Amid the busy summer season, the community comes together on the first Saturday of August to celebrate local art, food, performance and of course, blueberries. 2022 marks the 47th annual Blueberry Arts Festival, coordinated by our local arts agency, the Ketchikan Area Arts and Humanities Council. Kicked off by a pet and doll parade down Main Street, the festival includes the prerequisite blueberry pie eating contest, a fun run, poetry slam, handmade human-powered boat race, art exhibit and unique to Ketchikan, a slug race. Local artisans sell everything from kelp pickles to fish prints, all homemade.

Open to competitors under the age of 12, the slug race starts early in morning as the search for a "fast" slug begins. At the Festival, kids gather around the slug board and carefully place their slug in the center circle. Whichever slug makes it off the blue of the blueberry first is declared the winner. Sadly, most kids abandon their new slug friend in a nearby garden after the race.