This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The Bonanza Campout this weekend in Heber isn't the only new outdoor concert fest coming to Utah this summer. The Goosenecks Music Festival will also bring a campout music festival to Utah with a charity-oriented twist.
A group of Brigham Young University students is hosting the two-day festival, which features alt-rock band Young the Giant and electronic duo Purity Ring among about 30 bands, many of them local, in Torrey on Aug. 19 and 20. While the festival will bring a party atmosphere, organizers are also hosting five service projects and donating part of the festival's proceeds to help refugees.
"It sounds crazy that a bunch of college students have been doing this, but things have just been coming together for us," said Conner Ludlow, one of the students helping with the event.
One of those fortuitous moments was that another student involved in the group lives in the same apartment complex as Coulter Reynolds, younger brother to Imagine Dragons' lead singer Dan Reynolds. Coulter Reynolds has been able to book bands for the event.
BYU students Thomas Clawson and Max Metcalf dreamed up the festival in January. About seven students work on the project more full-time, while five or so pitch in more occasionally. The group has gotten some investors to help pay for renovations of the stage at the Red River Ranch in Torrey and other expenses, and no one will make money unless the festival makes a profit.
"We are completely new to this. We're just college students, and we're really just learning by experience," Ludlow said. "But we've had lots of people helping us out, and are willing to help. We've had great support and we've put a lot of work into it."
Ludlow is hoping to have between 5,000 and 8,000 attendees. Tickets are $89 for general admission, tent camping spots are $20 and car camping spots are $100. For more information, visit http://www.goosenecksfestival.com.