Last year’s inaugural event went so well that organizers have booked a return flight for the Milk Run Music Festival to land in Wrangell on May 1-2.

“Most of the plans are locked in,” said lead organizer Olivia Strano, which is not to say the festival is on auto pilot. Volunteers started planning this year’s event last August, she said, running raffles, soliciting donations and lining up music and vendors and games to make this year’s festival better than the first time.

The two days will include visiting and Wrangell musicians giving free concerts and workshops, food and art vendors on the downtown waterfront — and new this year will be a 1,000-square-foot tent for most of the daytime events.

“It will happen rain or shine,” Strano said.

The borough bought the tent for about $15,000 and will rent it out to the festival and other community events, said Borough Manager Mason Villarma. It also will be available for the Fourth of July, Bearfest, marathons and high school sports and such, he said.

The street will be blocked off for the festival, Strano said.

“We are promoting this event as leave no trace,” she said, with extra garbage dumpsters set up on site for festivalgoers to stash their trash.

While the music, food and other street vendors and games will be outside or under the tent set up on Outer Drive near the Nolan Center, the Stikine Stories middle and high school videographers will show and talk about their short documentaries inside the center, with one showing each day.

Plans include five different bands — two from Wrangell, the Powers and Shotrock — and three from out of state: Pierce Edens, from North Carolina, with his “hard-edge folk sound;” High Country Hustle, from Colorado, “high-energy bluegrass;” and Conner Stephens, with country music from Texas.

The music, games and vendors will be out starting at 3 p.m. on Friday, May 1, and starting at 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 2, with Shotrock moving into the Marine Bar at 11:30 p.m. on May 1 and Pierce Edens playing at Rayme’s starting at 11 p.m. on May 2, according to the festival website.

In addition to Wrangell food and beer sellers, Strano said Anchorage Brewing Co. plans to come to town with its craft beer selection and will set up a couple of beer tents for the two days.

Putting on free music and games costs money, which Strano estimated at about $36,000 this year. Event organizers have been running fundraising raffles and signing up sponsors, but are short of the goal and welcome additional donations.

For more information or to make a donation, visit the website milkrunmusicfest.org.

Alaska Airlines, Breakaway Adventures water taxi, the Stikine Inn and Wrangell Extended Stay all are offering discounts for visitors coming to town for the festival. Links to their discounts are on the festival website.

Alaska Airlines, which has been flying the short-hop “milk run” for decades, serving the string of Southeast communities between Ketchikan and Juneau, is a prime sponsor of the festival.

“We’re really trying to hit Juneau, Sitka, Ketchikan, Petersburg and Prince of Wales Island” to draw more people to town, said Strano, who directed logistics and staffing for a national festival company before moving to Wrangell in 2024.

Acknowledging that housing can be tight for out-of-town guests, she said, “As we grow this thing, it will be more of a challenge.”