Somewhere on a downtown Anchorage street in late winter, a crowd squeezes against the curb while runners in costume brace for the reindeer released behind them. Not far away, a team is steering an outhouse on skis. This is Fur Rendezvous, known to everyone in town as Rondy, Alaska’s largest and oldest winter festival and a good reason to plan a trip around the end of February.
What is Fur Rondy?
Fur Rondy is Anchorage’s premier winter festival, a celebration held every February that bills itself as the largest winter festival in North America. It began as a sporting event in the city’s early days and grew into a sprawling mix of races, contests, markets and street parties. Locals call it Rondy, and the shortened name appears on pins, shop windows and signs all over downtown.
Its roots are in the fur trade. The original rendezvous was a gathering where trappers and traders came together to sell pelts, and the Official Fur Rondy Fur Auction is the direct descendant of that tradition, present since the earliest days. Around it, the festival has piled up a century’s worth of oddities, from beard contests to a street race with a long pedigree.
How it started and how it grew
Anchorage Fur Rondy started in 1936 as a three-day sporting event, a way to bring people together in the deep of winter. Over the decades it stretched and multiplied, until the modern festival counts well over 100 events. Some are the official Fur Rendezvous program, and many others fall under Rondy Around Town, a banner for community events put on by local groups, businesses and neighbors.
That structure matters for a visitor. The official events are the ones with a long history, such as the sled dog races and the coronation, while the community events fill the gaps with smaller, more local entertainment. You can build a weekend from a few headline events and leave the rest to wandering.
The traditions that define it
A handful of events are the festival’s signature. The Rondy Grand Prix is billed as the oldest street race in the U.S. The Mr. Fur Face beard contest has run since 1950, with beards grown as long as possible, then dyed, decorated and shaped for the judges. Each year a royal court is crowned, and Lord and Lady Trapper titles are part of the royalty tradition.
The festival also keeps a collector culture alive. Promotional pins have been created and sold each year since 1939 to raise money for the event, and older or rare pins can sell for well in excess of $100. Plenty of regulars wear their pins pinned to a hat or a jacket, and trading them is its own small pastime.
Where things happen
Most of Rondy centers on downtown Anchorage, with a few events spread to other spots in the city. The table sorts the main venues named for the festival.
| Event | Location |
|---|---|
| Sled dog race start | Fourth Avenue at D Street |
| Sled dog race turnaround | Far North Bicentennial Park |
| Snow sculpture championships | Ship Creek, Anchorage |
| Royal coronation | Hotel Captain Cook, Anchorage |
| Pin reveal and Rondy Shop | 4th and D, Anchorage |
| Charlotte Jensen Native Arts Market | Anchorage |
When is it held?
Fur Rondy is held every February in Anchorage, and in recent years it has stretched into early March. Traditionally the festival lasted ten days, but since 2004 it has been extended through early March so that it leads straight into the Iditarod. That timing makes late winter in Anchorage one long run of sled dog excitement, with Rondy as the opening act.
The exact dates shift from one edition to the next, so the festival’s own schedule is the thing to follow once it is announced. What stays steady is the shape of the season: a stretch of winter days packed with events, followed by the build toward the Iditarod start.
The run-up in the fall
Rondy begins making news long before February. The 2027 Fur Rondy Collector Pin will be revealed on October 30th at 4 pm outside the Rondy Shop at 4th and D in Anchorage, a small downtown gathering that pin collectors treat as the unofficial start of the new season. The shop’s corner is also where the festival’s merchandise tends to center.
Nominations for Lord or Lady Trapper close on November 1st. The title is part of the festival’s royalty and trapping heritage, so the nomination window falls in the weeks when the next Rondy is just beginning to take shape. Anyone who wants to put a name forward has only a short time left.
How the days are laid out
With the festival spread over such a long stretch, events are scattered rather than stacked. The sled dog races run on three days in a row, the snow sculpture championships build over a span at Ship Creek, and the Running of the Reindeer and the beard contest each have their own slot.
A sensible plan is to pick the one or two events you care about most, then use the schedule to see what else lands on the same days. Mixing a race with the arts market and a downtown stroll fills a day without much effort. Because the festival leads into the Iditarod, travelers who stay through early March can see both.
A festival tied to the weather
Snow and cold are part of the setting, and the main sled dog race depends on them. The World Championship Sled Dog Race has been held since 1946, but it is sometimes canceled due to warm weather, most recently in 2006. Watching the race is a chance, then, rather than a certainty, and that sense of a winter event at the mercy of the season is part of its charm.
What happens at the festival?
Fur Rondy is a mix of racing, spectacle, contests, markets and plain street fun, with well over 100 events in the modern festival. The sled dog races are the center, but the festival is better known for its stranger ideas, like outhouses on skis and a dash with reindeer at your heels.
Sled dog racing
The Open World Championship Sled Dog Races are the oldest thread in the program. Dog teams and their mushers complete a high-speed loop each day for three days, and the fastest time wins. It is a three-day, 75-mile race held since 1946, with a women’s race since 1953, and it traditionally begins on Fourth Avenue at D Street before running out to Far North Bicentennial Park and back.
Watching near the start brings you close to the noise of the teams, the barking, the handlers and the crowd lined along the street. The sport is the reason visitors schedule the trip for this stretch of winter. As noted, a warm spell can cancel the race, so treat the chance of seeing it as an exciting possibility.
The Running of the Reindeer and the Outhouse Races
The Running of the Reindeer started in 2008 and sends people running down a four-block downtown Anchorage street with reindeer released behind them. Described as a dash with caribou at the racers’ heels, it is part comedy, part spectacle, and runners often show up in costume. Spectators watch from the sidewalks and cheer the field along.
Teams steer outhouses on skis, and the result is a lively scene of homemade entries, team costumes and spills. Neither event asks anything of a spectator except showing up with a camera and a sense of humor.
Blanket Toss, arts and the fur auction
The Blanket Toss uses a walrus skin, and participants can toss others as high as 20 feet into the air. It draws on a tradition from Alaska Native communities and is one of the festival’s more memorable sights. Close by, the Charlotte Jensen Native Arts Market displays art and crafts from all over Alaska, a good stop for anyone who wants to see the work of artists from different parts of the state.
The Official Fur Rondy Fur Auction connects the festival to its origins in the fur trade. It is the descendant of the original rendezvous and a reminder of why the festival exists at all. Between those two, the beard contest and the snow sculpture championships at Ship Creek add visual interest, since sculptors work on frozen blocks that turn into detailed pieces.
Royalty, beer and the evening scene
The royal coronation for Fur Rendezvous royalty is held at Hotel Captain Cook in Anchorage, a more formal counterpoint to the street racing. For something to drink, the official beer of Fur Rondy is Rondy Brew IPA, created in partnership with 49th State Brewing in Anchorage. It makes a fitting toast after a day outdoors.
Good to know before you go
The Fur Rondy Headquarters in Anchorage can be reached by phone at (907) 274-1177, which is the place to ask about the current schedule. Many events take place outdoors in winter, so the festival is a good excuse to dress for being outside for a while. Collector pins from the Rondy Shop make a small, light souvenir, and the pin reveal each fall is the first chance to see the new design.
Sources
- Fur Rendezvous Festival, Anchorage (https://www.furrondy.net/), checked October 11, 2026
- Visit Anchorage, Fur Rondy (https://www.anchorage.net/winter/events/fur-rondy/), checked October 11, 2026
- Wikipedia, Fur Rendezvous (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fur_Rendezvous), checked October 11, 2026
To plan your stay
- Alaska State Fair: Giant Cabbages, Fair Food, Exhibits and Getting to Palmer
- Iditarod Sled Dog Race: Anchorage Start, the Trail to Nome and How to Follow It
- Nenana Ice Classic: The Tripod, the Ticket Window and How Visitors Can Join In
- World Ice Art Championships: Fairbanks Dates, Competitions and What to See