The Living Traditions Festival has been a Utah tradition for 25 years.
Festival director Casey Jarman of the Salt Lake City Arts Council said when organized as the first Living Traditions Festival, it was nearly scrapped.
"That first year was such a strange year," Jarman said during an interview with the Deseret News. "It was rewarding and difficult at the same time. It snowed all week during the set-up and we were standing there in our parkas and thinking to ourselves, 'What in the world were we thinking about? This is crazy.' We were very close to canceling the whole thing.
People told festival organizers that it wasn't going to happen, he said. "We had plans for two big stages, and everything was going to be big, nice and wonderful. And all of a sudden trucks couldn't get in to deliver stuff.
"I remember thinking, 'This is not what I had in mind.' But we kind of toughed it out, and the people who dug in and figured out what we needed to do."
The festival happened with some modifications, Jarman said. "We ended up putting up a plywood platform in a parking lot and moved food booths to a road, and it kind of happened."
Jarman said it's fun to look back at that experience, because getting the event together after that is considerably easy.
"It's a good way to get going on something like this, because things haven't been as difficult as that was," he said with a laugh.
Throughout the past quarter of a century, there has been a lot of growth in Salt Lake City's various ethnic communities, Jarman said.
"There has been growth within the groups that were already here, and there has been additions of new groups," he said. "I remember when we were struggling to get 10 food booths the first year, and now we're turning people away for 20 booths."
Every year when Jarman and his staff at the Salt Lake City Arts Council organize the Living Traditions Festival, he comes across families and people who have their own inspiring stories.
"(They're) within the community and about the process of living in Salt Lake, coming from another culture and what it's like to be here," he said.
Lately, there has been a growth in the refugee communities, such as African and Myanmar communities, in Salt Lake City, Jarman said.
"When you look at their art and look at their craft, or when you see their faces and talk with them and hear their voices, it's wonderful," Jarman said. "But when you look a little bit deeper and realize what some of these people have been through, it is more amazing."
Jarman was surprised at the response from the Arts Council when it was announced the Sierra Leon Refugee All-Stars would be a festival musical headliners.
"There is a pretty good Sierra Leone connection here," he said. "We have received a number of calls from people who are from Sierra Leone and hear how excited they are to see the group.
"So, Salt Lake is growing up. We're still fairly homogenous, but we're still growing. I love to see the growth."
After 25 years, Jarman said he is happy the Living Traditions Festival is still small and focused.
"It's not a big sexy kind of show," he said. "We do it with the community in mind and try to make it engaging and educational. It offers the opportunity to learn a little bit about traditional cultures."
Also, it is important that admission to the festival is free, similar to when it started.
"We want to encourage as much participation as possible because it has other elements that goes beyond the scope of a regular festival atmosphere," Jarman said. "Every year costs go up and we try to find more creative ways to bring in money.
"But I think people need to have something they can go to and think about and not stress about what it's going to cost them."
If you go …
What: Living Traditions Festival
Where: Washington Square, 400 South and State Street
When: May 21-23
How much: Free
e-mail: scott@desnews.com