Sally Oberstein is no stranger to the arts. As a writer, she has published novels and directed her own original plays. The last handful of years, she’s wrangled both children and adults as director of Homer’s beloved and iconic annual winter production of “The Nutcracker,” as well as written, directed and produced “Cosmic Hostel,” a play which follows a group of international travelers, each with their own quirky characteristics, staying at a hostel at the top of a steep hill.

Oberstein was inspired to create the Alaska World Arts Festival back in 2017, while attending the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh. After a year of planning, the first festival kicked off in 2019 with performances by a Beatles tribute band, art collective Quixotic, and Tom Bodett’s “True Stories About Home.”

This year, the festival will continue to celebrate art in its many forms, with events encompassing performances and workshops for filmmaking, oral storytelling, visual arts, theater, music and more.

This year’s festival will kick off on Sept. 12 with an opening reception at the Homer Chamber of Commerce and a Film Slam Jam Planning session at Alice’s Champagne Palace, followed by an Elton John tribute performance by Homer-grown musician Andrew Vait.

Oberstein said that Vait was inspired to do the Elton John tribute in honor of his mother, the late Nancy Vait, who used to sing Elton John songs to him. The 7:30 p.m. show was sold out as of Tuesday, Sept. 9, with tickets still available that morning for the later show, at 10 p.m. Results of the Film Slam Jam will be shown at the Porcupine Theater on the evening of Friday, Sept. 19, at 7 p.m.

Other highlights of the festival include performances by Krambambuli Puppet Theatre with puppeteer Salila Kubitza, Old-Time Radio Theater at Alice’s – featuring the local talents of Peter Norton, Ken Landfield, Curtis Jackson, Cristen San Roman, Kyle Schneider, Michael McKinney, Sadie Gibson, Alex Brock, Freya Bartlett, Chris Kincaid, Brenda Dolma, and Dick Dunn – a showing of the original “Footloose” film at the Porcupine Theater, Stand-up Comedy with comedian Nancy Norton and performances of Oberstein’s own “The Wizard of Odds,” a musical comedy she wrote in collaboration with Michael McKinney.

Oberstein said in an Aug. 29 interview that the musical has been adapted since its first performance back in 2016, with a cast of around 20 Homer locals participating. The piece is a creative retelling of “The Wizard of Oz,” focused on Alaska themes threaded through the loosely inspired version of the 1900 book by Frank Baum and its 1939 adaptation. After an earthquake in Kansas, Dots wakes up at the Ted Stevens International Airport and is led on a marvelous journey down to the Kenai Peninsula and, eventually, Homer, meeting a cast of familiar yet new characters.

“With delays due to road construction, spawning salmon (ding-dong, the fish are red), and slow-moving RVs (ding-dong), their four-hour drive becomes an adventure of zany circumstances, eclectic characters, and a miscellany of music styles until they finally meet the Wizard of Odds at the Salty Dawg, where everyone’s dreams come true,” reads an online description of the original musical.

Another noteworthy event is a “Mural Meeting of the Minds” with Chicago-based visual artist Kathleen Dose-Koehl as she prepares to paint a Homer mural on a container at Salmon Sisters on the Homer Spit. The meeting will spark mural ideas centered around “swimming salmon,” with volunteers assisting Dose-Koehl in the process. The meeting will occur on Saturday, Sept. 13, at Homer Art & Frame, beginning at 11 a.m.

You can purchase tickets to individual events online or, for $100, buy a membership that allows you access to all the events (minus one workshop, which has specific associated material fees) and an entry to a raffle for $1,000 cash. Individual raffle tickets can be purchased online for $20 for one or $50 for three.

For more information, including a full schedule of events and a scholarship application, and to purchase tickets or a membership, you can visit alaskaworldarts.org online. Questions about the festival can be directed to Oberstein at sally@alaskaworldarts.org.

Krambambuli Puppet Theatre will feature two performances at the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies on Saturday, Sept. 13, with one beginning at noon and another at 3. Kubitza will also host a puppet-making workshop for families in the morning on Sunday, Sept. 14, at Homer Art & Frame, beginning at 11. (Photo courtesy of Alaska World Arts Festival)

The Wizard of Odds will return to the Mariner Theater stage with a fresh adaptation Sept. 26-28 and Oct. 1, 3 and 4. (Photo courtesy of Alaska World Arts Festival)