Since debuting Crystal in 2017, Cirque du Soleil has performed its ice show in over 150 cities and 23 countries. While the Canadian performing arts company will soon retire the show, West Valley City’s Maverik Center is, fortunately, a stop on the final tour.
Crystal offers the acrobatics, dancing and stunts the company is known for, combined with captivating ice dancing, music, storytelling and poetry.
Cirque du Soleil fans gathered outside the arena before opening night, April 10, 2025, some wearing bright colors and make-up like the performers. Inside, families brought popcorn, pizza and beer to their seats. The clown started snowball fights with kids in the front rows before the show. And, again, this was at the Maverik Center. While an elite, masterful performance, Crystal is still welcoming to all.
Created by Shana Carroll and Sebastien Soldevila, Crystal is about a teenage girl disillusioned by her daily life. When her mother confronts her about eating dinner, she says, “I’m making a house with my rice so the peas will have somewhere to sleep.” While ice skating, Crystal falls into another world when the ice breaks beneath her.
The scene where Crystal sinks beneath the ice, with her reflection suspended above her, and the times she reaches out toward the audience to escape an ensemble of ice skaters surrounding her stick in your mind. Also memorable is a mirror maze scene, Crystal skating with her reflection(s) and an exciting rope act.
The scenes typically feature otherworldly versions of Crystal’s daily life, set to captivating music that includes covers of U2’s Beautiful Day, Beyonce’s Halo, Nina Simone’s Sinnerman, and Sia’s Chandelier.
Audiences are also treated to trapeze art, chair balancing, hand balancing and a hockey segment that turns into an acrobatic exhibition. The ensemble skaters give terrific performances. While they are going on, watch Crystal and her reflection drive the story along.
Crystal is a perfect date or family outing this weekend. If you bring your family, remember that Maverik Center allows diaper bags and has a family bathroom, and the show has a 20-minute intermission.
It’s also a good time to teach the kids that “it’s easy to fall; it’s harder to get back up.”
Maverik Center, West Valley City The remaining performances are April 11 at 7 p.m., April 12 at 3 and 7 p.m., and April 13 at 1 p.m. Tickets
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Utah offers a bounty of craft distillers ready to fill your cup with something delicious. We highlight long-standing industry leader with a few new (ish) distillers joining the community.
Dented Brick struck gold when they built their distillery in Salt Lake, liquid gold that is. Their on-site artesian provides a high-quality foundation for their vodka, rum, gin and whiskey. The distiller recently began offering a Whiskey Education Program, in which enthusiasts purchase a barrel, customize it, bond with it, and follow the entire production from fermentation to aging.
Alpine Distilling’s Sara Sergent with their award-winning Gin.
IF YOU GO: 3100 S. Washington St., South Salt Lake.
Power couple Rob and Sara Sergent have been setting the bar for gin distillation at Alpine Distilling since 2016, and recently Sara became the most decorated distiller in the country as the second woman in U.S. history to be inducted into the London Gin Guild. Alpine’s award-winning portfolio of products include their Elevated Gin, named “Gin of the Year” gold medal in London. Visit their Park City bar for guided tastings or a custom gin-making experience.
A Midwinter Night’s Dram is a limited release of High West Rendezvous Rye finished in port barrels.
Hailed as the first distillery to open in Utah since the Prohibition, High West is an industry vanguard best known for their blended American whiskeys. Sip on a tried-and-true American Prairie Bourbon or savor one of their limited releases at their many Park City locations. Their Wanship distillery and tasting room offers the most immersive educational experience with whiskey ambassadors on hand.
Though Beehive closed their bar last year, the Salt Lake distiller is still going full steam with spirit production. Their lineup of classic spirits include bourbon, amaro, vodka and several gins. Beehive was also the first Utah distiller to ride the canned cocktail wave, offering a Mule and Gin Rickey using spirits straight from their still.
Sugar House’s vodka has been consistently delicious since it first hit shelves in 2013, and the distillery’s other small-batch products quickly followed suit. Owner and distiller James Fowler takes pride in his grain-to-glass process, committed to zero outsourcing, additives, artificial colors or flavors. Pick up a bottle or canned vodka soda at their privately owned liquor store in Salt Lake.
If you go: 2212 S. West Temple, SLC.
Sugar House Distilery has a full lineup of delectable spirits.
Based in Park City, Proverbial Spirits splashed onto the scene in early 2022. Using locally sourced ingredients whenever possible, Proverbial makes their products from scratch. Owners Steven Currie, Rudy Lehfeldt-Ehlinger and Michael Kunde live by their brand’s motto: “Rules were meant to be broken” and have infused that same sense of curiosity and boldness into Proverbial’s vodka, rum and gin—the latter won a Silver Medal in the 2023 Bartender Spirits Awards.
The distillers at Clear Water reject typical spirit categories in favor of ephemeral, batch-based products. Take ‘Josephine Eau-de-Vie’ for example, an un-aged fruit brandy that is double distilled with a rum to offer a bouquet of smokey and sweet flavors. Their tasting room and distillery in Pleasant Grove (the first of its kind in Utah County) also hosts regular tasting events and cigar pairings pulled from their walk-in humidor room.
Craft small-batch distiller Vintage Spirits has been bottling out of their Midvale location since 2020, specializing in barrel-aged products like rum, whiskey and bourbon. True proponents of a grain-to-glass philosophy, the distillers offer. Saturday tours where you’ll get an inside look of the process from mash to finish.
Salt Lake City’s thriving art scene is always finding ways to celebrate local, national, and international artists dabbling in all mediums from music to painting. Get ready for one of Utah’s legacy events celebrating its 49th year: the Utah Arts Festival! Returning to Library Square in Salt Lake City, “The Great Utah Get-Together” is a community celebration of any artistic medium: visual, music, dance, film, literary, culinary arts, and more. Mark your calendars for June 19-22 for a colorful celebration.
There is plenty to marvel at over the four-day event. Browse over 170 visual artists’ work displayed in booths. Admire entries to the festival’s film program, and engage in hands-on workshops. With over 125 performing arts shows to choose from, applaud performers engaging in anything from hip-hop to street theater. And don’t forget the main headliners taking the big stage each night! Four incredible and renowned music artists will perform each night of the event.
Leftover Salmon Photo Credit Tobin Voggesser
Opening on Thursday, June 19, is Leftover Salmon from Colorado. As one of America’s most beloved festival acts, they’ll kick off the event with a rockin’ mix between traditional bluegrass and rock, Cajun/Zydeco and folk music. Robert Randolph takes the stage on Friday, June 20, with his four-time Grammy-nominated guitar skills.
Following on Saturday, June 21, Souls of Mischief will rock the crowd with their groundbreaking hip-hop. Don’t miss their blend of old-school and contemporary beats! The final performer on Sunday, June 22 is the Venezuelan songwriter, musician and producer MV Caldera, bringing her talent for contemporary Latin music to the stage.
MV Caldera.
With a lineup like this, you’ll want to snag your tickets ASAP. Buy them now on the UAF website. You can find 4-pack and 10-pack options, along with VIP options for hospitality patio access.
As Festival Executive Director Aimee Dunsmore said, “This year’s lineup reflects the Festival’s commitment to presenting transformative musical experiences. Each of these artists has helped shape their respective genres while continuing to push artistic boundaries.” With more than 35,00 attendees, the Utah Arts Festival is the largest outdoor multi-disciplinary arts event in Utah. You don’t want to miss this grand event featuring some of the most talented artists all in one place.
When you go:
Where: Library Square. 200 East 400 South, Salt Lake City When: June 19–22, 2025 Hours:
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he’s proud of Utah’s push to eliminate fluoride from drinking water, telling reporters he hopes other states follow suit.
Kennedy spoke to a crowded room of journalists, lawmakers and health officials on Monday, part of a tour of Western states to promote his “Make America Healthy Again” agenda, known as MAHA.
“If we want to be a moral nation, if we want to maintain our moral authority around the world, our chief obligation is to our children. And we’re letting them down. And I’m very, very happy that Utah is taking the lead in so many ways,” Kennedy said on Monday. “It makes no sense to have fluoride in our water. The evidence against fluoride is overwhelming … we know that it causes I.Q. loss.”
Fluoride is a mineral that has been shown to strengthen teeth by replacing minerals that are lost from acid breakdown, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A recent report from the National Toxicology Program found that high levels of fluoride in drinking water can be associated with a lower I.Q. in children — but according to the report, those levels are twice as high as the current recommended amount of fluoride.
Kennedy spoke to several bills that align with the MAHA agenda, mostly focusing on HB81, the fluoride bill. Sponsored by Rep. Stephanie Gricius, R-Eagle Mountain, the bill prohibits municipalities from adding fluoride to drinking water, while adding it to the list of drugs that pharmacists can prescribe.
Utah House Speaker Mike Schultz said that’s a “win-win” situation.
“We want to make sure those options are there” for Utahns who want more fluoride than what’s available in toothpaste or mouthwash, said Schultz, R-Hooper, who spoke during Monday’s press conference.
The bill received pushback from dentists and other health professionals, who say adding fluoride to drinking water has resulted in less cavities among children. That includes Dr. Sarah Woolsey, a family physician who told lawmakers during a legislative committee meeting that she saw a decrease in referrals for cavity extractions under anesthesia after Salt Lake County started to add fluoride to its water.
“Despite my efforts in education, in prescribing fluoride and working with parents, the voluntary application does not always work for those that may be most vulnerable,” said Woolsey. “And I would like to say that since fluoride has been in the water, the number of kids I send (to have teeth extracted) is significantly less.”
The bill passed mostly along party lines, with a handful of Republicans joining Democrats in opposition. It was signed by the governor on March 27, and takes effect on May 7.
After the press conference on Monday, Kennedy told the Associated Press he will instruct the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to stop recommending state and local governments add fluoride to drinking water. He also told the Associated Press he will set up a task force to look into the issue.
Lee Zeldin, a former GOP congressman and the current head of the Environmental Protection Agency, said the agency is going to review all the fluoride-related studies that came out since the National Toxicology Program report in 2024.
“We’re prepared to act based on this science,” said Zeldin, who also spoke during the event on Monday. “Both the National Toxicology Program study, as well as other peer-reviewed studies. If this is as important as it is to Secretary Kennedy, if it’s important as it is, clearly to so many people who are here in this room and at this press conference today, then it is top of the list for the Environmental Protection Agency.”
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin (right) speaks as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. (left) laughs during an event at the University of Utah on Monday, April 7, 2025. (Kyle Dunphey/Utah News Dispatch)
Kennedy suggested Gricius’ bill could be a model for other states.
“I’m very, very proud of this state for being the first state to ban (fluoride). I hope many more will come,” he said on Monday, echoing the argument from Utah lawmakers this session — that it’s an issue of bodily autonomy and freedom of choice.
This story was republished from Utah News Dispatch, read the entire piece here.
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About the Author
Kyle Dunphey covers politics, public safety and the environment for Utah News Dispatch. He was named Best Newspaper Reporter by the Utah Society of Professional Journalists in 2023 for his work on crime and immigration at the Deseret News.
Living extends to the outdoors from the back of the home. A second-story balcony serves the primary bedroom while a shaded deck expands entertaining space beyond the indoor living and dining areas. A small, landscaped yard offers grassy space for the kids to play. Photo by Scot Zimmerman.
When Katherine Chandler and her husband Jeffrey Sherlock craved more elbow room for their 1911, 836-square-foot house located in the heart of Salt Lake City’s East Central neighborhood, the couple asked Renovation Design Group’s Annie Schwemmer to explore the possibilities of expanding the tiny home. “We discovered that the house was structurally unsound, and we recommended rebuilding it instead,” Schwemmer recalls. The report didn’t rattle Chandler and Sherlock.
“We were completely on board,” Chandler says. “We weren’t attached to the house, but we are super attached to the location.” Before designing the couple’s new house, Schwemmer asked them to list everything they wanted from the tiny home and to highlight the must-haves. “We had to have lots of natural light, three bedrooms and at least two bathrooms.” Additional wants included an ADU (accessory dwelling unit) and a large dining area for them to entertain. An open floor plan and simple, modern style also topped the list.
Measuring less than 4,000 square feet, the small property drove the compact size of the new three-level home’s footprint measuring a mere 1,000 square feet. “With its upper level tucked into the roofline, the new design maintains a similar size and feel to the surrounding homes,” says Schwemmer. “It also introduces a subtle modern sensibility marked by simplicity and subtraction of materials and elements so it doesn’t overwhelm. The architect teamed with contractor Zac Hicks of Bluebird Renovations to create the home with exterior siding painted in a surprising hue. “We wanted it to be blue, just like the original house,” says Chandler, who has a passion for color.
A glass-paned front door dazzles with its coat of red-orange paint. “It’s the color of the Golden Gate Bridge and makes me smile every time I enter the house,” Chandler beams. Photo by Scot Zimmerman A clean-lined staircase boasts blackened steel rails and wood-faced steps. Photo by Scot Zimmerman.
Abundant windows, high ceilings and an uncluttered decor foster a spacious feel despite the home’s modest size. Chandler says, “We have toddlers and it is chaotic much of the time, but the simplicity and spaciousness of our home makes living here such a joy.”
The open kitchen and dining areas lead to the backyard’s patio and shaded deck. Photo by Scot Zimmerman. avvy storage recurs throughout the house, including the entry and mudroom’s built-in cabinets. Photo by Scot Zimmerman.
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A beginner’s guide (from a beginner) to planning, training and successfully running your first marathon or half marathon in Utah.
I never considered myself a runner. I grew up playing soccer, which means there was no point in running if it didn’t involve chasing a ball around. When I sporadically decided to start training for a half marathon a year and a half ago, I couldn’t imagine running six miles, let alone thirteen (and 26.2…that was like the end of the world)! It’s overwhelming to start training for a long distance race like I did, but as I took it one day at a time, I found that I fell in love with running in a way I never expected to. Even without chasing a soccer ball.
April is here, the sun is warming up Utah, and many of us need something to help revamp our New Year’s Resolutions—why not soak up the vitamin D by beginning your first half marathon training? To help you get started, I’ve compiled a list of beginner-friendly advice.
Pick a Race
The first step is to commit. Pick a race, sign up, pay for it. There’s no backing out now!
When I started my quest to cross the finish line, I made my way all around Utah by training and racing. There are hordes of full and half marathons in the Beehive State where you can explore new places while pushing yourself to achieve something. Here are a few of the races I have done:
Utah Valley Marathon runner. Photo courtesy Utah Valley Marathon.
The Utah Valley Marathon down Provo Canyon is one of the biggest races in the state, so it’s easy to navigate everything from sign-up to post-finish line chocolate milk. They host a marathon, half marathon, 10k, and 5k in June. This is a great first race.
Some say the Drop 13 Big Cottonwood is the fastest half marathon in Utah. Starting at Solitude Ski Resort, you descend over 3,200 ft. This is the race I ran my personal record, or my fastest half marathon!
Most people know Draper’s Corner Canyon for its fantastic network of mountain bike trails, but the Corner Canyon Trail half marathon guides you run up and through the trees and across the Bear Canyon Suspension bridge, and that feels (almost) as fun as biking.
Also one of the biggest races in the state, the St. George Marathon is a great option for a first marathon because it has a lot of downhill that winds through St. George, Veyo, and Snow Canyon. This was my first marathon course—it’s incredible!
In both Provo and Salt Lake, the Runtastic Haunted Half is an unforgettable Halloween-themed race. I’ll always remember running next to snails, Marios and bananas during my first ever half marathon. It’s surprisingly motivating.
The Goblin Valley Trail Run near Moab is the most awe-inspiring half marathon I’ve done. Running around hoodoos and buttes is surreal, and the small size of the race makes it even easier to enjoy the views.
There are tons of marathons and half marathons in Utah, both road and trail. For more options, click here.
Buy Gear
There’s good news for gearheads and shopaholics (like me)—new gear! The most important part of running is getting the perfect shoe. Get fitted somewhere like Salt Lake Running Company or Runner’s Corner to find the best shoe for your foot. You also need specialized ware such as socks, tank tops and shorts, water bottles, running vests and nutrition.
Schedule a Training Plan
Most half marathon training plans take 10-14 weeks, and marathon training plans take around 16-20 weeks. This makes April the best time to get started on your training for a summer or fall race. Buy a calendar, fill each week out with your running schedule, and stick to it! In each week, it’s good to have one long run, one recovery day, and a day or two for cross training. Some good ideas for cross training are lifting, cycling, or swimming (why not train for triathlon while we’re at it, right?).
Training! Photo by Morgan Hart
Find a Support Group
Whether it’s a die-hard training buddy or a supportive spouse, find someone who will tie your shoes on the days that are a little too hard to step outside, someone who will be there with a cold cup of chocolate milk when you first cross the finish line.
Push Yourself, but Have Fun!
Running is hard. You can’t get around that. But that might just be what’s so addicting about it—pushing yourself, running places you’ve never visited before, crossing the finish line right as you feel like you might collapse, just in time to put that medal around your neck and say, “I did it! I did it!” That is an addicting feeling.
Bottomless family fortune does not back Dean Cardinale, nor did he strike it rich on Wall Street or in Silicon Valley. Yet, despite his lack of personal wealth, he has found a way to positively impact thousands of lives while building a business centered on his passion for adventure. His strategy boils down to this very simple, but effective premise: “I found that the easiest and best way to impact a community is by investing in its children,” he says.
As such children are at the heart of every decision Cardinale makes on behalf of Human Outreach Project (HOP), a now 18-year-old nonprofit with reach in three countries, as well as here in Utah, that he founded at the same time he launched his adventure travel guiding company, World Wide Trekking (WWT).
Cardinale’s affinity for mountain adventure was seeded on the mom-and-pop ski resorts’ slopes near his childhood home in Catskill, NY Ski racing led him to New Hampshire’s Keene State College. He then moved to Albany, N.Y., where he intended to put his business degree to use. “I lasted six months,” Cardinale says. “And then I got in my car and drove to Snowbird.” There he worked his way from restaurant prep cook to the Snowbird Ski Patrol and eventually avalanche forecasting. Building his mountaineering skills along the way, Cardinale began his guiding career in the early 2000s, first in his adopted Wasatch Mountains’ backyard, then elsewhere in North America, and finally, among the world’s highest peaks.
In 2005, Cardinale first trekked to the top of Mt. Everest, which unknowingly set him on the path to founding HOP.
“I was working as a guide for Mountain Madness and my friend, Ang Pasang Sherpa, was critical in helping me and my clients get to the top,” Cardinale says. “Unfortunately, just a few days after we summited, Ang was killed in an avalanche.” Cardinale returned to Nepal for the climbing season the following year, but before he headed to the mountain, he paid a visit to the orphanage in Kathmandu where Pasang Sherpa’s three children lived. “I took them to lunch and bought them a few things they needed. When we returned, all the other kids there were waiting for me to take them out, too,” he says. “I knew I needed to do something.”
A WWT group on the accent to the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro. Photo courtesy of WWT.
So, with the mission that “trekkers could—and should—give back to the communities in which they travel,” Cardinale established Human Outreach Project. In the beginning, it was just him getting sporting goods and medical supplies donated through his connections at Snowbird to orphanages in both Katmandu and communities near the other highest peak he guided, Tanzania’s Mount Kilimanjaro. It was also at that time that Cardinale learned a hard lesson about volunteerism in parts of the developing world. “There’s lots of corruption,” he says. “I realized we had to do it ourselves and do it from the top on down.”
Cardinale purchased four acres in Tanzania to build the Kilimanjaro Kids’ Community (KKC). On what was once a barren patch of ground, is now a leafy campus where 35 orphaned children, aged 1-18 years old, live, learn and recreate.
The KKC, however, is just the beginning of the impactful projects Cardinale has spearheaded and continues to nurture through HOP. At two primary schools near the KKC, HOP has built kitchens, employs staff and covers food costs to provide lunch for more than 1,000 students every day. “The [school lunch programs] have brought attendance, and therefore grades, way up at both schools,” Cardinale says.
In Nepal, following the devastating 2015 Gorkha earthquake, HOP rebuilt two medical clinics within the country’s mountainous Khumbu Region: the Pheriche Medical Clinic, located along the route to Everest Base Camp, and the Manang Medical Clinic, which serves more than 2,500 people during the three month climbing season, most are support workers. “Many of our programs focus on reaching people off the beaten path where people are struggling,” Cardinale says.
A World Wide Trekking expedition on the Summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro. Photo courtesy of WWT.
Here in Utah, Human Outreach Project Outdoors introduces local at-risk adolescents to hiking in the Wasatch Mountains, and HOP’s Veterans Outreach Project provides support to local retired servicemen and women during the holidays.
Last year, Cardinale launched HOP’s latest endeavor, Keep Mount Kilimanjaro Clean. “When I started climbing Kili 20 years ago, 20,000 people per year climbed the mountain,” he says. “Now more than 55,000 do so every year.” During one of WWT’s last trips there in 2024, Cardinale noticed much more trash along the trail to the summit than he had observed on previous visits. Rather than ignoring the problem, or just reminding his clients to clean up after themselves, he organized four cleaning missions, each made up of 25 to 50 workers, who removed more than 6,000 pounds of trash. “When they see trash on the ground they are more likely to leave trash themselves,” Cardinale says.
Like HOP’s other efforts, Keep Mount Kilimanjaro Clean is not a one-and-done proposition. Following last fall’s cleanup missions, Cardinale is aiming to get Kilimanjaro’s visitors to help keep the mountain clean through HOP’s “1Kg Challenge.” At the trailhead, Cardinale has installed bins for climbers to deposit filled provided biodegradable bags as they leave the mountain. Cardinale also had signage placed reminding visitors to pack in and pack out everything. For his efforts, the Tanzania National Park Authority named him an official ambassador of Mount Kilimanjaro National Park.
Throughout his almost two decades of philanthropic work, Cardinale remains actively involved in every Human Outreach Project undertaking by spending a day or two before or after his WWT guests arrive or leave for a trek to visit one of HOP’s schools or clinics in Nepal, Tanzania and Peru. And he always makes time to visit the now-adult children of his late friend, Ang Pasang Sherpa—Lhakpa Dhen Deh, Dawa Gylasten and Pasang Maya. “They are my family,” Cardinale says. “and I am happy to report that they are all doing great.” For more visit humanoutreachproject.org.
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