The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice

The Daily Utah Chronicle

The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice

The Daily Utah Chronicle

The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice

The Daily Utah Chronicle

Write for Us
Want your voice to be heard? Submit a letter to the editor, send us an op-ed pitch or check out our open positions for the chance to be published by the Daily Utah Chronicle.
@TheChrony
Print Issues
Write for Us
Want your voice to be heard? Submit a letter to the editor, send us an op-ed pitch or check out our open positions for the chance to be published by the Daily Utah Chronicle.
@TheChrony
Print Issues

Utah Arts Fest Proves to be Worth the Heat and Crowds

Visitors+walk+by+artists+booths+and+at+the+Utah+Arts+Festival+in+Salt+Lake+City%2C+Saturday%2C+June+27%2C+2015.+%E2%80%93+Chris+Samuels
Chris Samuels
Visitors walk by artists’ booths and at the Utah Arts Festival in Salt Lake City, Saturday, June 27, 2015. – Chris Samuels

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The Utah Arts Festival is a little different every year, with new artists, food vendors and layouts. This year was no exception. And as usual, the artists, food and performers at the festival did not disappoint.

Because the temperatures this last weekend repeatedly broke 100, I decided to attend the festival once things began to cool down around 8 p.m. As I expected, this was an idea that many other festival patrons also had. When I showed up to the festival it was a solid mass of people circulating around the booths and stages. It was a little intimidating at first but my friend and I jumped into the mix and were able to navigate a fairly smooth path around the festival grounds without too much pushing and shoving.

On our journey through the festival we discovered booth upon booth of beautiful and delicious things. Some favorites of mine were the various glass booths. I have always been drawn to blown glass and other glass-work pieces. This year I found three or four different artists from across the western United States that specialized in glass-work. I spent a while admiring the vases, dishes, lamps, jewelry and so much more. Aside from the glass, we saw everything from oil paintings to huge rock fountains, metal cacti and seriously impressive chalk art. The artists were more than willing to tell me more about their processes and their time in Salt Lake. This was true of all the booths that I snooped around while window shopping; the artists showed me as much appreciation for admiring as they did to those who were actually purchasing.

There were various stages scattered throughout the festival and each had a different feel. They ranged from a small jazz band stage to a full concert stage. One of the most intriguing stages on Friday night was the ‘Big Mouth’ stage, located near the city library. On this stage, ‘The Bee: True Stories from The Hive,’ a local storytelling event, was in full swing on Friday night with audience members participating. I stopped in to listen and it was a much-needed oasis in the middle of the bustling crowd. Aside from the small stage, the larger stages sporting various musical acts created a nice background track. We found an empty bench and settled in for some ice cream and prime people-watching while we listened to the music from a nearby stage.

The arts fest is one of my favorite ways to spend a summer evening in Salt Lake City. For one weekend a year, downtown truly becomes a bustling hub of all things art and culture. The festival is well worth a couple hours in the heat and the crowds. I am already looking forward to what next year has to offer.

f[email protected]

@The Chrony

 

 

 

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]Click here to view a photo gallery of the Utah Arts Festival.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Leave a Comment

Comments (0)

The Daily Utah Chronicle welcomes comments from our community. However, the Daily Utah Chronicle reserves the right to accept or deny user comments. A comment may be denied or removed if any of its content meets one or more of the following criteria: obscenity, profanity, racism, sexism, or hateful content; threats or encouragement of violent or illegal behavior; excessively long, off-topic or repetitive content; the use of threatening language or personal attacks against Chronicle members; posts violating copyright or trademark law; and advertisement or promotion of products, services, entities or individuals. Users who habitually post comments that must be removed may be blocked from commenting. In the case of duplicate or near-identical comments by the same user, only the first submission will be accepted. This includes comments posted across multiple articles. You can read more about our comment policy at https://dailyutahchronicle.com/comment-faqs/.
All The Daily Utah Chronicle Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *