Rain and chilly temperatures vastly at odds with record highs across the U.S. this week didn’t keep plenty of people in Juneau from indulging in free ice cream and dancing outdoors to live music during the fourth annual Climate Fair for a Cool Planet on Saturday afternoon.
The event at Bill Overstreet Park co-hosted by 350Juneau and Theater Alaska was larger in scale than past years with the goal of luring a larger crowd, but the rain dampened those hopes. While the enthusiasm of locals who did come out might be seen as an encouraging show of support, one organizer said the rain adding to what’s already a record amount for July is itself a sign of climate change.
“Because of the increased rainfall and increased intensity of rains — these atmospheric rivers — we’re getting landslides here that are killing people,” said Mike Tobin, a board member of 350Juneau.
Actors perform “It’s a Cliche Out There” by Mike Tobin at Bill Overstreet Park on Saturday. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
About 250 community members were sprayed by rain and Tahku the whale sculpture’s fountain while they watched a variety of musical and theatrical performances seeking to call the audience to action. Participation decreased by about 100 people due to the weather this year and different venues may be considered in the future, Tobin said.
The fair took place five days after the hottest day in recorded history, according to provisional data from the European climate service Copernicus. The average global temperature of 62.87 degrees Fahrenheit beat the previous record by 0.1 degrees set the previous day. Sunday’s one-day record was .01 degrees higher than the previous high July 6, 2023 — and all of the recent records were significantly higher than the record of 62.24 degrees set in 2016.
Those global averages might seem mild to residents in Juneau, where Saturday’s high of about 60 degrees was a bit below the local historical average high temperature for the date, according to the National Weather Service Juneau. But that overlooks Juneau and the rest of the northern hemisphere being at the peak of summer, while it’s winter in the southern part of the world.
Flordelino Lagundino, producing artistic director of Theater Alaska, performs “The Last Bee is Flying Over the Sky” by Pat To Yan during the Climate Fair for a Cool Planet at Bill Overstreet Park on Saturday. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
Tobin wrote two plays performed largely by Juneau’s youth during the climate fair — the first one was called “It’s a Cliche Out There.”
“The play is trying to make fun of or satirize the oil industry itself,” Tobin said. “It’s the politicians, bankers, insurance companies, et. cetera that support it and make fun of them. Basically make them not so big and scary. Bring them down to our size where we can think about winning. We need political power and they don’t listen to us. And the reason they don’t listen to us is because they’re listening to somebody else. And that somebody else is the fossil fuel industry.”
His second play was titled “Dreaming the Future,” which focused on replacing the fossil fuel industry with an economy based on renewable energy. Both of Tobin’s plays featured a youthful cast.
“Those kids are going to be here for a long time,” he said. “They are the future. And they’re going to live through things that I have not had to live through in terms of the climate.”
Tobin said he’s a climate activist and began writing plays to educate others.
The Hālau Hula O Mānoa dance group performs at the fourth annual Climate Fair for a Cool Planet on Saturday. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
Two other plays were led by Theater Alaska. Flordelino Lagundino, producing artistic director of Theater Alaska, staged “The Last Bee is Flying Over the Sky” by Pat To Yan. The play was directed by Christina Apathy, a Theater Alaska company member.
“I think Christina and I like looking at it as where it’s not pointing directly at something. But also it’s like talking about a bee and how all his bee friends are dead. He’s on top of this mountain, but then there’s a regeneration that happens. Everything turns to yellow, but then turns to green again. So like this idea of artistically showing what our future might be and how we need to be careful of it. And how do we need to protect our resources?”
Lagundino said Tobin’s pieces are a direct confrontation of individuals and organizations in Alaska, and Theater Alaska’s chosen pieces looked at what could happen in the future.
Apathy also directed “Us in the Past” by Nathan Ellis. She said it was important to her to engage the audience so they could practice working together in “Us in the Past.” The play involved 18 audience members who all volunteered for a role.
“Climate change affects all of us and we are all the solution together,” she said.
Tobin said the performances involving the audience aim to “build a culture that sustains people that are in the fight.”
Quinn Christopherson, an Alaskan Native musician from Anchorage who played at last year’s Áak’w Rock Indigenous music festival, performs at the Climate Fair for a Cool Planet on Saturday. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
This fair’s headliner was Quinn Christopherson, an Alaskan Native musician from Anchorage who played at last year’s Áak’w Rock Indigenous music festival. He has performed with famous artists including Yo-Yo Ma and composed a song that won NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest in 2019.
Lagundino said both the theatrical pieces Theater Alaska chose and the musicians aligned with a goal for the future.
“The pieces that we worked on help you envision a different world, a different way of going about things,” he said. “How can all these people speaking together make change?”
Other musicians included the Yées Ḵu.oo Dancers, Hālau Hula O Mānoa, Collette Costa, Lisa Puananimōhala’ikalani Denny, Diamond Dollar Entertainment and Air Jazz.
“Our whole thought was ‘How do we engage younger audiences?’” Lagundino said. “For example, last year I was the director for Juneau Dance Theatre’s ‘Juneau’s Got Talent.’ So having Diamond Dollar Entertainment was part of that and then there’s Air Jazz. They understand what we’re trying to do.”
Lisa Puananimōhala’ikalani Denny sings at the fourth annual Climate Fair for a Cool Planet on Saturday. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
Darius Mannino and Roblin Davis closed the fair with their performance “Released” which involved three giant puppets “letting go” of the oil industry.
Different organizations held informational tables such as Renewable Juneau, Alaska Heat Smart, Juneau Commission on Sustainability, Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, League Of Women Voters and Juneau Veterans for Peace. El Chingon and Forno Rosso Alaska Pizzeria were the food vendors for the event.
The climate fair was free for attendees, while accepting donations that help the sponsors host such events and other activities.
350Juneau is looking for volunteers — specifically a digital communications specialist. Theater Alaska’s next scheduled play is “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens in November and December.
• Contact Jasz Garrett at jasz.garrett@juneauempire.com or (907) 723-9356.
Three giant puppets walk toward Bill Overstreet Park to close the fourth annual Climate Fair for a Cool Planet on Saturday. People walk alongside them playing plastic water jugs like drums. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
