The Avenues Street Fair is an annual occurrence in Salt Lake City. It brings together members of the community to display their art, their business and even their political campaigns. There is live music, food, crafts and many friendly faces spanning from booth to booth.
What There Is to See
Walking through the line of booths, it seemed as though people from every corner of the valley had come together to participate in the street fair. The Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts both had their own respective tables. Salt Lake City Trails and Public Lands made an appearance and Mayor Erin Mendenhall was out campaigning the entire day.
Realtors and roofers alike made their pitches. Live bands were performing at either end of the rows and rows of booths. The fair was also dog-friendly. Numerous pet-care companies were selling treats, water and gear to pet owners.
What There Is to Buy
Beautiful creations lined the streets of the Avenues, all with their own unique charm.
Fiber arts, paintings, photography and even puppets or chain-mail were featured. One man was making lamps out of gumball machines that still worked. Another had decorated skulls he found in the desert with 3D elements like gears, wire and flowers.
Out of all of the various markets and festivals that take place across the Salt Lake Valley, the Avenues Street Fair featured one of the highest concentrations of Utah-related art and merchandise I’ve seen. It really goes to show the love that these residents have for their state and their community.
Fount Paper had a unique selection of tote bags and hand towels. Each was hand-printed with meaningful symbols of Utah neighborhoods as well as maps of our state as a whole. Awesome Mud Works featured adorable bee and honeycomb magnets and mugs, honoring the Beehive State through pottery. Other vendors utilized beeswax or honey in their products and often modeled them off of honey bees or beehives.
There weren’t many parts of the street fair that one could find that weren’t in close proximity to some kind of food. Everything from empanadas to Brazilian barbecue. From frozen limeade to cotton candy characters, it was hard to walk through and not want to buy a little something from each truck or stand.
Why Should You Participate?
The Avenues Street Fair is the prime example of a display of Utah pride. All of the Avenue-based businesses were given “Avenues Business” tags to put on the outside of their booths. This served as an excellent promotional tool for small businesses.
Walking through the crowd wearing a Utah football jersey was both fun and exhausting. The fair took place on a game day and I was getting stopped every few booths to talk about the game. Everyone was so kind and enthusiastic about their art or business. The live music made for a nice break to get out of the heat and sit for a minute.
Overall the experience was exactly what anyone could hope for.
