The Sitka Fine Arts Camp kicked off 2024 breaking records again. Each year, camp staff stay up late on New Year’s Eve to manage camp registration. Executive Director Roger Schmidt says they broke the previous record for registrations made within the first hour.
“In the first hour, we had 270 students registered for our camps, and within the first 24 hours, we had 475 students register,” Schmidt said.
The Sitka Fine Arts Camp runs all summer long, with elementary, middle and high school programs and a musical theater camp. Students are coming from 34 Alaska communities and 16 states.
“It’s another side of the visitor industry that maybe people don’t think about is that with staff, kids, parents, families, we’re bringing people to Sitka that are here from usually one to nine weeks here in Sitka,” Schmidt said. “It’s just an incredible way for Sitka to be on the map around the state and around the country.”
Schmidt said over half of the around 800 available slots were filled on January 1.
“Our students and families really love camp, and when we have people come to camp for the first time, they often fall in love with it, and then they often tell their friends and other families about it,” Schmidt says. “I think it just has this really strong loyalty from people who return year after year…people hear about it and they hear that in order to get in you have to register quickly.”
Right now the residential high school camp is at capacity, but there’s a waitlist, and there’s still some room in the middle and elementary school camps. And Schmidt said even though things have filled up quickly, there’s always room for Sitka students to attend as day campers.
