Skagway Celebrates Independence Day

The highlight of the summer in Skagway is the 4th of July celebration when townsfolk and visitors from all over the world alike take part in the fun.

The morning of the Fourth comes alive as clowns dance down Broadway Street past the quaint gift shops and elegant jewelry stores, passing out American flags to onlookers stretched along the boardwalk and heralding the children’s parade.

Adults join the celebration by launching a parade of their own. Led by the town’s mayor, Tom Cochran marching with the color guard, the main parade includes dogs and horses and cars and floats and a bagpipe band from Whitehorse.

Before the day is through men and women will have battled in an armwrestling contest and men will have tested their brawn and accuracy in a spike driving competition.

Perhaps one of the more entertaining events is the block-long egg tossing contest in which all comers are invited to take part in pitching eggs to and fro the breadth, then the length of Broadway. The participants toss and catch eggs to a chorus of oooohs and ahhhhs until an eventual winner is crowned.