After taking 2020 off due to COVID, the award-winning Utah Arts Festival is back! This year, join your neighbors to soak up the festival vibes and summer sun at the Festival, August 27th through 29th at Library Square in downtown Salt Lake. Revel in live music, film screenings and the power of Urban Arts; and discover local visual artists pushing the boundaries. Then, enjoy local food, adventurous treats and craft beverage vendors.

New for 2021, the Utah Arts Festival introduces the Creative Zone, a "mini festival within the Festival" where anyone can immediately jump in and create some art of their own. Contribute to a multitude of collaborative installations, using sound, paint, sculpture, words, and more. Create a project to bring home. Learn a new artistic skill, with help from the Visual Art Institute, the Rock Canyon Poets, the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, Utah Black Artists Collective, and Make Salt Lake. Poetry, music, sculpture, crafting, and art you may have never seen yourself participating in are available for everyone to try.

Dance is a huge part of the Festival, with many talented and celebrated professional Utah dance companies giving performances. Don't miss the collaboration between artÉmotion and Ballet West on Friday with five new beautiful works. Other performances will feature Repertory Dance Theatre, Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company, Percussive Footwork Ensemble, Children's Dance Theatre Presented by University of Utah Tanner Dance, and 1520 Arts. For the complete performance schedule, go to the Festival website here.

The Utah Arts Festival Literary Arts program is cross-genre, diverse, and full of great talent. With poets, authors, performers, scientists and others reading and performing poetry, fiction, non-fiction, hip-hop, spoken work, slam poetry, and cowboy poetry, chances are you'll find words that move you. This year the readings come from local and regional talent, and an emphasis has been placed on underrepresented voices and communities.

Also new in 2021 is a video series called Bringing the Vibes, which focuses on individual artists who help to bring the vibes to the Utah Arts Festival. It gives them a venue to showcase their stories - how their art career began, where they find their muse, what their creative process consists of, and more. And the variety of artists is and will be across the spectrum and mediums and types of artistry included every year at the Festival. Continue to watch the Bringing the Vibes page to see more artists in the future.

Seeing the Festival in person is an experience to remember. The Artist Marketplace is not to be missed, with incredible artists working in multiple disciplines. Grab some delicious food and drink from the local vendors and wander the Festival grounds. Check out the live performances on the many Festival stages, whether it's dance, music, or spoken word. Watch a short film at the 2021 Fear No Film festival inside the Leonardo. Be a part of the creative experience and create something artistic in the Creative Zone

The Utah Arts Festival will be held August 27th through 29th at Library Square in Salt Lake City. Tickets are inexpensive and can be purchased at the door (inexpensive) or online (even cheaper) here. Grab your friends and go!