It’s festival season! Utahns are celebrating the arts that unite us and the cultures that give us our stories, while parents have a chance to instill love for art and appreciation for diversity in kids. Recently, we covered the Utah Arts Festival and counted down eight cultural events families shouldn’t miss this summer, but wait… there’s more. We recommend heading 20 minutes north for the Bountiful Davis Summerfest. Entering its 32nd season, Summerfest will bring performances, art and food to Bountiful City Park, June 28–29, 2019.
“Summerfest is a Davis County tradition,” says Alysa Revell, executive director of Bountiful Davis Art Center, which hosts the festival. “The performances are varied and entertaining, and the performers themselves are warm and wonderful people who are happy to chat with locals about their home countries and interesting lives.”
This year’s warm and wonderful performers include Native American storyteller Gary Hansen, rock band King Tree, singer/songwriter Kristen Beckwith and international acts from the Scottish Highlands, Singapore and more. (See all of the 2019 performers.)
Children in a Mexican dance performance at Summerfest, photo by Joel Nava, courtesy of Bountiful Davis Art Center
“The arts can be an important bridge between people of different nationalities,” Revell says. “One important aspect of Summerfest is having international performers housed with local families. This allows individuals a chance to get to know one another, to learn from and appreciate each other’s cultures, and to create lifelong friendships.”
In past years, Summerfest was held in August. Organizers moved it to June to avoid Utah’s dreaded late-summer microbursts. Along with performing arts, families can enjoy visual arts from more than 30 vendors, including grand prize winner from the 2019 Davis School District Exhibition, Jarom Mollinet, international foods and the Children’s Art Yard, where kids will learn to make crayon and ink drawings inspired by Singapore’s Nayang-style art. Families can also participate in or watch live demos, including glassblowing, spray paint art and learning to tie a sari.
“Throughout the years, hundreds of thousands of local residents and international performers have interacted and learned from one another,” Revell says. “Understanding and appreciation of other cultures is vital in our world today, and Summerfest has contributed to that in countless ways over the past three decades.”
Admission is free. An opening ceremony will be held June 28, 2019 at 6 p.m., and a closing ceremony will be held June 29, 2019 at 9:40 p.m.
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