Soldotna will celebrate the 66th Annual Progress Days next weekend with a fair, a parade and other festivities stretching from Friday to Sunday, July 21 through 23.

Soldotna Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Maddy McElrea said Thursday that Progress Days is about “celebrating the progress that our local businesses have made in our City of Soldotna.”

She said this year, the chamber wanted to see the event expanded — and a fair theme informed some of that expansion.

The Progress Days Fair will be open at Soldotna Creek Park starting at 11 a.m. all three days.

McElrea said there will be three rides from Tons of Fun Entertainment, carnival games and other free attractions for kids. Those include a sawdust pile, a balloon pop, tattoos and face painting. There will also be a variety of contests, like a diaper derby, a toddler trot, a beard and mustache contest, a parent and child look alike contest and a cherry pie eating contest. A cosplay contest will be hosted by the Kenai Performers.

The diaper derby, toddler trot and cosplay contest will be held Friday, the other contests will be Sunday. Interested participants can register on the chamber’s website or through the Facebook event for “Soldotna Progress Days.” People can also register at Soldotna Creek Park before the events.

The contests are a new addition this year, and McElrea said they had to have them to fit the fair theme. She said the chamber worked hard to build out this year’s programming to provide “so much fun for the families.”

Another major attraction is the annual Progress Days parade, held Saturday. The parade will line up at Soldotna High School and proceed at 11 a.m. down Marydale Avenue and onto Binkley Street.

Also Saturday, the City of Soldotna will be hosting a free barbecue at the park from noon to 4 p.m. Forever Dance and Diamond Dance Project will perform on the park’s stage at 1 p.m.

The official event schedule and poster, which can be found on Facebook, shows other events held as part of the celebration around Soldotna, including motocross at Twin City Raceway, a Farmers Market at the corner of the Kenai Spur Highway and East Corral Avenue, a book, art and bake sale by the Friends of the Soldotna Library, a car show at Hutchings Auto Spa and rodeo shows at the rodeo grounds.

Friday and Saturday, starting at 6 p.m., there will be live music and a beer garden at the park. Friday, Ben Jammin and the Jammin Band will play, and on Saturday it will be Hot Mess.

For more information, visit facebook.com/soldotnachamberofcommerce.

Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.