Annual World Eskimo-Indian Olympics Archives : TRAVEL/FOOD

The 2024 Official Fairbanks Visitors Guide is now available for free from Explore Fairbanks. Completely redesigned for this year, the 72-page, full-color booklet provides helpful information for planning a trip to Fairbanks, Alaska, throughout the year.

Prominently depicted in the vibrant guide are Fairbanks’ three seasons – Midnight Sun, Aurora and Winter – that pave the way for year-round visitation. The annual publication illustrates features and attractions specific to life in the region as well as ways to journey to Denali National Park and Preserve, the Arctic and Interior Alaska. Additionally, the guide focuses on Fairbanks’ delightful downtown, the contemporary arts and food scene, and local outdoor hotspots.

The guide highlights activities available throughout the year in the frontier community including fishing, wildlife viewing, birdwatching, hiking, visiting museums and activities on the Chena River. Other pursuits take place during the winter months, including dog mushing, mingling with reindeer, ice sculpting, snowmobiling and skiing. The guide also features exhibitions, attractions and performances focused on inspirational Alaska Native peoples, spirited pioneers and nature-inspired artists.

Arts, entertainment and events are featured prominently including blockbuster events such as the World Eskimo-Indian Olympics, Golden Days, Midnight Sun Festival and the World Ice Art Championships. The guide also lists a wide variety of seasonal and year-round accommodations, services, restaurants, shopping and attractions.

This year’s redesigned guide features a new cover design, an updated interior layout that allows more space for photos as well as refreshed text throughout. Accommodations business information has also been streamlined by merging the narrative listings and the “At-A-Glance” grid details into one easy-to-use resource.

For a free copy of the 2024 Fairbanks Visitors Guide and the companion piece, the 2023-24 Fairbanks Winter Guide, contact Explore Fairbanks at 1-800-327-5774 or (907) 456-5774. The guide can also be ordered or viewed interactively at www.explorefairbanks.com/guide.

About Explore Fairbanks

Explore Fairbanks is a non-profit marketing and management organization whose mission is to be an economic driver in the Fairbanks region by marketing to potential visitors, optimizing the visitor experience, and advocating for a thriving year-round visitor industry. Explore Fairbanks markets Fairbanks as a year-round destination by promoting local events, attractions and activities to independent travelers, group tour operators, travel agents, meeting planners and the media as well as by developing public policy and infrastructure to achieve marketing objectives. Find out more at explorefairbanks.com.

Fairbanks, Alaska (AK) – The annual World Eskimo-Indian Olympic Games (WEIO) will take place at the Big Dipper in Fairbanks from July 21 through 24, 2021. A four-day series of traditional Alaska Native athletic competitions, WEIO draws Native athletes and dancers from around the state, the United States, Canada and Greenland, as well as visitors, fans and media from around the globe. In addition to athletic competitions, WEIO also offers indigenous dances, authentic arts and crafts for sale, a Miss WEIO pageant and other cultural activities.

The competitions at WEIO give men and women the chance to test their strength, agility and endurance—all qualities that are needed to survive in the circumpolar north. Competitive games include high kick, knuckle hop, ear pull, two-foot high kick and Eskimo stick pull. WEIO offers a chance to meet with old friends and distant relatives, to entertain and be entertained, to challenge one another and to engage in friendly competition. For many competitors, WEIO is a way athletes and artists can showcase their skills and crafts and ensure that their culture is celebrated.

WEIO was created in 1961 in response to the rapidly spreading impact of western culture into rural areas. Two bush pilots, along with village elders and athletes, helped organize the first Olympics, which included a blanket toss, a seal-skinning contest and a Miss Eskimo Olympics Queen contest. The event has since grown to over 50 games with an ever-increasing number of athletes.

In addition to athletic events, WEIO is a time to don parkas, moose hide dresses and vests, mukluks and moccasins to compete in parka and Indian dress contests and to dance and tell stories through songs and motion. Dressed in kuspuks—traditional summer parkas—complete with feathered fans and drums, dancers perform throughout the four-day Olympics. Spectators and participants can browse through booths of authentic Alaska Native crafts and meet the artisans who carved, sewed or beaded the items. WEIO provides visitors the rare chance to experience a culture alongside those who live within it.

The WEIO games are held in Fairbanks on traditional Athabascan land. We respect this truth with the following Land Acknowledgement crafted by Denakkanaaga elders.

“We respectfully acknowledge the Dena people on whose traditional lands we reside. We honor the Dena who have been the stewards of Interior lands and waters for centuries, the elders who lived here before, the Dena people of today, and future generations to come. We also recognize that Alaska Native people would traditionally gather here and harvest Native foods.”

To learn more about the World Eskimo-Indian Olympics, visit weio.org. For more information on Fairbanks, request a free copy of the Fairbanks Visitors Guide and Winter Guide from Explore Fairbanks at 1-800-327-5774 or (907) 456-5774 or by writing to 101 Dunkel Street, Suite 111, Fairbanks, Alaska 99701. You can also order or view the guides online, get information about the aurora borealis and see a robust schedule of events and activities online at www.explorefairbanks.com.

About Explore Fairbanks

Explore Fairbanks is a non-profit destination marketing and management organization whose mission is to be an economic driver in the Fairbanks region by marketing to potential visitors and optimizing the visitor experience. Explore Fairbanks markets Fairbanks as a year-round destination by promoting local events, attractions and activities to independent travelers, group tour operators, travel agents, meeting planners and the media as well as by developing public policy and infrastructure to achieve marketing objectives. Find out more at explorefairbanks.com.

The photos used are courtesy of Explore Fairbanks and credit goes to the following photographers: Michael Dinneen, Sherman Hogue, and Andy Witteman. Archive photos courtesy of World Eskimo Indian Olympics,