The 38th annual Living Traditions festival will be held in Salt Lake City this weekend, beginning on Friday, May 17, and ending on Sunday, May 19.
The event, which will take place in Washington and Library Square, will feature a variety of performances, activities, crafts and food, per the Salt Lake City Arts Council.
Here’s what you can expect from the festival — and how you can be a part of it.
Living Traditions festival history
According to Living Traditions, the festival “supports the preservation of culturally diverse traditions, perspectives, and communities through the presentation of traditional music, dance, crafts, food, and more.”
The festival has enjoyed growth over the years. When the festival celebrated 25 years in 2010, its director, Casey Jarman, said that the first Living Traditions festival was nearly scrapped due to bad weather. “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,’” he told Deseret News in 2010. “We were very close to canceling the whole thing.”
But with hard work and dedication, the festival happened. Since then, the event has flourished. According to Visit Utah, the artists and volunteers at the event represent a “variety of cultures represented in Utah,” including Mexican, Greek, Ecuadorian, Samoan and more.
The event also honors the Indigenous Peoples of Utah, specifically “the Shoshone, Paiute, Goshute, and Ute Tribes,” per Living Traditions.
The festival’s instagram page, @slclivingtrad, recently announced the one-week countdown until the festival begins.
Schedule, tickets and activities
Everyone is welcome to attend the festival, and admission to the event is free.
For a complete list of festivities, the festival has provided a program guide.
Here are some main highlights of the upcoming festival:
- Alebrijes workshop: Participants will be taught about the significance of alebrijes in Mexican culture — and will have the opportunity to paint their very own wooden alebrijes.
- Ballet Folklórico dance class: Participants will learn about traditional Mexican dance while practicing some basic steps.
- Lots of good food: Attendees can choose from a variety of vendors serving traditional food from countries across the globe.
- Bocce ball: Visitors will learn how to play an ancient — and pretty fun — sport created in 5200 B.C.E.
- Hawaiian lei making: Attendees will learn how to make their own leis.
- Origami: Make a variety of origami shapes in honor of one of Japan’s most beloved crafts.
- Dragon kite: To celebrate the Chinese Year of the Dragon, visitors can make their own dragon kites.