Celebration 2026 to kick off next week

Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) will kick off its biennial Celebration next week, marking 44 years since the inception of the popular dance-and-culture festival.

Celebration is a major four-day event organized by Sealaska Heritage every two years. It has become one of the largest events in the state since it began in 1982, drawing thousands of people to Juneau and generating millions of dollars.

The event began as a way for Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian people to gather and celebrate their cultural survival. This year, the theme is “Enduring Strength.”

“This Celebration, we can rejoice in the timeless strength of our people as evidenced over the thousands of years we’ve faced adversity with resilience and fortitude,” said SHI President Rosita Worl.

All members of the public are welcome to attend.

Over 1,800 dancers from 34 dance groups — including two new groups from Hawaii and New Zealand — will participate this year. Along with dance performances, Celebration features several associated events, including a Juried Art Show and Competition, a Juried Youth Art Exhibit, a Native Art Market, Native food contests, a Toddler Regalia Review and a parade through downtown Juneau. The event will also feature several new events, including:

• A blanket toss by Traditional Games participants
• Earring making classes
• A print lab open house
• A Tlingit Culture, Language and Literacy book launch
• Lectures by cultural leaders and artists Te Ara Kuaka, David R. Boxley and Delores Churchill
• A “House of Rock” concert
• Additional SHI programming, including an open house in the Indigenous Science Building and a Baby Raven Reads pop up event
• A regalia photo booth
• A screening of “Tlingit Macbeth”
• A project documenting clan crests

Events will be held in numerous venues, including Centennial Hall, Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall, SHI’s Walter Soboleff Building, the Sealaska Heritage Arts Campus and plaza, the Juneau Arts and Humanities Council and the Alaska State Libraries, Archives and Museum.

The SHI Board of Trustees named Lepquinm Gumilgit Gagoadim Tsimshian Dancers (Our Own Dance in Our Hearts), a multigenerational group from Anchorage, as the lead dance group. It will be the group’s first time leading the Grand Entrance and Grand Exit songs, during which every participating dance group dances across the stage to mark the beginning and end of Celebration. This requires the lead group to drum and sing for up to three hours straight during each procession. 

The Celebration 2026 art was designed by Tlingit artist Bill Pfeifer, Jr, (Wéidaaká Yóodóohaa) who won with his piece “Endurance and Strength: The Power of the Clan House,” which was inspired by the 2026 theme, Enduring Strength.

“We have survived environmental and climate changes, the loss of our lands, public policies that nearly wiped out our cultures and epidemics that diminished our populations. We have been tested, and almost erased. Yet we are still here,” Worl said.

The Grand Entrance is scheduled for 5 pm,­­ Wednesday, June 3, at Centennial Hall, and Celebration ends with the Grand Exit at 5 pm, Saturday, June 6. The Juried Art Show awards ceremony is scheduled for 5-6 pm, Thursday, June 4, and will also feature awards for the Juried Youth Art Exhibit. The Juried Art Show and Competition will be on display in the Nathan Jackson Gallery at the Walter Soboleff Building in Juneau through Dec. 4, and the Juried Youth Art Exhibit will be on display at the Juneau Arts & Culture Center through June 26.

SHI will sponsor a live, statewide broadcast of Celebration on KTOO 360TV public television — reaching viewers across Alaska via over-the-air, cable, and satellite — as well as a live stream on the institute’s YouTube channel and on KTOO’s Roku and Apple TV apps.

News media outlets are welcome to cover the event. Reporters are required to sign in at the information booth in Centennial Hall and wear a media pass.

SHI will begin selling four-day passes (not daily admission tickets) in-person at the Sealaska Heritage Store on the Monday and Tuesday prior to when Celebration opens on Wednesday, June 3. From Wednesday to Saturday, daily tickets and four-day passes will be available only at Centennial Hall and the Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall. Cash and credit and debit cards are accepted at Centennial Hall. Only credit and debit cards are accepted at the Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall.

Four-day passes are $35 for adults and $20 for Elders (ages 65 and up) and youth (ages 7-12). One-day tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for Elders and youth. Children ages 6 and under are admitted free of charge.

Celebration is an expensive endeavor, and SHI could not host the event without the financial support from Sealaska and many other businesses and generous donors, including Sealaska shareholders and dancers who agree to pay dance fees to support the event. 

Sealaska Heritage Institute is a tribal nonprofit founded in 1980 to perpetuate and enhance Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian cultures of Southeast Alaska. Its goal is to promote cross-cultural understanding through public services and events. SHI also conducts social scientific and public policy research that promotes Alaska Native arts, cultures, history and education statewide. The institute is governed by a Board of Trustees and guided by a Council of Traditional Scholars, a Native Artist Committee and a Southeast Regional Language Committee.

CONTACT: Kathy Dye, SHI Communications and Publications Deputy Director, 907.321.4636, kathy.dye@sealaskaheritage.com.

Caption: Image featuring Celebration 2026 art, “Endurance and Strength: The Power of the Clan House,” by Tlingit artist Wéidaaká Yóodóohaa (Bill Pfeifer, Jr.) Note: Media outlets are welcome to use this photo for coverage of this story. For a higher resolution image, contact kathy.dye@sealaskaheritage.com