The History of Fur Rondy: From 1935 Trappers to Today

Fur Rondy is now a ten-day winter spectacle, but it started as something much simpler: a place for trappers to gather and sell furs in the dead of an Anchorage winter.

1935: a midwinter gathering

The first Fur Rendezvous was held in February 1935, timed to when miners and trappers came to town with their winter haul. It gave a small, isolated Anchorage a reason to celebrate during the coldest, darkest stretch of the year.

The fur auction

The namesake fur auction is still part of Rondy today — a direct link to those origins, when pelts were the whole point of the gathering.

Growing into an institution

Over the decades, Rondy added the sled dog sprint championship, the carnival, snow sculptures, the Grand Parade, and eventually the Running of the Reindeer. Today it's one of the largest winter festivals in the country and leads right into the Iditarod.

See what's on now at our Fur Rondy guide, and read the first-timer's guide and day-by-day events.