facebook-pixel

The Utah Arts Festival thought they wouldn’t be back this year. Here’s how they bounced back.

The Utah Arts Festival will take place from June 19-22 at Library Square in Downtown Salt Lake City.

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Utah Arts Festival in Salt Lake City on Friday, June 28, 2024. The 2025 Utah Arts Festival will happen from June 19-22.

The Utah Arts Festival returns this week for its 49th annual rendition, with more than 300 artists coming to show off their works.

This year’s festivities, though, almost didn’t happen.

The 2024 festival saw a substantial drop off in attendance that left them far short of its budget, and organizers were unsure if they’d be able to put on this year’s event.

Their fortunes shifted after the festival’s financial woes became known and they received a “major donation,” said Aimee Dunsmore, executive director of the festival.

“We had a lot of great donations individually from the community,” Dunsmore said. “It helped us, interestingly, with some awareness about what it actually costs to produce the festival and what we’re charging.”

The setback prompted Dunsmore to think about how to make the festival more successful.

When they went public with the deficit announcement, organizers included a survey for people to provide feedback — and were met with a plethora of responses.

“We took that to heart. I really read that and studied it, and tried to find the themes of what we can control, things we could actually do,” she said.

(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Donato Raimondo, left, the owner of Tumaini Arts Africa, speaks with a customer at his stall during the Afro Utah Festival in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024.

Dunsmore attributed last year’s attendance dip to a few factors: the scorching weather, competing arts events happening at the same time and the fact that the festival happened right before the Fourth of July.

But she said there will be some changes this year in hopes of improving the experience based on the feedback they received. That includes an expanded festival footprint that will stretch to the west side of the Salt Lake City & County Building and stage locations shifting to allow for more shade from the towering trees on the property.

Dunsmore said they’ve made “more investment” into the headliners: jamgrass band Leftover Salmon, guitarist Robert Randolph, West Coast rap legends Souls of Mischief and Latin Grammy nominee MV Caldera. There will also be local music highlights each day, like jazz band Flamingo.

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) People seen through the Dichroic Skull at the Utah Arts Festival in Salt Lake City on Friday, June 28, 2024.

This year, the festival is also happening a week earlier and they’ve added back a fourth day — Thursday — with tickets costing $12 on that day. The last time ticket prices were that low, Dunsmore said, was in 2017. There will also be more options for food and beverages and the festival will feature new mural backdrops and roaming street theater.

Festival-goers will pay $18 for tickets, but those tickets also come with an ask. On the back of each ticket is a rundown on how the nonprofit puts on the expansive festival, along with a QR code if they wish to donate.

“While General Admission tickets are sold for $18, the actual cost per person is $37 when including talent, production, security and event operations,” the ticket reads. “We strive to keep the Festival accessible while delivering unforgettable experiences.”

“From our conversations last year, we want to be transparent. We care a lot about the money we receive, whether that’s through a ticket or through a donation or sponsorship. We want to use that wisely,” Dunsmore said.

This year the festival will host over 300 artists in a variety of different categories — from music to film to visual arts. Dunsmore said that on average 85% of the artists presented at the festival are from Utah.

Dunsmore said organizers have added a new category this year: demonstrating artists. These 19 artists will not only be selling their work, but creating it while the festival goes on.

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Fine glass art by Nett Farr at the Utah Arts Festival in Salt Lake City on Friday, June 28, 2024.

This year in the visual arts category: there are 66 Utah artists in the market place, four local emerging artists and 13 local demonstrating artists. The 130 performing acts, aside from headliners, “are from Utah or regional states” according to Katie Eldridge, from Panic Button Media, who handles the communications for the festival.

Dunsmore is hopeful that people will notice the changes the organizers have made this year.

“I think it will make a difference. So I’m feeling very optimistic, very confident that this is just the beginning,” she said. “It’s the next foundational step. It’s our 49th year. I’d love to be around another 50, if we can.”

Tickets for The Utah Arts Festival are on sale now.