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Fairbanks Forest Sports Festival
September 26 @ 10:00 am - 1:30 pm
Email jennifer@local71.com to join the team!
We will be coached by perennial champion & retired forester, Pete Buist!
Wear your orange so our team stands out.
The Farthest North Forest Sports Festival at the University of Alaska Fairbanks is an annual traditional logging and woodsmen competition held every fall.
Event Schedule & Locations
- Morning Session (10:00 AM): Held at the UAF Experiment Farm fields, located across from the Georgeson Botanical Garden (West Tanana Drive). Features dry land events like axe throwing and sawing.
- Afternoon Session (1:00 PM): Moves to Ballaine Lake (Farmers Loop Road) for water events. Hot drinks and a warming fire are provided.
Featured Competitions
- Ax Throwing: Testing accuracy with traditional lumberjack axes.
- Sawing: One-person and two-person bow saw and crosscut sawing.
- Fire Building: Timed campfire building challenges.
- Pulp Toss: Traditional pulpwood tossing.
- Birling (Log Rolling): Competitors try to stay upright on a floating log in Ballaine Lake.
Participation & Admission
- Cost: Free for both spectators and participants.
- Who Can Join: Open to students, community members, and anyone 18 and older, either as individuals or in teams of four to six. No prior experience is required.
- Awards: Honors are given for top individual and team performances, including the traditional titles of “Bull of the Woods” and “Belle of the Woods”.