Sitka WhaleFest at 30 Keeps Its Mornings on the Water
October 29, 2026
October 29, 2026
The 30th annual Sitka WhaleFest opens today and runs through November 9. This year's theme is "Generations of Giants: 30 Years of Whales, Wisdom, and What Follows." The science symposium is the core of the festival. It takes up a small part of each day: three talks between 1:00 and 3:45 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The rest of the schedule is built around those three hours. Boats, paddles and the run happen before noon, and Centennial Hall fills up after dark. Most of these blocks don't collide, so a local with a free weekend can cover a full WhaleFest day without having to pick between the water and the talks.
On opening day the action is mostly downtown. The Sitka Maritime Heritage Society is running its historical walking tour at half price at 1 p.m. today, led by Rebecca Poulson, according to the Daily Sitka Sentinel. Registration is through sitkamaritime.org.
The Student Art Show opens at Centennial Hall at 5:00 p.m., with a reception until 6:30. Students from local schools and out-of-school programs spent the weeks before the festival making art on this year's theme. The work stays up all weekend during Market & Café hours.
Film Fest follows at 7:00 p.m. in the same hall. It's free and open to the public, and you don't need to register. The lineup carries the "generations" theme. It opens with See Stories, an Alaska nonprofit that teaches young people to make documentaries, and two student shorts. In Yakutat Subsistence, two Yakutat middle schoolers take up Katie John's fight for subsistence rights. Six Generations, Many More to Come follows four generations of Naknek commercial fishermen in Bristol Bay. The featured film, Stories from the Blue: Saving Koholā, follows the response team at the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary as they study and help entangled humpbacks. A panel with NOAA scientists from the film comes after the screening, including symposium speaker Ed Lyman.
The youth focus goes beyond the films. In an October interview on KCAW, Rosie Cunningham, program coordinator for Rural Alaska Students and One-Health Research, and University of Alaska professor Ellen Chenoweth talked about learning opportunities for students at this year's festival.
Friday through Sunday follow the same pattern. Here's how the published schedule fits together:
| Time | Friday, Nov. 6 | Saturday, Nov. 7 | Sunday, Nov. 8 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Morning | Kayaking to Kaasda Héen, 8:30–11:30 | Wildlife cruise 8:30–11:30; Whale Run at 9:00; illustration class 9:00–11:30 | Wildlife cruise 8:30–11:30; necropsy 8:15–11:30; illustration class 9:00–11:30 |
| Market & Café | 10:00–4:30 | 10:00–4:30 | 11:00–3:00 |
| Symposium | 12:45 welcome, talks 1:00–3:45 | Talks 1:00–3:45 | Talks 1:00–3:45 |
| Late afternoon | Charismatic MegaQuestions, 4:00–5:00 | Charismatic MegaQuestions, 4:00–5:00 | Charismatic MegaQuestions, 4:00–5:00 |
| Evening | Maritime Grind, 7:30–9:00 | Marine Trivia Night |
Every morning event wraps up by 11:30, and the first talk doesn't start until 1:00. That leaves time for lunch between the two. The Market & Café is the only event that overlaps the symposium, and you can visit it between talks.
The morning events cost the most, and nearly all of them take place on or right next to the water.
Kayaking to Kaasda Héen leaves from the Science Center Mill Building on Friday at 8:30 a.m. It's a small-group paddle along the shore of Sitka National Historical Park to the mouth of Kaasda Héen, the Indian River. The guides cover the shoreline's cultural, ecological and geomorphic history, and raingear and rubber boots are required. The cost is $80 per person.
On Saturday and Sunday the Marine Wildlife Cruises go out from Crescent Harbor near the Centennial Building on an Allen Marine boat, with local wildlife experts on board. Adult tickets are $70 and children 12 and under are $35. The ticket listings give an 8:30 to 11:30 window, and the event description says 8:45, so go by your ticket. The cruises raise money for the Sitka Sound Science Center.
The Whale Run is the cheapest way to see the water. The 5K, 10K and 2-mile walk start and finish at Whale Park, on the path along Sawmill Creek Road beside Silver Bay. Race-day registration runs from 8:00 to 9:00 a.m. Saturday at Whale Park, the start is at 9:00, and it's $5 per person.
Two indoor morning classes fill out the weekend. Local artist Norm Campbell teaches the Scientific Illustration Class on Saturday and Sunday from 9:00 to 11:30. Each is a separate class, costs $50, and includes supplies. On Sunday from 8:15 to 11:30, Stacy Golden leads the Marine Mammal Necropsy. It's adults only and focuses on pinniped anatomy, adaptations and disease monitoring. Space is limited and the cost is $95.
From the Film Fest description: "Many of the humpbacks that feed in Sitka Sound each summer winter in Hawaiian waters." That migration connects several of this year's talks, and the panel on opening night makes a natural lead-in. According to the WhaleFest symposium page, the talks run as follows:
The festival homepage has a slightly different Friday lineup, with Myers in the 3:00 slot. Check the posted schedule before you plan around a particular talk. Tickets are sold through the festival's registration page.
Read together, the talks follow the humpbacks that summer in Sitka Sound. Cheeseman's title describes humpbacks as homebodies. Lyman, who also sits on the Thursday film panel, covers entanglement. Myers covers the overlap between marine mammals and fisheries. Sunday's final talk, Castellini's, looks back over the festival's 30 years and ahead to what comes next.
Charismatic MegaQuestions runs from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. after each day's talks.
After dark the prices drop and the crowd gets more local. On Friday night the Maritime Grind takes over Centennial Hall from 7:30 to 9:00. The Monthly Grind crew organizes it, local performers bring songs and other acts, and the Greater Sitka Arts Council co-hosts. According to a letter in the Daily Sitka Sentinel, the Monthly Grind is in its 32nd season and this is the 30th WhaleFest Grind. Tickets are $5 for everyone at Old Harbor Books. The festival site lists the same $5 price at the door.
Saturday's Marine Trivia Night costs $20 per person. This year's speakers join the teams, and food and drinks are for sale. Everyone attending must be at least 18, and anyone under 21 has to come with an adult over 21. The registration page lists 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. The homepage lists an earlier start, so check the time before you go.
That puts the evening options at $0 for films, $5 for the Grind and $20 for trivia. The priciest morning activity is $95. Someone who skips the guided trips can still do the art show, a night of films, a Grind and the Whale Run for $10.
Mary Goddard is this year's featured artist. She designed the poster and the updated logo and cooked for the pre-festival Tongass to Table dinner. The festival describes her as Tlingit, originally from Yakutat, and a longtime Sitka resident. The WhaleFest site quotes her:
"My work brings together art, storytelling, and lived experience to invite connection with our lands, waters, and culture."
Her poster is on the cover of the 2026 program, which you can view and download online. The Market & Café brings together more than 20 local vendors and nonprofits selling marine-themed crafts, jewelry and food. It's open 10:00 to 4:30 on Friday and Saturday, and Sunday's shorter 11:00 to 3:00 hours are the last scheduled event of the weekend.
Thirty years of WhaleFest is a lot of history for Sitka to celebrate, and we love seeing the town turn out for it. At Beloved Alaska Realty, we pay attention to how close a place sits to Sitka Sound, including whether you can see the humpbacks from your window before the cruise boats leave Crescent Harbor. If you'd like to walk a waterfront property with us or tour one remotely this season, request a virtual tour or local consultation.
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