.
• Fair officials say no major security changes are planned this year despite several high-profile incidents last year, though they are seeking funding for entrance metal detectors and could prohibit weapons on the fairgrounds next year.
• Short on time but need the local news scoop? Get free weekly news in your inbox for Mat-Su, from Mat-Su.

PALMER — The Alaska State Fair opens Friday with scheduled fun and fanfare that includes a new nighttime drone show, a water-skiing squirrel and a $1 increase in day-of ticket prices.

Gates open for the annual event at 11 a.m. Friday. The fair then runs from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday through Monday until Sept. 7. It is closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

This year’s food stops feature plenty of returning favorites, including Aloha Whip, Bushes Bunches and Denali Cream Puffs, according to the state fair’s website. Food truck Papaya Tree is the only new addition to the lineup, organizers said, and will serve traditional Lao, Thai and Vietnamese food from the Miners Loop.

But this year’s most notable updates center on entertainment, State Fair CEO Blake Allen said in an interview last month.

New entertainment is coming to the skies above the fairgrounds over the event’s final weekend, Sept. 4-6. After years without fireworks because of wildfire concerns, organizers will instead stage a three-night drone show this year.

The weather-dependent display will include 500 drones launched from a staging area near the Noisy Goose Cafe across from the fair property, Allen said. The show will start at 10 p.m. all three nights and offer a spectacle visible throughout the grounds, he said. It is billed as the biggest drone show in the state.

Back near sea level in the Red Trail Corral, “Twiggy the Water Skiing Squirrel” will perform at 1 p.m., 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. every day of the fair.

The traveling act has featured more than a dozen trained squirrels known as “Twiggy” since it started in 1979, according to the show’s website, and one Twiggy had a cameo in the film “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.” The Alaska State Fair stop is thought to be Twiggy’s first visit to the state.

As was the case last year, visitors can reserve parking in advance for a fee, Allen said. More than 100 spots allow attendees to avoid long parking lines and access the grounds through a special gate. Prices start at $35.25.

All other parking remains free, with accessible parking spaces reserved close to gates for people with a placard.

Gate prices are increasing by $1 this year to $20 for adult tickets and $13 for youth under 13 and seniors 65 and older. Discounted advance tickets are available through the end of the day Thursday, ahead of the fair’s opening, for $16 for adults and $9 for youth and seniors.

Passes and ticket bundles are also available through Thursday, with sales ending before the fair opens Friday.

Season passes are $96 for adults and $66 for seniors or youth 13 and older. Six-packs of adult tickets are $76; senior and youth six-packs are $44. Four-packs are $55 for adults and $35 for seniors and youth. 

The fair pricing plan also includes a series of discounted admission and special days. Buddy Day on Monday includes two-for-one tickets for carnival rides and two-for-one gate admission for people with a coupon available at Holiday gas stations. Children under 12 receive $2 off gate admission Aug. 29. On Sept. 6, gate tickets for military members are $5, and emergency personnel can receive $5 admission Sept. 7.

State fair safety

State fair officials said they’ve reviewed the fair’s safety plans but do not have any major security updates planned for this season, despite a series of high-profile incidents during last year’s event.

Allen, the fair’s CEO, took over the job in May. He said he’s using this season to observe how things work before moving forward with major updates, including changes to gate security.

Under current rules, attendees can bring weapons onto the fairgrounds but cannot carry them into the concert venue, where metal detectors are used to make sure ticket holders obey the rules.

The state fair has applied for a grant to fund metal detectors for the fair’s entrance gates and may no longer allow weapons on the fairgrounds starting next year, he said.

“Some of the policies I may institute in the future may not be so popular with everyone, but ultimately those decisions are going to be made for what's best for the safety of fairgoers,” Allen said.

In one incident last year, a bystander helped security guards disarm two men who brandished guns during a brawl near the Sluicebox bar on the fair’s final day. The incident was recorded and shared widely on social media.

Two weeks earlier, a police encounter also caught on video by a fairgoer showed three Palmer police officers place a man later identified as Jeffry K.R. Cook-Reed in a chokehold while he was holding a young child, tackle him to the ground, punch him and use a Taser on his back for about 30 seconds as onlookers yelled for them to stop.

Cook-Reed was arrested at the fair on a warrant for failure to appear on a charge of fourth-degree assault. He was convicted of that charge in December. He was rearrested in Palmer in June on misdemeanor weapons charges, including having a loaded firearm in a bar. He is scheduled to appear in court in Palmer on Aug. 24 for a hearing related to that charge.

Palmer police conducted an internal investigation following the incident and took “appropriate action … in accordance with department policy,” Palmer Police Cmdr. Lucas Szipszky said in a statement. Szipszky declined to give specific details, citing personnel privacy laws.

-- Contact Amy Bushatz at contact@matsusentinel.com