Juneau’s Áak’w Rock Indigenous Music Festival postponed until 2027

Juneau’s Indigenous music festival, Áak’w Rock, has been canceled for this year.

The every-other-year festival was slated for September, but organizers now say it will return in 2027. 

Phil Huebschen with the Juneau Arts and Humanities Council said unexpected staff changes led to the decision. Education Director Stephen Qacung Blanchett, who helped found the festival, left abruptly last year. They won’t be able to fill his role until the summer. 

“This left us with a really tight workflow regarding Áak’w Rock,” Huebschen  said. 

The JAHC and the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska worked together to produce Áak’w Rock in the past. But Huebschen said another reason they are canceling this year’s festival is because the JAHC is in the process of transferring all festival management leadership to the tribe. 

“As much as I value our partnership in this really cool endeavor, Áak’w Rock should be led by the voices and culture that it was created to celebrate and lift,” he said. “So we both feel really good about that decision.”

According to Tlingit and Haida, the tribe doesn’t currently have staff prepared to run the festival. But in an emailed statement, Tribal President Richard Chalyee Éesh Peterson said they are committed to making sure it returns stronger than ever. 

“In the interim, we are exploring ways to keep the spirit of Áak’w Rock alive, including potential smaller events such as ‘Side Stage’ performances and other gatherings that celebrate Indigenous music and culture,” the statement reads. “However, these efforts will depend on securing funding and key staff to support them.”

Áak’w Rock began as a virtual music festival in 2021. Then it was a part of Celebration in 2022, with musical acts performing as a “side stage” to the biennial gathering of Lingít, Haida and Tsimshian people in Juneau. It debuted as a standalone festival in 2023, with the intention of running every other year.

Huebschen said that Áak’w Rock is a highlight of his time working at the JAHC. 

“Feedback from the festival was overwhelmingly positive, and it activated Juneau’s community in a way that I’m not really sure I’ve ever seen before,” he said. “So I’m just, I’m really proud of it.”

Artists like Quinn Christopherson, Black Belt Eagle Scout, and Snotty Nose Rez Kids headlined the festival in 2023, with dozens of acts playing over three days on three different stages. More than 2,000 people attended. Organizers billed it as the largest Indigenous music festival in the U.S.