Entertainment and Events

Theater

A local theater group, First City Players (907/225-4792, www.firstcityplayers.org [1]), puts on the lighthearted melodrama Fish Pirate’s Daughter Friday and Saturday evenings in July. The show has been running since 1966, and tickets cost $40 with an all-you-can eat Dungeness crab dinner. Performances take place at the Ted Ferry Civic Center behind Cape Fox Lodge.

Live Music

Ketchikan [2]’s live music scene changes frequently, but something is always happening downtown; just follow your ears. First City Saloon (830 Water St., 907/225-1494) tends to bring in the better bands and is the main dance spot in town.

The Arctic Bar (907/225-4709, www.arcticbar.com [3]), near the Front Street tunnel, is more rock-oriented and has a pleasant patio that hangs over Tongass Narrows. Shock your friends back home with one of their risqué baseball caps or shirts; they call it “home of the happy bears.”

If Dave Rubin and his rockin’ Potlatch Band are playing at the Potlatch Bar (907/225-4855), next to Thomas Basin, make tracks in that direction; you won’t regret it.

The finest bar views are from Cape Fox Lodge, overlooking town above Creek Street [4]. It’s a nice place to get romantic.

On Friday evenings, head to Ketchikan Coffee Company (207 Stedman St., 907/225-8646, www.ketchikancoffee.com [5]) in the New York Hotel for music jam sessions and great food.

Events

Ketchikan [2]’s fun 4th of July celebration includes the usual parade and fireworks (if the rain lets up). In the first week of August, check out the Blueberry Arts Festival, complete with slug races, pie-eating contests, a fun run, arts and crafts exhibitions, and folk music. Ketchikan also has king and silver salmon fishing derbies and a halibut derby each summer.

The Winter Arts Faire on the weekend after Thanksgiving is a good time to buy local arts and crafts. Festival of the North arrives in February, complete with music, art shows, and workshops for the entire month.