City Weekly May 14, 2026

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Never Again

My great-grandfather liberated a concentration camp in Wels, Austria. The locals still downplay its existence out of shame. He did it while wearing an American uniform, under an American flag, for an America that believed some things were simply wrong.

He came home. He didn’t talk about it much. Men like him rarely did. He was my hero. I wonder what he’d think about what’s happening in Utah today.

There is a detention facility being constructed near our international airport.

The federal government calls it a processing center. Spencer Cox calls it necessary. I call it what it is: a concentration camp, built to warehouse human beings without due process or oversight. Not unlike the one my great-grandfather liberated. It never starts with extermination. It starts with this. My great-grandfather would recognize it.

Somewhere in Salt Lake City right now there is a child going to school, learning English, loving this country the way only someone who chose it can. She has done nothing wrong. The law hasn’t caught up to her paperwork. ICE has.

Is she Anne Frank? Or is Anne Frank the transgender immigrant teenager who fled persecution in her home country only to find it here like the Frank family who fled to the Netherlands, then were discovered, deported and died in a camp?

That question is not hyperbole. It is the question history asks every generation. We are answering it now. The answer is being built by the airport.

Spencer Cox is not a stupid man. He knows what these facilities are. He knows his own faith community, the LDS Church—which valued the dignity of immigrant families and departed from MAGA politics in 2016—is not behind this.

The progressives of Salt Lake City don’t want this. The minorities who built this city’s diversity don’t want this.

The Latter-day Saints who believe in the sanctity of family don’t want this. The libertarians who distrust federal overreach don’t want this.

So who does want this, Governor Cox?

My great-grandfather didn’t liberate that camp in Austria so that, 70 years later, a Utah governor could build one in the country he defended. He didn’t come home so that masked men could conduct warrantless raids separating families in the streets of a city that chose tolerance as its identity.

He did it because some things are wrong; because some lines, once crossed, cannot be uncrossed. Never again in Germany.

Never again in America. Never again on this earth.

Spencer Cox has a choice. He can stand with Salt Lake City, with Utah’s families, with his own faith community’s stated values, with the constitutional principles this state claims to hold dear.

Or he can keep building a concentration camp by the airport.

My great-grandfather’s generation had a word for people who built camps and called it necessity. We remember that word—it’s Nazi.

MACKINLEY TEAGUE

Salt Lake City

Correction: The May 7 cover story, “True Religion,” mischaracterized the county health department regulations that are applied to religious organizations.

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THE WATER COOLER

You’re invited to a potluck; what is your signature dish you like to take?

Paula Saltas

Rice pudding, 100%. Or Galaktoboureko (look it up).

Scott Renshaw

Fresh-baked focaccia, Emeril Lagasse’s recipe. Either that, or a bag of chips— sometimes I’m just lazy.

Zach Abend

German potato salad. Made with either red or Yukon gold potatoes. Then add hard boiled eggs, Dijon, mayo, garlic salt, pickles, black pepper and paprika. It’s comforting and delicious either warm or cold. Learned the recipe from a long-gone kosher deli in Brooklyn. I’m still chasing that version.

Carolyn Campbell

I used to take stuffed mushrooms, but now I’m always a shoo-in for Rice Krispie treats.

Katharine Biele

Full disclosure, I hate potlucks. I mean, invite me over to make my own stuff? However, my latest is a corn dip with jalepenos, pimentos, green onions and, of course, cheese.

Sofia Cifuentes

Arepas or empanadas.

OPINION

BY WES LONG

Slow Learners

Before entering the world of journalism, I had for some time entertained the notion of becoming a teacher. The longer I pictured myself within academic circles, however, the less convinced I became of my suitability—my tendency to tedious disquisition notwithstanding.

It takes both fortitude and patience to do what a good teacher does day in and day out, particularly when the teacher, the students and other interested parties often encounter friction with each other throughout the process.

The act of learning itself can be remarkably difficult for us mortals. Regardless of the subject, what we struggle so long to grasp—assuming we stick with it—can just as easily be lost from neglect or stretched beyond recognition from misuse. And always there is a potential disconnect between what we learn and what we actually practice.

“I can easier teach 20 what were good to be done, than be one of the 20 to follow mine own teaching,” observes Portia in The Merchant of Venice. “The brain may devise laws for the blood, but a hot temper leaps o’er a cold decree.”

Such may be said for nations. But as recent Supreme Court rulings make clear, we Americans are still struggling to learn our most basic lessons on democracy and inclusion. Thanks to the Roberts Court, the protections afforded by the Voting Rights Act against political gerrymandering and racial discrimination have been effectively dismantled.

Moral and legal gains, such as were brought about during the Civil Rights Movement and Reconstruction before it, are clearly neither inevitable nor impervious. But going beyond what the Supreme Court does—itself an institution that has only rarely made an effort to protect people—we have before us one more indication among many that the lessons of America’s original sin of racism have been forgotten.

For Utahns, we needn’t look too far afield to recognize the importance of learning these lessons, for they haunt us as much as every other state in the nation.

“Slave owners pretty much controlled the federal government for almost all of the period from the Constitution to the Civil War,” remarked historian Eric Foner in a 2013 lecture. “The power of slavery shaped our ideas or people back then, ideas about American nationhood, American citizenship, who is an American.”

Even states that abolished slavery after the American Revolution were affected by this environment, lending a racial overtone to all issues.

In such an ethos, it should be unsurprising that comparatively few were immune to inhaling what was in the air and perpetuated via institution and generational custom. As the issue of slavery was roiling the United States in the mid-19th century, the territory that became Utah made momentous decisions that left lingering scars, despite any other honest intentions that may have been at play.

As historians W. Paul Reeve, Christopher Rich Jr. and LaJean Purcell Carruth showed in their book This Abominable Slavery, leading territorial figures like Brigham Young, George A. Smith and Orson Spencer rejected chattel slavery, but also hailed from Northern states that had implemented gradual emancipation policies within varied kinds of unfree labor. Themselves familiar with unfree labor, such men conceived servitude and slavery to be different things, a distinction that has grown more nebulous as definitions of freedom and labor have changed in subsequent centuries.

Reeve, Rich and Carruth wrote that the laws on Black and Native American servitude that were consequently developed here in 1852 were viewed by the aforementioned men and others as “reasonable compromises to maintain political neutrality and avoid internal dissension concerning slavery.” Their fellow legislator Orson Pratt, however, saw the gravity of what would be legally established by this “moderate” position: a means of establishing an underclass—facilitating slavery, whether intentional or not.

He too made allowance for apprenticeship and certain types of indentured servitude. But Pratt warned against

what would surely come about through the territorial service laws his contemporaries were considering.

“Shall we hedge up the way before us by introducing this abominable slavery?” Pratt asked his colleagues. “No! My voice shall be against it from this time until the bill shall pass if you are determined to pass it.”

What ensued from these decisions is a familiar story all across the nation: discrimination and disenfranchisement gaining more or less power in society, depending on the dogged efforts of enough people to overcome prejudicial attitudes, perpetuated custom, legal formulations and the financial enchantments of inequality.

The point is not that Utah or the United States are forever benighted, but rather that they are full of people struggling to learn core lessons and fully practice the richest values of their professed political, moral and spiritual ideals. No one is free until all have their democratic voices protected.

Utahns and Americans will need to recognize that they will never completely graduate from this course until racism, discrimination and resentment are actively purged from day-to-day living. From reevaluating institutionalized practices and personal biases to fostering dialogue and creating diverse spaces, there is much to improve in the society we’ve inherited—to say nothing of keeping watch on current efforts to gerrymander and silence citizens by banal legal maneuvers and violent enforcement agencies.

That requires humility, an open ear and a cooled temper. And make no mistake, moderate positions on many things may indeed be a virtue, but as history shows, they will not protect a people from being affected by malignant societal evils. Such come for us all if not firmly dealt with.

“We are all bound up together in one great bundle of humanity,” the poet Frances Ellen Watkins Harper declared before the National Women’s Rights Convention of 1866, “and society cannot trample on the weakest and feeblest of its members without receiving the curse in its own soul.”

I may never be a teacher, but I can be a student in this regard—today. CW

Send comments to wlong@cityweekly.net

HITS & MISSES

BY KATHARINE BIELE | @kathybiele BY

MISS: Social Studies

Dear “high IQ” MAGAs, you need to start reading history. No matter what that big-brain Sen. Mike Lee says, fascism is not socialism. Lee, who spends most of his time on X, shared an Elon Musk post that said, “Hitler was a socialist, therefore all socialists are Hitler.” And Lee was all-in on it. “Fascism and Naziism [sic] aren’t the opposite of socialism, as the modern left would have you believe. They *are* socialism,” he said. No, no and no. Historian Federico Finchelstein valiantly tried to outrun social media and set the record straight. Just because it has “socialism” in its name, doesn’t mean that it is. “Nazism’s official name was National Socialist German Workers’ Party,” he explained. “It used it in the service of right-wing domination.” Lee might want to look up the word “fascism” and see if it rings any bells.

MISS: Big Data

You’ve probably heard about the Great Big Giant Data Center up north. Trust us, there’s going to be a lot more. Utahns—in fact, Americans—should be accustomed to rule by billionaires and super-majority officials. And yet, they’re always shocked and surprised by malignancy in decision-making. Gov. Spencer Cox went ballistic after hearing the public pushback—you know, related to water use, pollution, noise, cost and more. “This whole idea of being rushed, I’m so tired of our country taking years to get stuff done,” the disagree-better governor said at his monthly news conference. He seems to think Utah has an “obligation” to build these centers. Sure, he’s sorry now that he got all hot and bothered, but he might want to think about the people he represents. He might want to think about how promises are just that—often empty and designed to bring the masses in line. And yes, he might want to think about Great Salt Lake before relying on faith.

HIT: Votes for Women

The lieutenant governor probably thought she was posting a benign comment about a hard-fought right for women. “We did not end injustice and neither will you. But still, we made strides, so we know you can too,” Deidre Henderson quoted after seeing the musical Suffs with the Utah Historical Society. “The suffrage movement inspires me. Progress can be slow, it can take a lot of effort from a lot of different people to make big wins, and that’s okay.” But what was meant to be congratulatory became fodder for some on the political right. Commenters, mostly male, called her a “chick” and a “RINO.” One actually enumerated the only people who should be voting— those paying over $100,000 in taxes, married moms with more than three kids and citizens over 35. Someone even called her a traitor who should resign. Thankfully, most comments were in support of women’s rights—the ones we are seeing diminished every day. While one woman said the 19th Amendment was a mistake, another said “It could be much faster if women

Pet Cemetery

On a hillside overlooking the Wagner Jewish Community Center and the Huntsman Cancer Institute’s Kathryn Kirk building, near a convergence of the Bonneville Shoreline and Red Butte Skyline Nature trails, stands a headstone to an Irish Wolfhound named Nebby. This marker, adjacent to a tree and a bench, is all that remains of Utah’s first pet cemetery.

Originally a 50-square-foot area fenced in with logs and a gate, this site was informally created in 1942 by prisoners of war at what was then Fort Douglas, and contained eight graves overall. Since the other graves were marked with wood, the stone marker for Nebby (1932-1943) is now the only one of the number that survives.

Pet cemeteries are of ancient origin, but didn’t make their formal American appearance until the late 19th century in the eastern states. For many years here in Utah, private burials—and, sadly, abandonments—in far-flung locations were the common state of things for furry and feathered friends.

City ordinances did not allow for burials in Salt Lake cemeteries or backyards by mid-century. These restrictions prompted Melvin Humpherys (1904-1979) to take action by opening a site for sanctioned pet burials at 2935 S. 3600 West.

“People who have valuable pets just seem not to want them to go to the city dump,” he told the Tribune in 1956. Humphreys’ cemetery—later called the Granger Pet Cemetery—ultimately contained the remains of dogs, cats, monkeys, horses, rabbits, birds, guinea pigs and others by the time it was sold and redeveloped in the late 1970s. Some of those graves were relocated to the Humane Society of Utah’s old Green Pastures property at 4613 S. 4000 West, and some of the Green Pastures graves likewise survived their own subsequent relocation to the southeast lawn of the Humane Society’s facility in Murray (4242 S. 300 West).

Modern Utah Code now allows for animal burial on one’s property. But pet owners can also avail themselves of such options as cremation and its more eco-friendly alternative, aquamation. Still, formal gravesites exist in select areas, such as Memorial Mountain View Mortuary and Cemetery in Cottonwood Heights (3115 Bengal Blvd).

There, within a dedicated section of the grounds, are numerous plates and headstones to the scaly, feathered and furry members of Utah families, plus a memorial to service animals and police dogs. It is to these peaceful surroundings that Lori Pugh, of Draper, makes a semi-regular excursion to place fresh flowers upon the graves of her dogs Molly, Kyler and Keelie, and her mother’s dogs Timeri and Talea.

It was the thought of her dogs’ ashes being thrown away after her own eventual passing that gave her pause.

“I just didn’t want to have them cremated,” she told City Weekly. “This is a better situation for me.”

Indeed, from the cemeteries of yesteryear to modern services, the sentiments and memories animating folks like Pugh remain in quiet force. CW

Don t wait to buy real estate, buy real estate and wait !

A&E Big Shiny Robot

Summer 2026 Geek Guide

Movies, books, TV and more for entertaining seasonal distraction.

BY BRYAN YOUNG comments@cityweekly.net

You deserve a break from the persistent horrors of reality, looming outside your door like the Great Old Ones that Lovecraft used to write so lovingly about. This summer, sure to be a scorcher (the hottest on record … so far! they’ll no doubt say), will require plenty of delightful distractions of delight.

Thankfully, there are plenty to be had as we march inexorably on toward the end (end of what? we’ll let you decide), and I’ve curated a handy list of the coolest things to look forward to this season of sunburns, smog, and active resistance.

The Mandalorian and Grogu (May 22)The Mandalorian and his adopted child are making the leap from the small screen to IMAX to hunt Imperial war criminals in what is sure to be two hours of Star Wars catharsis atching science fiction heroes and anti-heroes galavant around the galaxy punching space-Nazis and bringing them to justice is exactly the sort of thing we all want to see right now; it’s the healing balm that can bring communities together. And who can argue with Martin Scorsese in a cameo part as an Ardennian street vendor?

Supergirl and Spider-Man: Brand New Day (June 26 and July 31) - Last summer, DC and Marvel Studios went head-to-head with Superman and The Fantastic Four: First

Steps, two wonderful comic-book motion pictures. Although Superman seems to have won the popularity contest in the general population, I feel Fantastic Four won in other ways.

The DC/Marvel match up this year promises to be just as exciting, with Supergirl teaming up with Lobo in what appears to be a John Wick-inspired tale to save Krypto, and Peter Parker returning to carve his way through a New York that’s forgotten him completely. This summer will be just as exciting as last for the big t o co ic fil studios ut ll still e too busy watching Star Wars to pay too much attention.

Battleborn Magazine - A new sword and sorcery fantasy magazine is launching soon, bringing the best and brightest of this resurgent genre to ans ts first issue has hit early reviewers, and features more than illustrated novelettes and short stories from modern luminaries like Howard Andrew Jones and reprints from masters like Robert E. Howard, as well as some brand new, AIfree artwork. With exhaustion over AI and a desire to get back to the roots of tangible media and handmade goods, it’s delightful to hold something so lovingly curated and handcrafted. If you care about the old pulps, artists and writers, this is the sort of thing you’ll leap at. They’ve got at least three issues planned, so this summer is the right time to get on board.

It Came From Neverland (June 9) - Cynthia Pelayo’s new horror novel is something that feels tailor-made to so many of my sensibilities and I can’t wait to get my hands on it, so I’ll simply assume you can’t either. The book brings the mythology of Peter Pan to the horrors of World War I, where Wendy Darling works as a schoolteacher by day, but helps with the soldiers coming home from the front in her spare

time. One in particular is in a coma. When he mutters “Peter Pan,” Wendy’s nightmares begin. It sounds incredible.

The Feywild Job (June 30) - C.L. Polk has written a number of original stories I’ve really loved, but this summer they’re taking the plunge into the world of Dungeons & Dragons with this new novel. It’s a romantasy book about a pair of bitter exes forced to team up for a heist in the Feywild. It’s got a cozy vibe reminiscent of Travis Baldree’s Legends & Lattes series, but also the intelligent intensity of E.K. Johnston’s delightful entry into Dungeons & Dragons, Honor Among Thieves: The Druid’s Call. You’re going to want to pick it up if you like the RPG, the genre, the author or even the vibe, which covers a wide swath of readers.

Spider-Noir (May 27) - When Nico-

las age sho ed up in the fil Into the Spider-Verse as a black-and-white, 1940s noir-detective version of Spider-Man doing what sounded like a Humphrey Bogart impression, it felt too good to be true. Now we get to see a live-action Prime Video TV series version come to life, and actually see it in black-and-white? It’s like we’re all living in a fevered dream. For some reason, they’re releasing it in color also, but that’s ridiculous—like they had no faith in the product and created a smooth-brained version. Black-and-white is the only one anyone needs and the show looks like it’s going to amazing. If all of these don’t keep you happy through the course of this summer, either things got exponentially worse (possible) or nothing will (also possible). CW

Summer in the Cine

Star Wars, Spider-man, Toy Story 5, Supergirl, Minions and more at the summer box office.

BY SCOTT RENSHAW scottr@cityweekly.net @scottrenshaw

[Release dates always subject to change.]

May 15

Headliner: In the Grey – A team of covert operatives (Henry Cavill, Jake Gyllenhaal and Eiza González) attempt to recover a billion dollars from a crime boss, in action hijinks from director Guy Ritchie.

May 22

Headliner: Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu – The armored mercenary (Pedro Pascal) and “Baby Yoda” take to the big screen, to discover whether average moviegoers know that “Grogu” and “Baby Yoda” are the same thing.

May 29

Headliner: The Breadwinner – Comedian Nate Bargatze plays a suburban dad who supports his entrepreneur wife by taking over responsibility for the kids. It’s the Mr. Mom reboot you never knew you needed! Also: A furniture store employee discovers a mysterious passageway in Backrooms; the historical drama Pressure chronicles planning for D-Day in June 1944.

June 5

Headliner: Masters of the Universe –An everyday guy (Nicholas Galitzine) discovers that he’s actually He-Man, and that Jared Leto is Skeletor. No, seriously. Also: The meeting between a wedding singer (Paul Rudd) and a one-time boy-band star (Nick Jonas) results in an unexpected hit song in Power Ballad; the Wayans

family reboots the horror-movie parody Scary Movie.

June 12

Headliner: Disclosure Day – Director Steven Spielberg chronicles what happens as humanity prepares to learn the truth about the existence of aliens. Also: A high-speed train faces disaster—with RuPaul as the President of the United States—in the parody Stop! That! Train!

June 19

Headliner: Toy Story 5 – Woody (Tom Hanks), Buzz (Tim Allen) and the gang face the existential threat of competing with screens for kids’ attention. Also: Hugh Jackman plays the legendary thief of Sherwood Forest reckoning with his past in The Death of Robin Hood.

June 26

Headliner: Supergirl – Superman’s cousin Kara (Milly Alcock) takes center stage, but come on, we’re all really here for Krypto the Super-dog again. Also: Jackass: Best and Last returns to prove that some men just will never learn to protect their junk.

July 1

Headliner: Minions & Monsters –Those little yellow animated capsules of incomprehensible jabbering conjure real monsters to appear in the movie they want to make. Also: William Franklyn-Miller stars in the origin story of the Father of Our Country in Young Washington

July 10

Headliner: Moana – The animationto-live-action Disney pipeline grows ever shorter, with Dwayne Johnson once again playing the demigod Maui helping a young woman (Catherine Laga’aia) on an ocean quest. Also: A dinner party between two couples (Seth Rogen & Olivia Wilde and Edward Norton & Penélope Cruz) gets hilariously awkward in The Invite

July 17

Headliner: The Odyssey – Director Christopher Nolan chronicles the epic poem by Homer, with Matt Damon as Odysseus.

July 24

Headliner: Evil Dead Burn – Sam Raimi’s beloved zombie franchise

returns, with details thus far a secret. Grooovy.

July 31

Headliner: Spider-Man: Brand New Day – The web-slinger (Tom Holland) returns to deal with the aftermath of a world in which MJ (Zendaya) and Ned (Jacob Batalon) no longer remember him. Special guest appearances by The Punisher (Jon Bernthal) and Hulk (Mark Ruffalo)!

Aug. 7

Headliner: Fall 2 – Follow-up to the 2022 thriller once again finds people without the common sense not to get caught somewhere ridiculously high up. Also: Eli Roth’s latest highconcept horror brings new meaning to “we all scream for” Ice Cream Man; the Broken Lizard comedy team returns with more behind-the-badge goofiness in Super Troopers 3.

Aug. 14

Headliner: The End of Oak Street – Director David Robert Miller (It Follows) finds supernatural terror in the inhabitants of a suburban neighborhood (including Ewan McGregor and Anne Hathaway) discovering that their homes have been separated from the rest of their world. Also: Ronald Reagan (Jeff Daniels) and Mikhail Gorbachev (Jared Harris) try to negotiate an easing of Cold War tensions in The Brink of War

Aug. 21

Headliner: Insidious: Out of the Further – The horror franchise continues with the story of a woman who discovers the ability to bring otherworldly creatures into our reality. Also: Jason Statham kicks ass (what else) in Mutiny; gal pals (Isla Fisher, Leslie Mann, Michelle Buteau & Anna Faris) get into comedic trouble when they take a Spa Weekend

Aug. 28

Headliner: Cliffhanger – The 1993 Sylvester Stallone action movie gets a remake, with Lily James as a mountain guide trying to rescue her family from kidnappers. Also: The animation/live-action hybrid Coyote vs. Acme emerges from limbo at last; a survivor of a global pandemic (Jacob Elordi) deals with his new existence in The Dog Stars CW

2026 SUMMER GUIDE

An Alt-Patriotism Summer

Helping you celebrate America 250 with a bit of a twist.

BY SCOTT RENSHAW SCOTTR@CITYWEEKLY.NET

Let’s face it: When it comes to the idea of “patriotism,” many of us have a relationship with it that could be described, charitably, as “it’s complicated.”

That terminology has been a challenge for decades, especially during eras of social upheaval, as one speci c side of the American ideological spectrum attempted to equate progressive dissent with sedition. It has de nitely been harder over the past year-plus of the current administration, however, for some people to feel pride at how this country behaves, both in the wider world and toward its own people. A big spectacle recognizing “America 250,” and the accompanying assumption that we’ll all be waving our ags, feels pretty ill-timed. But one of the more encouraging visuals to emerge from recent

protests has been the frequent appearance of American ags. It’s an unspoken message that the Stars and Stripes don’t just belong to one political party, and that there are ways to love your country that don’t t inside one “God, guns and gold” box.

In that spirit, Salt Lake City Weekly ’s 2026 Summer Guide encourages you to have an “Alt-Patriotism Summer,” one that takes a broader view of what it can mean to celebrate America’s landmark birthday. Embrace our diverse heritage by attending an ethnic or cultural festival; support the power of artistic freedom by attending an arts festival or a theatrical production; get out into the majesty of our wonderful landscapes. From baseball to concerts to farmers markets, Americana can be a many-splendored thing.

Nobody gets to tell you whether you’re a patriot or not. Join us on a summertime journey toward a de nition of “patriotism” as sea-toshining-sea expansive as America itself.

Scott Renshaw Arts & Entertainment Editor

Mocking the Best of It

SLAC Summer Show continues a tradition of patriotic dissent through satirical art.

BY SCOTT RENSHAW scottr@cityweekly.net

The interesting thing about being an artistic rebel is that you might not even know right away that it’s what you are. For Cynthia Fleming—artistic director for Salt Lake Acting Company, as well as director and choreographer for the company’s satirical annual production, SLAC Summer Show —it was an awareness that was surprisingly long in coming.

“It was a few years ago, with everything going on in the world, I was thinking I wasn’t doing enough,” Fleming said. “Then I realized that with Salt Lake Acting Company, that’s what we’re doing. … I never articulated that that was what art was doing.”

That notion goes back, Fleming notes, to some of her favorite TV shows when she was growing up. “As a child, I was in love with variety shows, Laugh-In and The Smothers Brothers ,” she recalled. “Growing up, I never realized how political they were. Now as an adult, I realize the struggles they had, and what they did get away with, and what they didn’t.”

An awareness of the power of art to shake things up came into focus for Fleming when she was an actor touring with a production of A Chorus Line, and its ahead-of-its time portrayals of a wide range of characters.

“I did realize then how powerful theater can be—like Paul’s monologue, talking about coming out as gay,” she said. “We were playing the Bible Belt, being aware of audience reac-

tions. And we’d have sold-out audiences. For America at that time, in 1981, A Chorus Line was a really cathartic reaction; you could see yourself in at least one person.”

Still, it took some time for Fleming to fully appreciate the impact of what was then called Saturday’s Voyeur when she came to Salt Lake Acting Company, initially to choreograph that show. The show’s skewering of Utah institutions, including The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was also, like A Chorus Line, initially based on real-life stories, much of it from a culture Fleming—who grew up in Utah, but not as a member of the church—had to learn to understand.

“At rst, this was just a job, guring out the choreography,” she said. “Every time I would learn about all the Mormon references, I would have to learn just enough to gure it out and choreograph the piece. … Then, when I heard the history, I was surprised by the audience responses. I think art that comes from real-life stories is really powerful.”

A few years ago, Saturday’s Voyeur gave way to the SLAC Summer Show. But the format still continues the tradition of a musical revue with topical references to both local and national current events. The 2025 version, opening in June, bears the subtitle The Gaslight Zone, and takes as its inspiration several episodes of the classic TV series The Twilight Zone —which creator Rod Serling often used as a vehicle for delivering social commentary.

Directing a satirical show is a particular creative challenge, and Fleming talked about asking the actors to “lift what’s on the page.”

“Some of it is heavy lifting, and some of it is light lifting,” she said. “But they have to know what they’re lifting.”

And the essence of effective satirical art, according to Fleming, is pretty simple: It has to start with the truth.

“What makes it work is where you hit that beautiful space where it’s something we all know, but have never said out loud, but all recognize it,” she noted, “and then die laughing.”

Yet Fleming also recognizes that the harder things are in the real world, the harder it can be

to navigate the space between acknowledging hard things and nding humor in them.

“This year was really challenging for the writers,” she said. “You have to go to the dark place before you can bring light to it. There also has to be that element of fun. If it’s not handled right—and I’ve experienced it on the SLAC stage—it can go into that horrible dark edge where you don’t want it to go.”

It’s still not easy for Fleming to think of satirical dissent as an act of patriotism, because as she put it, she is “100 percent confused by that word.”

“It has been so misconstrued, and used as a weapon,” Fleming remarked. “What really has saved me is the best thing you can do is take care of yourself and your community, what’s right in front of you. I hope all of us can nd the love and care this country needs, and nd

it in our communities. I’ve had friends talking about, ‘Oh I’ve got to get out of this country,’ instead of nding what’s right and making your own circle the best it can be.”

And part of that is helping create the kind of provocative art that she de nitely now recognizes can be a balm for people. “The rst time Trump was President, I had to watch Stephen Colbert every night; his humor comforted me,” she said. “Trump realizes the power of art, and he’s trying control it. This is it: Art is about our soul, and he wants to control it.” CW

SLAC SUMMER SHOW: THE GASLIGHT ZONE Salt Lake Acting Company 168 W. 500 North, June 24 – Aug. 16 saltlakeactingcompany.org

Artistic Dissent

Utah artists on using their work to celebrate presence, participation and belonging.

BY ZACH ABEND comments@cityweekly.net

This year, the Utah Arts Festival marks its 50th anniversary. For attendees, it offers more than a celebration of creativity. It’s a shared space for artists and audiences to come together to express themselves, to see and be seen, and to connect across divides.

“The magic of the festival is the ability of the community to see what brings us together,” said executive director Aimée Dunsmore. “It is quintessentially American to gather and express opinions through art.”

This kind of gathering re ects a broader idea of what patriotism can look like. It’s not just salutes and slogans, but presence, participation and belonging. In Utah, artists are exploring those ideas in ways that are often quieter, but no less powerful.

Photographer Cat Palmer (an occasional City Weekly freelance contributor) became famous for her viral, in-your-face political work, like when she had more than 100 protesters dressed in jumpsuits spell out “Go Home Trump” at the Utah Capitol, or when she photographed several hundred naked women for a piece called “Keep the Politicians Out of Our VAGINAS.”

For about 20 years, Palmer’s work was outspoken. She believes there is something “deeply patriotic about existing—that more people get to belong.”

When the pandemic started, Palmer was no longer able to work with large groups of people, so she pulled back and started doing professional headshots. “There has been a shift in the last 10 years,” Palmer said. “It’s quieter now, but there is queer joy and visibility.” In that lower-pro le, less political work, Palmer has found something she loves. “I love working with someone who wants

to be seen,” she remarked. “We are able to be seen by the photographer.”

Palmer said that photography captures an essential truth, one that cannot be duplicated by other types of media. “You can’t fake that look in the eye,” she said. “There is something powerful about visibility, especially with marginalized communities.”

There is a photo of gay icon Stormé DeLarverie taken by Diane Arbus in 1961 that Palmer nds deeply inspiring, because it preserves a moment in queer, and American, history. “Patriotism for me isn’t about blind loyalty,” she said. “It’s about loving a place enough to question it, challenge it, and push it to be better.”

In addition to visibility, patriotism means participating in your community. Kim Martinez, a Professor of Painting and Drawing at the University of Utah—as well as a self-described “political painter”—believes that we all need to examine the divisions in our country.

“We need to acknowledge the faults of our country as patriots,” she observed.

Although Martinez said she sees a hesitation among her students to express political opinions that might offend, she believes that no stories should be obscured.

SUMMER GUIDE

“Whose history are we remembering?” she asked. “As a patriot, we should be willing to listen to all history.”

For her, art isn’t necessarily about agreement. And by starting a conversation, art can address some of the divisions in our country.

“Whether you agree with it or not, it starts a conversation,” Martinez said.

For some artists, patriotism is rooted in something deeper—belonging. Nathan Eaglespeaks Sutherland, a Diné artist based in Monument Valley, noted a piece of petroglyph art he recently worked on using Navajo sandstone. He said sharing that and other works is deeply symbolic. “When you look at the petroglyphs, those are our stories, our words,” he said. “When I give that to you, it’s me giving you a small piece of our land.”

For Sutherland, that means celebrating cultures, no matter which culture you belong to. “Without the various cultures and nations, we wouldn’t have the rainbow,” he observed.

Across Utah, these ideas aren’t con ned to studios or museums. The SLC public mural movement that started in 2018 has strongly in uenced how the public consumes art, according to Shawn Rossiter, founder and editor

of e-magazine 15 Bytes. Community members have no choice but to see and absorb that art.

“Artists do a job no one might pay them for,” Rossiter said. “Ones who are political feel like they are stewards of this place.”

That visibility shapes how people experience a space. For multi-disciplinary artist John Bell, public art like the murals done in the tunnels at the Salt Lake City Airport changes the mood and helps one feel “like you’re in a community.” Bell laments how our personal opinions used to be shaped by each other, but now are “being shaped by an algorithm, alone in a room with a screen.” Human dialogue, in and of itself, is “imperative” for Bell.

The Utah Arts Festival was launched half a century ago to “bring art to the streets of Salt Lake City,” according to Dunsmore, and to make it accessible and affordable. Like any dialogue, it means different things to different people. And the artists who bring it to life make that dialogue vital. CW

UTAH ARTS FESTIVAL

Library Square/City and County Building

250 E. 400 South, June 18 – 21 uaf.org

The Widening Circle

Ethnic and cultural festivals celebrate an expansive sense of American identity.

BY WES LONG wlong@cityweekly.net

The dilemma is a familiar one: The warm months approach, your peers prepare grand excursions, but you’re either at a loss for ideas, strapped for funds, or on the losing side of routine’s inertia. (And if you’re like this writer, usually a combination of all three.) Add in the urge to do something special this year for the country’s big 250th, and the dilemma becomes a vexing one indeed.

Fret not, dear reader, for there is a solution to this scenario—one that hardly requires a person to even leave the Wasatch Front. What could be more tting to the season—and really, more American—than availing oneself of the many delightful ethnic and cultural events taking place in one’s own backyard?

“The business of patriotism is to open doors; the abuse of patriotism shuts them,” wrote Utah’s own Hugh Nibley in 1977. “Patriotism is devotion to the patria, the fatherland, one’s own people, the land of one’s birth. Thus the genius of patriotism is the sense of identi cation with others. And the greater the patriot, the wider is the circle of his familial affection.”

We here in Utah are fortunate to have so many different community groups and cultural backgrounds living together. Seeing as “summer’s lease hath all too short a date”—to quote William Shakespeare—a better and more patriotic way of lling these short months than opening doors and expanding one’s circle cannot be imagined.

MAY

To begin with, Utahns have the annual Living Traditions Festival (saltlakearts.org) to look forward to from May 15 to 17. Everything from dance and drums to powwows and puppets are part of the expansive programming taking place at the Civic Center (250 E. 400 South),

Traditions Festival

with food, art and workshops aplenty to round out the fun. Those able to make their way down south to Ephraim on May 22 and 23 will also have the Scandinavian Heritage Festival (scandifest.org) to enjoy on Snow College’s campus and its surrounding environs.

JUNE

Between June 5 and 6, the Brazilian Food Festival’s Festa Junina will take place at Braza Grill in Murray (5927 S. State), with dances, games and music to complement all the comida. June 6 will be a full day elsewhere, too: The Utah Asian Festival (utahasianfestival.org) runs from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. at the Utah State Fairpark (155 N. 1000 West), while the Festival of Colors (festivalofcolorsusa.com) gets underway at the Krishna Temple (965 E. 3370 South) from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Back at the State Fairpark, the Utah Scottish Festival and Highland Games (utahscots. org) run June 12 -14. Across those very same days will be the Latino Arts Festival (pcscarts. org) at Canyons Village in Park City, offering amazing art, food and music options.

The following weekend, on June 19, will be the sixth annual Salt Lake Juneteenth Celebration (saltlakejuneteenth.org) over at the

Gateway, as well as the Filipino Festival (IG: @ lfestut) on June 20 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Jordan Park (1060 S. 900 West).

JULY

From July 13 through the 18th, the Samoan Heritage Festival (alofafaasamoa.com) will be at Taylorsville’s Southridge Park (5051 S. 4015 West). Several events will be taking place throughout this month for the Days of ’47 celebration (daysof47.com), including music, a marathon and the annual parade.

Over at Liberty Park on July 24, the Uniting Communities Powwow, presented by the Utah Native American Chamber of Commerce (utncoc.com), will celebrate from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Finishing off the month from June 30 into Aug. 1 will be the World Folkfest (worldfolkfest.org) at the Spring Acres Arts Park in Springville. (Doors open nightly at 5:30 p.m., and tickets are required.)

AUGUST

Back at Liberty Park, two excellent events will be held during the month of August. The rst is the Utah African Festival (theuau.org) on Aug. 8 from noon to 8 p.m. It will be full of music,

dancing, fashion and family fun. The other event will be the seventh annual Indian Food Fair (indianfoodfairs.com), open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m on Aug. 15. Here, visitors will be able to enjoy the music, the crafts and, of course, the delicious cuisine of Utah’s many talented artists and entrepreneurs.

SEPTEMBER

With the summer warmth winding down, you will still have excellent options to celebrate the diverse people who lend the Beehive State its sweetest qualities.

Midway’s annual Swiss Days celebration (midwayswissdays.org) takes place over Sept. 4 and 5, while the Afro Utah Festival (afroutah. org) occurs on the 5th at the Salt Lake City Public Library.

The following weekend—Sept. 11 - 13—will be Salt Lake’s ever-delightful Greek Festival (saltlakecitygreekfestival.com), which now enters its 50th year. Closing out this remarkable run of events at the Gateway is the Italian American Civic League’s Festa Italiana (festaitalianaslc.com) on Sept. 19 and 20.

Note: Don’t sleep on the Polynesian Festival this summer, the dates of which had yet to be announced at the time of this writing.

SUMMER GUIDE

Enjoying a bite and a ballgame at the Bees’ new home in Daybreak’s Ballpark at America First Square

Out to the Ballgame

A disgruntled baseball fan’s guide to re-discovering joy, community and love of the game at the ballpark.

BY CONNOR SANDERS comments@cityweekly.net

After a particularly poignant moment in the movie Moneyball, Brad Pitt’s character poses the question, “How can you not be romantic about baseball?” The lm is supposed to be an underdog story about how the small-market Oakland Athletics used spreadsheets to build a team that could stand toe-to-toe with the ultra-rich New York Yankees. Ain’t that sweet?

But in the era of same-game parlays, AI girlfriends and the Epstein les, that all feels like BS to me. In truth, it bums me out. I was a baseball crackhead when I was a kid. I watched the Atlanta Braves on TBS every day; I worshipped Andruw Jones. But now? Baseball feels like just another distraction to keep us from thinking about what’s eating away at our society.

It’s hard not to let all of this [waves arms wildly] consume you. But in my experience, your best shot is to go outside, put your phone down and take in Utah’s natural beauty. So to try and keep the demons quiet for just a few hours, I decided to take myself out to a ballgame (with my beautiful wife) and just be for a while—in the simple present tense of the word.

At rst, I felt like a scorned lover, grousing about every little thing I saw that wasn’t “authentically baseball.” I thought I was too enlightened for the charms of the ballpark. But after a while, I came crawling right back.

I had to double-check our tickets when we deboarded from Trax, because it turned out that we didn’t have tickets to a Salt Lake Bees game after all. Apparently, we were there to watch the “Utah Dirty Sodas.” Yes, during Wednesday night home games, the Bees take on an alternate branding with the goal of—let’s be honest—selling you soda and soda-based merchandise.

As we walked into the stadium, I overheard a boy ask his father: “Dad, what is a dirty soda?” To me, that’s a perfect slice of Americana. Just a father and son trying to solve the mysteries of life at a baseball game.

It’s hard not to roll one’s eyes at the sheer Utah of it all. A massive in atable Swig cup sits proudly on the out eld promenade. Once we got to our seats, a toddler-aged girl sitting next to us kept anxiously pointing at the cup in the out eld, concerned that it would tear free from its tethers to y and attack us. A giant pink soda cup mascot called Swiggy lollygags around the con -

Continued on page 24

SUMMER GUIDE

course, taking pictures with the kids. Every space around the stadium that could possibly house an advertisement on it, does—including the foul poles.

Let’s just say I was far from swept up by the moment when we rst arrived. In fact, I was kind of pissed off. Like, I rode the train all the way out here. I’m freezing my butt off in the wind. And for what? To kneel at the altar of Utah capitalism’s nest?

Then, the national anthem started. Normally, this is another eye-roll for me. Do we really need to honor this version of America before the Dirty Sodas take the eld? Puhhh-lease.

But when I looked at the jumbotron, a girl who couldn’t have been older than 10 stood tall at home plate with the mic in hand. She absolutely rocked the anthem, and the crowd loved it. It dawned on me that, while I was whining about brand identities, this was the biggest moment of that girl’s life. It sure seemed like she was having a good time, so why couldn’t I?

My inner curmudgeon was losing the battle fast. I couldn’t help but smile to myself after the loud pop of a fastball against the catcher’s mitt echoed through the stands. When an opposing player launched a home run into the upper concourse in right eld, I let out a hearty, “WHOOO!”

An inning or two later, I sprang out of my seat in an attempt to catch a foul ball that was at least four sections away from me. I was spiraling. Heck, we even ordered two dirty sodas and a footlong hot dog.

On our way back to our seats, my wife spotted a familiar face in the crowd. As we got closer, I recognized one of my best friends from high school. When I asked him where he was sitting, he pointed to seats that were literally in the same row, four seats away from ours. Do you call that a coincidence? Or divine intervention from the baseball gods?

Seeing this friend, and taking in the rest of the game with him, truly got me out of my head. All of the absurdity of the game, which I turned my nose up at internally, was allowed to manifest between us and be viewed as the comedy that it was.

All of this to say that the nostalgic, intimate feeling of attending a baseball game isn’t quite the same as it once was. Sure, you’re taking in the nation’s pastime, but it’s evolved. A pitch clock keeps the game owing quickly. Batters and pitchers appeal to robots to challenge balls and strikes. Frickin’ Swiggy is here.

But once the pitcher locks eyes with the batter, it all goes quiet. In that moment, you—and everyone you’re there with—stop thinking about Gaza, ICE and Peter Thiel, and you focus completely on what will happen next. We enjoyed seven innings of baseball, a re ll and great conversation with an old friend. When we walked back to the Trax station, I was sad to let it all go and get back to typing at my computer for work the next day.

Now, this is far from advocating using sports as a distraction from the tragedies of real life, especially if you’re using gambling to disengage even further. Instead, I think you should bring with you all that icky, nasty stuff in your mind that makes you want to doomscroll—but bring some friends, too. The ballpark might be a good place to let go of whatever it is that’s been eating at you, and to replace it with tangible pride in the beautiful community that we have built here.

So, if you get stuck in your head, on IG or (God forbid) talking to your AI chatbot, don’t let it trap you. Get outside of yourself. Admire the greatness of other people, enjoy our state’s natural and arti cial beauty with those you love, and set aside a few hours at the ballpark to just be, simply, present. As you watch another stunning sunset and think about that girl putting her whole soul into the national anthem, maybe you’ll nd yourself asking the same question I did: “How can you not be romantic about Utah?” CW

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Midnight Train

Rediscover America’s railway legacy with a “Provo Shuffle” ride on Amtrak’s California Zephyr.

BY BENJAMIN WOOD bwood@cityweekly.net

America, and particularly the American West, was built with trains. Most of those old routes don’t carry passengers anymore, but the legendary California Zephyr—the longest route that Amtrak runs every day—stops in both Salt Lake City and Provo on its transcontinental path between San Francisco and Chicago.

This has given rise to something akin to a rite of passage among local rail fans, affectionately known as the “Provo Shu e.” And to best explain this insider hack for riding the rails, City Weekly turned to Mike Christensen, executive director of the Utah Rail Passengers Association and the state’s uno cial (and sorta o cial) train mayor.

The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

City Weekly: What is the Provo Shu e?

Mike Christensen: The Provo Shu e actually is something that I had done long before I ever heard it named the Provo Shu e. You ride FrontRunner down to Provo, hang out for a little bit in Provo, and you ride back on Amtrak’s California Zephyr, which gives you a nonstop express ride from Provo back to Salt Lake Central.

CW: Why switch to the Zephyr?

MC: It is pretty much purely out of nerdcessity. Right now, the California Zephyr is scheduled to get to Provo just after 10 p.m. and

then is scheduled to get to Salt Lake Central at 11:20. That rst time I did it, I got a really weird look from the Amtrak conductor. Now, when we’ve done it with SLURM [Salt Lake Urbanist Meetups] and we’ve had a group, we don’t get any weird looks.

A big reason why we do it is to give people who have never ridden Amtrak—especially Amtrak long-distance trains—the opportunity to experience it and go on board. We get coach seats, but we never actually sit in the coach seats because, by the time it’s coming through at 10 p.m. or so, a lot of the passengers are starting to want to go to sleep and, of course, we’re a talkative bunch. So we will go to the lounge car. Lately, we have sat at the tables and played card games while we ride.

We usually do it on a Saturday evening, because there are some later FrontRunner runs. If something happens to signi cantly delay the Zephyr, then you can always just take FrontRunner back.

CW: Does the California Zephyr ever run signi cantly delayed?

MC: Yes. I have been on it when it has been eight hours delayed.There’s one trip that I remember fondly; I actually knew that it was going to be signi cantly delayed, because they had some really bad oods along the Missouri River near Omaha. That caused one of the bridges to be uncrossable, so Amtrak was having to detour.

There can be massively delayed trains. I’ve never been on one that’s been 24 hours late, but they have been 24 hours delayed where, basically, the next train caught up to them.

When we’re going to do the Provo Shu e, we will start watching the progress of the train the day before, when it leaves Chicago. We will be tracking it through a day-and-a-half beforehand, and especially tracking it as it makes its way across Colorado and into Utah. Lately, it’s been fairly on time. In fact, I have ridden it a couple times in the last two years—just coming from Helper back to Salt Lake City—and one of those times it was actually slightly early.

CW: You mentioned a lounge car. How else is the Zephyr different from FrontRunner?

MC: Fortunately, FrontRunner does have tables, it does have toilets. I’ve been grateful for the toilets on many occasions, especially now that I’m a middle-aged man.

By that time of night [between Provo and SLC] the dining car is closed. But you can still peek in there and look. It would be one of those amenities [on longer trips].

There was one time when it was a little bit late and we were all getting a little bit sleepy. We sat down in the seats that face out toward the windows in the observation car, and we all just stared out into the darkness of the train.

It is an express trip from Provo to Salt Lake City. There are no intermediate stops, so you just blow past all the FrontRunner stations. (Editor’s note: Amtrak’s Provo station is near, but not directly at, the FrontRunner stop). You’re making a pretty good speed until you reach South Salt Lake and the Roper [rail] yard, then it slows down because Union Paci c has all the tra c slow down for the yard. You get plenty of time to leisurely gather your things together before you arrive at Salt Lake Central.

CW: What’s a good next step after someone conquers the Shu e?

MC: The next step would be [riding the Zephyr] between here and Denver. The eastbound train leaves at around 3:30 in the morning. If that eastbound schedule is not appetizing to you, I would recommend ying to Denver and staying at least one night. Then I think the Zephyr leaves from Denver at about 8:30 a.m. and gets here to Salt Lake City about 11:30 p.m.

Scenery is always subjective, but the consensus among most people is that the section between Denver and Salt Lake City—especially between Denver and Grand Junction—is probably the most scenic-packed section on all of Amtrak’s network.

One time, I was going west from Denver and was having lunch in the dining car. There was this young kid from Chicago who had just started working for Amtrak, and this was his rst time on the Zephyr. He’s there with trays full of food, and he stopped midway walking down the aisle and just stared out the window. We were almost worried he was going to drop these trays. And he says, “wow, I had no idea that stuff like this even existed.” CW

SUMMER GUIDE

Unlimited Parking

Whether it’s a national park, a state park or just a simple getaway, you can rediscover a sense of wonder in remote places.

BY DAINON MOODY comments@cityweekly.net

Our country will be as old as it’s ever been this July. It begs both questions and questioning. For one, what do you get for a 250-year-old? Two, isn’t this moment in our history di cult? Does it really feel worthy of celebration?

Still, there are places that manage to feel patriotic, albeit without the reworks and ags. Locales with earned places in history, enough years gone by to allow them a certain reverence, a quiet holiness, a long sigh. And you can gain that sense of perspective and timelessness while visiting our national parks. It’s akin to heading to the mountains and discovering you can still speak the language that only exists there, the kind that surfaces without using any words.

The parks are a solid choice to feel and observe, but rst you have to nd a way in. Ease is hardly a part of the experience.

A bizarre idea to consider: The beloved national parks we’ve grown up with, visited and formed core memories around could fade away entirely. Actually, maybe they won’t vanish —that seems too dire a prediction—but the notion they’ll become

something vastly different than what many of us have grown accustomed to is there, and has been for a while.

The parks remain a staple of road-trippers worldwide, and over 323 million people visited them across the country in 2025 alone, according to the National Parks Conservation Association. But it says nothing of how they’re being maintained, and that they risk becoming shadows of what they once were.

Funding has been cut, threatening continued park preservation. Sta ng has dropped off, too. The 2027 federal budget proposal released in April showed a $736 million reduction to park budgets, which would further strain operations, likely eliminating thousands of jobs in the process.

A couple weekends ago, I made a second unsuccessful attempt in as many years to visit a national park, mostly to see if it had become any easier. The last time I failed to gain entry was at Capitol Reef National Park. This time around, my friend Chris and I opted to pay our respects to Canyonlands. After all, we were just around the corner.

Unfortunately, a lot of others had the same idea. Once we learned we’d have to wait a half hour to gain entry, we opted to take a quick U-turn. We’d try our luck at Dead Horse Point State Park instead.

State parks are under threat for many of the same reasons our national parks are. Funds are dwindling and drying up, but the demand to experience them has not.

On a Sunday afternoon with a looming thunderstorm, however, it was hardly overcrowded. The entire experience could even be described as pleasant. From the three-miles-thereand-back hike along a towering ridge to stare at postcardquality sights to helping wide-eyed tourists capture photo keepsakes, I’d do it again. Same park, even.

Sometimes, it’s not just about the natural sights, either. I saw a man wrapped in a tallit stand overlooking the 2,000-foot drop to the Colorado River while his wife took the opportunity

to breastfeed their child on a nearby bench—and it, too, was a quick blip to hold onto, a scene in need of an unwritten movie.

As we strolled back to our truck, the thunderstorm arrived rst. With it came the winds trying to grab hats. And the heavy fog. The drop in temperature. And running. And laughter. All of it was a thrill.

Not long ago, I asked my former bandmate Ed to share his thoughts on national parks, and he helped me gain a positive perspective. I knew he’d have one.

More than a couple of decades ago, we visited a lot of aweworthy spots together, even camping a couple hundred feet from the Havasupai waterfalls in Arizona. He’d connect with his surroundings as we arrived by licking any semi-clean sunwarmed red rock he could nd, and he kept an old beat-up copy of Desert Solitaire on our camping treks to read aloud from or to pass the downtime.

Yes, our parks are threatened, he agreed. Maybe they needed to build more to meet the demand, he said: “At the same time, part of me likes the masses being drawn to certain places, leaving others in a state of solitude. That’s my main reason for going.”

Ed spoke the truth. There’s still a lot of beauty in this state. Often, it’s just a few miles from the bigger, better-known parks charging hefty admission fees. The harder they are to gain access to, the more chances you have of completely bottoming out, the more quiet you’re able to enjoy.

I took a trek to Moab in April that allowed a dozen of us to enjoy a spot within the red rock countryside so remote, we had just one surprise visitor on an ATV in three days. It took a while to get to sleep my rst night there, and I think I know exactly why: In my tent, the silence was deafening. Phones didn’t work. No late-night coyote howls, even.

That took getting used to. Staring up at stars and getting lost in thoughts, though, cares faded fast away. I felt lucky. CW

SUMMER GUIDE

Punk A.F. (As Farming)

Celebrating the independent vision of hyper-local food, plus local farmers markets.

BY AIMEE L. COOK comments@cityweekly.net

As America celebrates its 250th birthday this summer, meet a unique kind of patriot: the urban farmer. Leaders like Aldine Grossi, aka “Al Strychnine”—once a recurring face in Salt Lake’s punk-rock scene— are showing that real independence starts in our own neighborhoods, with hands in the dirt and seeds in the ground.

Grossi’s story is something of a local legend. In the ’80s and ’90s, he played in several punk bands, including Maimed for Life and Poisoned Idea. Today, however, people in Salt Lake City know him as the Punk Rock Farmer, a name given to him by his longtime friend and KRCL radio co-host Lara Jones. Together, they started Punk Rock Farmer Fridays, where they share stories and tips about growing food at

home and encourage the do-it-yourself spirit in every garden row.

“I have always been a homesteader and grown stuff,” Grossi said. “And it is very punk rock to grow organic food within the city limits and feed people the best food you can.”

That punk attitude—which is anti-corporate, anti-consumerist and ercely DIY—lives on in every tomato plant and row of escarole that Grossi grows. The movement for local food, food sovereignty and community gardening is just as rebellious and independent as punk ever was.

This season, you’ll nd Grossi at The Farm in Millcreek, where he works an acre-and-a-third with a partner. He’s also at the Millcreek Farmers Market (when abundance provides) and the Downtown Salt Lake Farmers Market, where urban farmers trade stories, seeds and plenty of neighborhood pride.

The Punk Rock Farmer also supplies fresh produce to local restaurants like Roux, Facil Taqueria and Central 9th Market.

Farmers markets cut out bloated corporate supply chains and place power rmly back into neighborhood hands. In 2026, as the nation re ects on a quarter-millennium of liberty, that erce spirit of self-reliance is alive and kicking in Utah.

During World War II, “victory gardens” symbolized self-su ciency and solidarity, with neighbors banding together to grow their own food. Much like the victory gardens of the past, these modern urban farms embody resilience and communal effort.

Grossi noted that urban farming is not just a weekend hobby. It is a gritty, hands-in-the-

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Continued from page 30

ground commitment to feeding the community and defying the concrete sprawl of city life.

“The history behind the food means a lot to me; I am Italian,” Grossi said. “The food that people hold tight to, their traditions and culture, those are the things I really like to grow.”

This summer, the frontlines of this agricultural rebellion are the local farmers markets. These weekly gatherings are far more than just places to grab a quick bundle of kale. They are the community squares of the modern era. Every dollar spent at these stalls is a direct investment in local resilience.

As Grossi put it: “Eat loud, eat local. Be part of the agricultural revolution.”

Grab a reusable bag, head out and join the local food revolution. Here’s your guide to the markets that are keeping us wild, well-fed and independent this summer.

Wheeler Historic Farm

All the charm of a working farm with the added bonus of the market on Sundays. Find crafts, fruit, honey, baked goods and more.

Wheeler Farm

6351 S. 900 E.

May 17 - Oct. 11

Sundays, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Downtown Farmers Market

Salt Lake’s longest-running summer tradition takes place on Saturdays and supports local farmers and producers by offering a large variety of fresh fruits, vegetables, grass-fed beef, locally-made baked goods and other culinary goods.

Pioneer Park

June 6 – Oct. 24

Saturdays, 8 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Park Silly Sunday Market

The Park Silly market takes place on select

Sundays on Park City’s Historic Main Street. Lining the street, you will nd artisans, local

foods, jewelers and local products. Note: this is a street festival, not a farmers market.

Historic Main Street

June 7 – Sept. 27

Sundays, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Daybreak Farmers Market

The Daybreak Farmers Market is a huge community hit with that neighborhood and beyond. Here you will nd small producers, organic produce, wild seafood and many other vendors creating leather goods, pottery and more.

11274 Kestrel Rise Road

June - October

Saturdays, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Millcreek Farmers Market

Every Friday evening this summer and fall, Millcreek Common hosts the Millcreek Farmers Market. Browse more than 40 local vendors who grow, raise and craft their goods, with an abundance of fresh produce and artisanal foods. Stay for dinner and catch live music through the SoundBites lineup. On the third Friday of each month from 6 to 8 p.m., free hands-on workshops, from quick pickling to botanical printing on paper, give you something new to learn.

Millcreek Common

1354 E. Chambers Ave.

July 10 – Oct. 30

Fridays, 5 p.m. – 9 p.m.

Murray Farmers Market

The oldest farmers market in Utah, run by the Utah Farm Bureau, this weekend market is all about the food. Whether grown by farmers or crafted by a culinarian, this is the place to get the goods.

Murray Park

296 E. Murray Park Ave

July 31 – Oct. 31

&

Summer Music Preview

An embarrassment of musical riches at festivals, seasonal series and big venues.

BY LANEY HANSEN comments@cityweekly.net

The season is changing from rain and indoor reading sessions to days spent outside at the park and long walks at sunset. But also, nights full of music, booze and lots of laughter. It’s time to kick back on the lawn, throw on your ip- ops and a sun hat and check out the summer concerts and festivals happening right here, in Salt Lake City’s backyard. From Hayley Williams to Metric to Ringo Starr, there is something for everyone.

MUSIC FESTIVALS

Utah’s festival scene is vibrant, spanning genres from classic rock to blues to dream pop. And from national recognition, local favorites and anniversaries, each festival has its own moment to shine.

Kilby Block Party, May 15 - 17

Kilby Block Party is Utah’s biggest and fastestgrowing indie music festival, going into its seventh year of production. Hosted at the Utah State Fairpark, the festival is ready to take on the crowds of early Tumblr days with headlining acts from Lorde and The xx taking the main stage. Other acts will include Hayley Williams, Magdalena Bay, Father John Misty, American Football and Feeble Little Horse, as well as local sets performed by Dad Bod, Wilbere, Gonk and Pixie and the Partygrass Boys.

The three-day weekend will also be full of fun and frenzy with a nearly sold out run.

SUMMER GUIDE

So bring on the glitter, digital cameras and near-empty sunscreen tubes. You can nd out more about the festival and get your tickets at kilbyblockparty.com

Utah Blues Festival, June 12 - 13

What could better de ne the summer vibe than a little country blues and endless banjopicking? Back for another year at the Gallivan Center, the Utah Blues Festival is proud to be in Salt Lake City with acts like Victor Wainwright & the Train and Danielle Nicole taking the stage. A two-day festival, this is bound to get your heartbeat pumping, feet tapping and smiles cheesing. The festival is a celebration of blues, keeping it alive and well in the heart of Salt Lake City. And in its 10th year, it’s proving to be doing just that. You can nd tickets online at their website at utahbluesfest.org

Fork Fest, June 12 - 13

Celebrating local tunes and Utah’s vast array of small, artistic businesses, Fork Fest is American Fork’s indie music festival. Since its 2019 revival, the festival has seen acts from local musicians like Beeson, Drusky, Cardinal Bloom, Ritt Momney, as well as national treasures like The Aquabats and The Aces. This year, Neon Trees will be headlining with supporting acts throughout the weekend from Joshua James, The Mighty Sequoyah, The Mellons, Cove Grove, Book on Tape Worm and so many others. Celebrate the summer like a neighbor and enjoy some live and local music at Art Dye Park. Find your tickets online now at their website at forkfest.org

Das Energi Festival, Aug. 7 - 9

If you’re looking for a change of pace and to share the nal days of summer with like-minded concertgoers, Das Energi Festival might be the thing for you. Hosted at The Great Saltair, this music festival is an incredible lineup of more than 100 artists in the EDM spectrum, including Zedd, Broken Hill, Westend, Me n ü and so many others. From small beginnings in 2012 as a place for EDM fans to congregate in Salt Lake, Das Energi is expanding to a threeday weekend for the rst time ever. So be the rst to experience it and nd your tickets now through their site at dasenergifestival.com More acts are to be announced.

Continued on page 36

SUMMER GUIDE

Park City Song Summit, Aug. 27 - 29

Park City Song Summit has an all-new motive for sharing music with festival goers, and your mental and physical well-being is at the forefront of all. At this neatly-curated festival, audiences can dive into the mountainside and join for yoga and other guided exercises, sharing a new listening experience with likeminded people. With an initiative for mental wellness and recovery, this music festival is one of a kind. Past years have featured sets performed by Goose, My Morning Jacket, Nathaniel Rateliff and others, with more on the way. This year’s lineup was still to be announced at press time, but you can nd more festival info at parkcitysongsummit.com .

SEASONAL CONCERT SERIES

Each summer gets a new vibe from touring bands passing through and internet trends taking over the soundwaves. And with longtime concert series from Red Butte Garden to new additions like the Music Elevated State Tour, you might just nd your new favorite band, song or friend.

Red Butte Garden Concert Series

As the sun sets, glazing the nearby foothills with its rays, this summer will see a return of the Red Butte Garden Concert Series. Begun in 1987, the festival turns to a wide landscape of musicianship from acts such as Ziggy Marley, John Craigie, Maren Morri, Alabama Shakes, Interpol, Ani DiFranco, Jesse Wells, Toad the Wet Sprocket, The National Parks and several others. Arguably their most genre-spanning lineup in a while, this year’s slate of performers is a must for all patrons. Red Butte Garden Concert Series kicks off on May 31 and will run through September. Tickets are going fast, so be sure to get yours through their website at redbuttegarden.org/concerts

Catch Suki Waterhouse during Salt Lake’s Twilight Series

Ogden Twilight Series

For over a decade, Ogden Twilight has redened how Utahns listen to music with artists spanning the folk, EDM and indie spectrums, diversely curated for audiences in Downtown Ogden to enjoy. Going into its 11th year, Ogden Twilight is back for another round with headlining acts Gregory Alan Isakov, Wet Leg, So Tukker and several others. Ogden’s summer concert series kicks off on June 9 and will continue into early October. Several shows are sold out, but you can still nd tickets online at their website at ogdentwilight.com/lineup

Salt Lake Twilight Series

Beginning in the middle of July, the Salt Lake Twilight Series brings audiences an eclectic mix of music, with headline sets performed by Old Crow Medicine Show, Suki Waterhouse, MUNA and others. Hosted at two venues in downtown Salt Lake City—Library Square and the Gallivan Center—the Salt Lake Twilight Series has long been a must-see event for music fans up and down the Wasatch Front. Tickets are almost sold out, but you can nd yours now at their website: 24tix.com/p/twilightconcert-series.

Utah Symphony & Opera Music Elevated State Tour

For the rst time ever, and in celebration of the nation’s 250th anniversary, the Utah Symphony and Opera will be taking their season on tour around the state. Beginning June 30, they’ll travel to cities starting in Wellsville and ending in Bryce Canyon, performing outdoor concerts for all patrons in the surrounding area. Acts will include scores by John Williams, Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein and more. Find a city near you on their website at usuo.org/ music-elevated-state-tour/. Tickets are free and an RSVP is strongly encouraged.

Continued on page 38

OTHER SUMMER CONCERTS

Major concert venues like the Eccles Theatre, Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre and Maverik Center open up their stages for touring musicians to play for large audiences and fan bases. Happening all summer and continuing year-round, fans of all types can enjoy their favorite artist on home turf.

Live at the Eccles

Every year, the Eccles Theatre on Main Street hosts a downtown summer concert series with bands traveling to Salt Lake from around the world. And this year, there are some big names and comebacks performing in the Beehive State. Utah audiences can enjoy sets performed by some of the industry’s most beloved stars, like the Indigo Girls and Ringo Starr. And along with the music come renowned Broadway touring acts and comedians from all spectrums of entertainment. If that sounds like something you’re looking for or need an excuse to escape the summer heat, Live at the Eccles has the solution for you. Find music and ticket info through their website at live-atthe-eccles.com/.

Sandy Amphitheater

Bring on the summer nostalgia and join Sandy Amphitheater for its summer concert series. Bringing classic touring bands like ZZ Top and Cheap Trick plus newer acts to the stage, the amphitheater has something for all audiences to look forward to. With additional dates for acts like Metric, Watchhouse and Death Cab For Cutie, you’ll want to come prepared with a shoulder to lean next to and old annels at the ready. Starting May 30, early summer evenings are curated for millennials and the cool dads in your neighborhood. You can nd your tickets at sandyamp.com.

Utah First Credit Union

Amphitheatre

In the shadow of the Oquirrh Mountains, Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre (previously USANA) is coming back this summer with an A-list lineup to send you back to the year 2000. From Pitbull, Kid Cudi and Hilary Duff to Evanescence, 311 and Jack Johnson, the amphitheatre’s summer concert series is curated perfectly for your high school Pinterest board. Get in on the memories now, nd a group to dress up for and head out for an evening of hit tunes. You can nd out more about each show and get tickets at utah rstamp.com .

Maverik Center

The Maverik Center may not be hosting Grizzlies hockey games, but it will continue its concert series, featuring bands like The Avett Brothers, Joji, Olivia Dean, Weezer and so many more. From internet sensations to reunion tours, the Maverik Center has it all. Find out more about the concert series and tickets at maverikcenter.com

Onstage Ogden

If you’re interested in classic mountain town music, Ogden is the place for you. Along with the Ogden Twilight Concert Series, the Ogden Amphitheater will feature sets performed by local and touring musicians—including Shawn Colvin & Marc Cohn, Blind Boys of Alabama and Steep Canyon Rangers—hosted by Onstage Ogden. Each show will take you away into the acoustic sounds of the mountainside. If summer begins to drag and you nd yourself needing something to unwind and let go of the workday blues, Onstage Ogden has it covered with ne backseat listening. The series features shows year-round. For more information and to nd tickets, you can visit their website

SUMMER GUIDE

Festival Fare

A full-range of multi-day celebrations from one end of the state to the other.

BY SCOTT RENSHAW scottr@cityweekly.net

Beyond the events already showcased, Utah summers are generally lled to bursting with big multi-day events around which you can plan a weekend (or sometimes even a week). Here are just some of the things you can put on your summer activities calendar.

Soldier Hollow Sheepdog Classic (May 22 – 25): Every year, the gorgeous hillsides of Midway become the venue for an event that feels pulled from another time, as dog handlers from around the world showcase their long-distance commands, guiding sheep through gates and into pens in a remarkable display of human-animal connection. Four days of competition lead up to the nals on Monday, but all four days also feature a variety of family-friendly activities, including dog agility displays, animal encounters, bagpipe performances, face-painting, sheep-shearing and more. All this, plus product and food vendors, including the Bohemian Beer Garden. Tickets are $18 - $24, with family pass options. Visit website for full schedule. 2002 Soldier Hollow Lane, Midway, soldierhollowclassic.com

Utah Pride (June 6 – 7) & SLC Pride (June 27 – 28): Having more than one local Pride celebration doesn’t need to be a competition; it’s just evidence of how strong a presence the LGBTQ+ community has here. The Utah Pride Festival kicks things off on the rst weekend of June with a Saturday rally and march, youth dance and the opening of the festival, with the annual parade taking place on Sunday. The relative newcomer SLC

Pride festival closes out the month at The Gateway with live performances and a full roster of vendors, and an open invitation for community members to participate in the Saturday evening Variety Show. Details for both events can be found at their respective websites, utahpride.org and slc-pride.org

Utah Festival Opera & Musical Theatre (June 12 – July 11): You don’t need an excuse to visit the lovely Cache Valley, but the theatrical festival hosted in Logan each summer offers a good one. The 2026 season of shows includes 1776 , The Last Five Years , Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat, The Pirates of Penzance and the one-act double-feature Scalia/Ginsberg: Trial By Jury. Each season also includes special events like the Late-Night Cabaret and silent movies at the newly-renovated Utah Theatre (with Wurlitzer organ accompaniment). Tickets range from $20 - $75 based on venue and performance, with “build your own season” packages also available. Ellen Eccles Theatre / Utah Theatre, Logan, utahfestival.org

Utah Shakespeare Festival (June 18 – Oct. 3): Cedar City’s pride and joy, the annual Shakespeare Festival offers a chance to experience some of the greatest plays ever created in the English language, in a setting that’s not too far from what Elizabethan audiences knew. The outdoor Engelstad Theater provides the venue for this season’s offerings of Hamlet, Twelfth Night and Troilus and Cressida, while the indoor theaters also include productions of See How They Run , She Loves Me, Something Rotten, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and The Book Club Play. Beyond the shows themselves, you can take backstage tours, learn more about the shows in seminars and orientations, or catch free shows on the green. Tickets begin at $20 for the Shakespeare shows. Visit the website for full schedule and ticketing. Various Cedar City venues, bard.org

City Weekly Utah Beer Festival (TBD): At press time, CW publisher Pete Saltas offers the following update: “ City Weekly normally hosts the Utah Beer Festival every August. This year may be a little different. After the 2023 storm evacuation, the 2024 liquor violation, and whatever 2025 was, we must focus

on structuring the event to bene t City Weekly, our attendees and participating vendors alike. We don’t know exactly what we will do with the festival and now we’re on the clock. We may do a beer tour in support of our local breweries, we may do a summerfest style event, but at this point, we’re not 100% sure of the direction. Stay tuned here and on our newsletters for any updates.”

Timpanogos Storytelling Festival (Sept. 10 – 12): For more than 35 years, ever since it was launched as a fundraising initiative for the Orem Children’s Library, the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival has been a local celebration of the art of sharing stories orally. In 2026, a dozen gifted, award-winning storytellers from all over will gather at Thanksgiving Point’s Ashton Gardens, along with magicians, musicians and other live entertainers. Special categories include “Bedtime Stories” for younger children, and “Shivers” for those who enjoy a welltold scary tale. For those unable to attend in person, an online version of the festival will be available beginning in October for three months. Event tickets are $35 - $55 single-day for Friday and Saturday, $45 - $75 full event, with special “sneak peek” Thursday rate. 3900 Garden Dr., Lehi, timpfest.org

FanX Salt Lake (Sept. 24 – 26): Thousands of fans ll the Salt Palace annually for our local showcase celebrating pop-culture fandoms. The big draw, understandably, is the roster of guests from the worlds of movies, television, comics, video games, animation and books, with the (at press time) announced guest lineup including Helen Hunt, Giancarlo Esposito, Juliette Lewis, Alan Tudyk, Amy Smart, Keith David, Jodi Benson, Paige O’Hara and Brandon Mull. Whether you go all-out with your favorite cosplay or come as you are, you can check out guest showcases, roam the vendor oor, visit the gaming area, buy original art or attend the topic panels with experts in a wide range of subject areas. Tickets start at $20 per day, with multi-day and VIP options; autographs and photos are extra. 100 S. West Temple, fanxsaltlake.com CW

SUMMER GUIDE

Summer Visual Arts

Queer Spectra Arts, Park City Arts Festival, Craft Lake City DIY Fest, Urban Arts Festival and more.

BY GENEVIEVE VAHL comments@cityweekly.net

MAY

Queer Spectra Arts Festival 2026: Troubling the Lines May 14 - May 16

Sorenson Unity Center (1383 S. 900 West) Representing a broad range of queer narratives outside of the mainstream discourse, this three-day festival spotlights a variety of voices, backgrounds, experiences, cultures, mediums to celebrate queer artistic expressions. The festival is donation-based and features a wide array of events and activities across the three days. Workshops, discussions, keynote conversations, gallery receptions, interdisciplinary performances, dance parties and artist panels with artists of all identities will bring queer voices to the fore, creating queer community rooted in the arts. This year marks the 8th annual iteration of the festival, themed as “Troubling the Lines.”

Living in Time with Light Panel Discussion

May 14, 7 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. Utah Museum of Contemporary Art (20 S. West Temple)

JUNE

Explorations by Sophia Esterman, opening reception

June 3, 5:30 p.m. - 7 p.m.

Exhibit runs from June 1 - 27, 2026 at the Marmalade Branch Library (280 W. 500 North)

Leicester Productions

Student Fellowship Showcase

June 5, 6 p.m. - 8 p.m.

Main Library Auditorium (210 E. 400 South)

Leicester Productions is a non-pro t organization based in Salt Lake City that supports local lmmakers to create documentaries about their communities.

“We are intensely focused on showing how incredible our city is,” Leicester’s website states. “And if the lake dries up and we all die, then our work will be proof to the aliens that not everything was terrible.”

This event will present two works from Leicester Productions’ Student Fellowship Program, which supports early-career lmmakers and journalists in sharing short documentaries on local stories, followed by a Q&A with the lmmakers.

Fisher

Art Market

June 10, 6 p.m. at Fisher Brewing (320 W. 800 South) and every second Wednesday from April through September, 21+ with a valid ID When local artists customarily sought a beer after selling at nearby markets, many came to Fisher for a chat and to wind down from the hullabaloo of selling their goods. The Fisher staff asked if the artists would ever be interested in hosting a market at Fisher itself, and thus the Fisher Art Market was born.

With a rotating cast of artists tabling the event, a variety of local and handcrafted goods will be set up in Fisher’s newly renovated event space at the west-side brewery, selling items ranging from soap to ceramics to leather goods and prints.

Every year, the market partners with a local non-pro t to help promote and raise money for them; this year, vendor fees will be donated back to the Food Justice Coalition, which supports food security through free nutrientdense meals and food sovereignty education and advocacy.

Support your local artists and their market to support the larger community!

IN THIS MANILLA ENVELOPE THE RESULTS OF MY INSANITY, paintings by Isaac Cuevas, opening reception June 17, 5 p.m. - 6 p.m. at Day-Riverside Branch Library (1575 W. 1000 North) Exhibit runs from June 8 - Aug. 7, 2026

Utah Arts Festival

June 18 – 21 at Salt Lake City’s Library Square (210 E. 400 South). See page 18.

The All-State Utah High School Art Exhibition, opening reception

June 20, 4 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Main Library Gallery (4th oor, 210 E. 400 South)

Exhibit runs June 18 - July 24

The Salt Lake Public Library, in partnership with Utah Arts Festival and sponsored by Springville Museum of Art, hosts the All-State Utah High School Art Competition on the 4th oor of the Main Library downtown. The show is a part of Utah Arts & Museums’ Traveling Exhibition Program, giving students a professional experience in applying for the juried competitions that await in their future after high school. Springville Museum of Art also awards an outstanding arts educator from a Utah high school for their dedication to their students and craft. The competition is open to 11th and 12th grade students from both public and private high schools throughout the state of Utah.

Flowerhood Chapter of Life, photos by Lisa Zamora, opening reception

June 29, 6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. at Glendale Branch Library (1375 Concord Street)

Exhibit runs from May 29 - July 3, 2026.

JULY

52nd Annual Utah Quilt Show

July 18 - September 26

Springville Museum of Art (126 E. 400 South)

The Spring Salon shan’t be the only event that brings you to the Springville Museum of Art. The 52nd Annual Utah Quilt Show is a juried exhibition of exclusively quilts—of all sizes and colors, techniques and styles by some of Utah’s most re ned quilters. From traditional patterns to contemporary designs, the show highlights exceptional artistry, intricate stitching and beautiful detail that re ect the diverse voices and stories of our quilting community. In partnership with Utah Valley Quilt Guild and with support from Corn Wagon Quilt Company, this event draws quilters and ber artists alike. The hanging tapestries and geometric symbology of the craft clearly has not lost its cultural impact over the centuries.

2026 Ogden Arts Festival

July 18 & 19, 11 a.m. - 8/6 p.m.

Ogden Union Station (2501 Wall Avenue, Ogden) Featuring more than 100 local and regional artists both inside and outside of Ogden’s historic Union Station, the Ogden Arts Festival will feature works across a wide range of mediums. The festival is designed to highlight Ogden’s creative community, economy and spirit while giving a platform to artists to connect with their audiences and share their work. Live music and local food vendors will make the atmosphere of the event, while family-friendly activities will engage everyone in attendance. Take the FrontRunner from Salt Lake and you only have an eight-minute walk south to reach the event. Bring your bike and it will take no time at all!

AUGUST

Craft Lake City DIY Festival

Aug. 7 - 9

Utah State Fairpark (155 N. 1000 West)

Hosted at the Utah State Fairpark, it’s not Kilby Block Party or the state fair: It’s the 18th annual Craft Lake City DIY Festival. Craft Lake City hosts the event with their mission to elevate Utah’s creative community through year-round programming. Presented by Harmons, the DIY Fest is Utah’s largest local-centric art, music, science and technology festival, celebrating all things handmade in Utah. There will be more than 500 local artisans, including vintage vendors, foodies, youth entrepreneurs, performers and STEM exhibitors. This is a ticketed event that will be held both inside and outside of the buildings on the Fairpark grounds, so dress accordingly.

2026 Park City Kimball Arts Festival

Aug. 7 - 9

Historic Main Street (Park City)

Started in the patchouli-scented bygone era of 1969, the Kimball Arts Festival has evolved while maintaining its open-air celebration of the arts along the historic Main Street in Park City. The local philanthropist and eponymous Bill Kimball, who helped bolster this festival, went on to make a more permanent home in the city for Park City arts with the Kimball Arts Center. The aim of such effortsd was to imbue Park City—already a bustling ski resort during the winter—with cultural offerings in the summer months. Now in its 57th year, the Kimball Arts Festival in partnership with Park City Municipal Corporation is Utah’s longest running visual arts festival, creating a dynamic outdoor promenade of art with activities for all ages and local food vendors along the way.

Urban Arts Festival

Aug. 22, 12 p.m. - 10 p.m.

The Gateway (400 W. 200 South)

Hosted on Rio Grande Street within The Gateway, the 16th annual Urban Arts Festival will bring together more than 100 artists across many disciplines showing their works in the dog days of summer. Hosted by Utah Arts Alliance, it’s the largest free community arts festival in Utah. “Rooted in the social and cultural life of the community, Urban Arts Festival provides a platform for cultural art, music and performance,” per the website. There will be art vendors and demonstrations, low-rider exhibits, family-friendly activities and more! This one-day event should not be missed.

Contemporary Portraiture, a photo exhibition opens at Springville Museum of Art Aug. 26 at Springville Museum of Art (126 E. 400 South, Springville) CW

Eat, Drink and Be Educated

The

Natural History Museum of Utah’s celebration of local food is

upon us once more.

BY ALEX SPRINGER comments@cityweekly.net @captainspringer

TChocolate: The Exhibition continued to evolve over the years until it eventually became the Utah Food Festival. These days, the event pulls from an even more diverse pool of local growers and food experts— and yes, chocolate is still very much on the table. As always, admission to the event includes admission to the Natural History Museum, so if it’s been a while since you’ve broadened your mind, this weekend is a good time to check back in.

hough taking a vested interest in where our food comes from used to simply be a way of life, these days it’s becoming more and more punk rock. Reeducating ourselves about what is and is not possible in our local environment is less of an exercise in common sense, and more about self-preservation.

Perhaps this is why the Natural History Museum of Utah’s (nhmu.utah.edu) annual Utah Food Fest has become such a celebrated local event. Two days of local food vendors, community-based workshops and hands-on learning will be once again available to the public on May 16 and 17.

The Utah Food Festival as we know it today evolved from an event hosted in 2014 called Chocolate: The Exhibition. It as here that the useu first shocased Utah’s local chocolate scene, and the event’s programming featured workshops hosted by Matt Caputo of Caputo’s Market & Deli, and a panel of local chocolatiers including representatives from Amano Chocolate, Solstice Chocolate and Chocolate Conspiracy. I remember visiting this event, and the cohesion between learning about chocolate before one indulges and enjoying it was a fascinating bedrock upon which to build a festival.

In keeping with the tradition of Chocolate: The Exhibition, the Utah Food Festival does include local vendors and plenty of great things to eat and drink. Its primary function, however, is to help locals learn about the food we produce locally—and even how to produce some of that food on one’s own.

Program Coordinator Lydia Hall took a moment to discuss this year’s programming with me, and the Utah Food Fest sounds like it’s shaping up to be packed with great participants.

“This year, we’re going to be learning all about how to cook with foraged plants along the Wasatch Front, how to make the per ect cup o coffee and e e en ha e a workshop about how to make a perfect caramel apple,” Hall said.

As coordinator, Hall is in charge of arranging the Utah Food Festival’s workshop programming, and this year the event will feature six workshops each day of the festival. The Salted Roots host a presentation about creating a custom salt blend for one’s home cooking needs; Mountain Born Creamery will be teaching attendees how to churn their own butter; and Tea Grotto will be sharing tips about brewing loose leaf tea, along with a guided tasting session.

I also had the chance to chat with Brandy Fowers, owner of The Farmhouse At Sacco’s, who will be both operating a vendor stand and conducting work-

shops at the festival. This will be the first ti e o ers and he ar house t Sacco’s will be participating in the Utah Food Festival, and she is hoping to help people learn more about taking advantage of CSAs. “I’m mainly looking forward to educating people,” Fowers said. “If you’re not growing your own food, get the freshest food you can locally; that way, we can keep the money in our state and support the person who is most likely your neighbor.”

Those who perhaps can’t make it to this year’s Utah Food Festival should absolutely start following The Farmhouse At Sacco’s on Instagram (@farmhouse_at_ saccos) for some everyday locavore tips and tricks. “We educate you on every single supplier we have, we do background checks on the people we have,” Fowers noted. “My big call to action would be to follow what the Farmhouse is doing and check out our events.”

For those who are interested and able, Hall recommends getting tickets in advance. “Workshop admission also includes admission to the festival, and it also includes admission to Bug World which is going on right now,” Hall said.

As someone who is always trying to improve my shopping and dining habits, I’ve come to appreciate events like the Utah Food Festival. With all the day-today chaos that seems to be piling up on our doorsteps, taking the extra time to deliberate over the food we’re eating can often fall by the wayside.

It’s frustrating for those of us who want to be a bit more responsible and sustainable to feel somehow forced into making unethical decisions. The practical tips and tricks available at the festival offer so e great insights into ho e can do the best we can with what we have— and it turns out that we have a lot more than we may have thought. CW

2 Row Brewing

73 West 7200 South, Midvale 2RowBrewing.com

On Tap: Elder Berry - Fruited Blonde Ale

Avenues Proper 376 8th Ave, SLC avenuesproper.com

On Tap: White Out - White Stout

Bewilder Brewing

445 S. 400 West, SLC BewilderBrewing.com

On Tap: Pink Boots - Pink Pony Pilz

Bohemian Brewery

94 E. Fort Union Blvd, Midvale BohemianBrewery.com

NEW Releases: Kölsch, Dusseldorfer “Alt” Bier

Bonneville Brewery 1641 N. Main, Tooele BonnevilleBrewery.com

On Tap: Peaches and Cream Ale

Chappell Brewing

2285 S Main Street Salt Lake City, UT 84115 chappell.beer

On Tap: Pie Hole - Strawberry Rhubarb Tart Ale

Craft by Proper

1053 E. 2100 So., SLC properbrewingco.com

On Tap: El Hefe - Hefeweizen

Desert Edge Brewery

Helper Beer

159 N Main Street, Helper, UT helperbeer.com

Hopkins Brewing Co. 1048 E. 2100 South, SLC HopkinsBrewingCompany.com

On Tap: Pico Rico

Kiitos Brewing

608 W. 700 South, SLC KiitosBrewing.com

On Draft: Bliss IPA (Extremely Small Batch)

Kiitos Brewing Sugar House 1533 S. 1100 East, SLC KiitosBrewing.com

On Draft: Bliss IPA (Extremely Small Batch)

Level Crossing Brewing Co. 2496 S. West Temple, South Salt Lake LevelCrossingBrewing.com

On Tap: Nitro Sinday Pale Ale

Level Crossing Brewing Co., POST

550 South 300 West, Suite 100, SLC LevelCrossingBrewing.com

On Tap: Helles Munich Pale Lager

Moab Brewing 686 S. Main, Moab TheMoabBrewery.com

On Tap: “Big Drop” West Coast Pilsner

Mountain West Cider

Proper Brewing Moab 1393 US-191, Moab properbrewingco.com

On Tap: Concerning Hops - West Coast IPA

Red Rock Brewing 254 So. 200 West RedRockBrewing.com

On Tap: Gypsy Scratch

Red Rock Fashion Place 6227 So. State Redrockbrewing.com

On Tap: Grand Bavaria

Red Rock Kimball Junction 1640 Redstone Center Redrockbrewing.com

On Tap: Bamberg Rauch Bier

RoHa Brewing Project 30 Kensington Ave, SLC RoHaBrewing.com

On Tap: Bramble Brown

Roosters Brewing Multiple Locations RoostersBrewingCo.com

On Tap: Hibiscus Sour

SaltFire Brewing 2199 S. West Temple, South Salt Lake SaltFireBrewing.com

On Tap: Huckleberry Blonde Ale

Salt Flats Brewing 2020 Industrial Circle, SLC SaltFlatsBeer.com

On Tap: OPEN ROAD SERIES

273 Trolley Square, SLC DesertEdgeBrewery.com

On Tap: Edge’s Special Bitter ESB

Epic Brewing Co.

825 S. State, SLC EpicBrewing.com

On Tap: A rotation of 8 new draft beers!

Etta Place Cidery

700 W Main St, Torrey EttaPlaceCider.com

On Tap: 435 Hopped Cider, Pineapple-Passion Fruit Session Mead

Fisher Brewing Co.

320 W. 800 South, SLC FisherBeer.com

On Tap: A rotation of up to 17 Fresh Beers!

Grid City Beer Works

333 W. 2100 South, SLC GridCityBeerWorks.com

In a Can:Extra Pale Ale

Heber Valley Brewing

501 N. Main Street, Heber City hebervalleybrewing.com

On Tap: Yōtei - Japanese Rice Lager 5% ABV

425 N. 400 West, SLC MountainWestCider.com

On Tap: Hot Girl Summer (Pineapple Ginger Hard Cider)

Offset Bier Co 1755 Bonanza Dr Unit C, Park City offsetbier.com/ On Tap: DOPO IPA

Ogden Beer Company 358 Park Blvd, Ogden OgdenBeerCompany.com

On Tap: 11 rotating taps as well as high point cans and guest beers

Park City Brewing 1764 Uinta Way C1 ParkCityBrewing.com

On Tap: Cold Town - Cold IPA

Prodigy Brewing 25 W Center St. Logan Prodigy-brewing.com

On Tap: 3 02 Czech Pilsner

Proper Brewing/

Proper Burger 857 So. Main & 865 So. Main properbrewingco.com

On Tap: Concerning Hops - West Coast IPA

#3 - Barrel Aged Grand Cru

Scion Cider Bar 916 Jefferson St W, SLC Scionciderbar.com

On Tap: Newtown Pippin | ABV 7.40%

Second Summit Cider 4010 So. Main, Millcreek https://secondsummitcider.com On Tap: Prickly Pear Habanero

Shades Brewing 1388 S. 300 West, SLC ShadesBrewing.beer

New Batch: Raspberry Pistachio Sour Ale

Shades On State

366 S. State Street, SLC Shadesonstate.com

On Tap: Six Wheat Under Hefeweizen

Silver Reef

4391 S. Enterprise Drive, St. George SGBev.com

Squatters Pub Sugar House

2110 S. Highland Drive, SLC squatterspubs.com

On Tap: S alt Lake Brewing Co. Big U Pilsner

Squatters Pub West Valley 3555 Constitution Blvd, West Valley City squatterspubs.com

On Tap: Salt Lake Brewing Co. Acapulco Gold Mexican Lager

Squatters Pub Brewery / Salt Lake Brewing Co.

147 W. Broadway, SLC squatterspubs.com

On Tap: S alt Lake Brewing Co. Emigration Amber Ale

Strap Tank Brewery, Lehi 3661 Outlet Pkwy, Lehi, UT StrapTankBrewery.com

On Tap: “ Virgil the Guide” (Italian Pilsner); “Smiles und Sunshine” (German Leichtes Weizen)

Strap Tank Brewery, Springville

596 S 1750 W, Springville, UT StrapTankBrewery.com

On Tap: “Orange Hopsicle” Hazy Pale; “Trouble” American Sour with Mango and Passionfruit

TF Brewing 936 S. 300 West, SLC TFBrewing.com On Tap: Twelve taps and high point cans available.

Zion Brewery 95 Zion Park Blvd, Springdale ZionBrewery.com A

Talisman Brewing Co. 1258 Gibson Ave, Ogden TalismanBrewingCo.com On Tap: B erry Keller (Kellerbier); Save the Fkn Bees (Smoked Honey Kolsch)

Thieves Guild Cidery 117 W. 900 South, SLC thievesguildcidery.com NEW: Seaside CitadelPineapple and passion fruit cider with a hint of sea salt | 6.5%

Uinta Brewing 1722 S. Fremont Drive, SLC UintaBrewing.com

On Tap: Was Angeles Craft Beer

UTOG

2331 Grant Ave, Ogden UTOGBrewing.com On Tap: Bar Down IPA

Vernal Brewing

55 S. 500 East, Vernal VernalBrewing.com

BEER NERD

The Moody Brews

Ales brewed with thought and a purpose.

BY MIKE RIEDEL comments@cityweekly.net @utahbeer

Chappell - F*#K Human Trafficking: If you can’t tell by this beer’s name, this collaboration IPA pours with a sense of purpose and a whole lot of character. Brewed in partnership with the International Protection Alliance, this is more than just another hop-forward release. With $1 from every can going toward efforts to co at online child e ploitation, it’s a beer that manages to pair impact with drinkability in a meaningful way.

In the glass, it leans classic West Coast IPA right out of the gate. There’s that familiar snap: clean bitterness, a fir alt ack one and a crisp resin leaning structure. The hop bill of CTZ, Cascade-Spectrum Oil and HBC-638 sets the tone early with pine, citrus zest and a slightly dank edge. It’s assertive without being abrasive, giving you exactly what you’d expect from the style. But then things take a turn (in a good way). Mid-palate, the beer opens up into something unexpected. Those hops create a nice “Fruity Pebbles” cereal note to me; it genuinely comes through. Bright erries ashes o pineapple and la ered citrus sweetness roll in, softening the sharper edges of the bitterness without muting it. It’s a clever balance—like a nostalgic cereal note colliding with a odern hop profile

What really stands out is the restraint. Despite the saturated hop presence, it avoids veering into overly dank or terpene-heavy territory. There’s no palate atigue here ust a s ooth aor ul ride ro start to finish t 0 percent, this beer has got some weight, but it carries it well—no boozy harshness, just a warming backbone that supports the a or

Verdict: This is a thoughtfully-crafted IPA that bridges old-school West Coast structure with a vibrant, fruit-forward twist. It’s enjoyable on its own merits, but the added mission behind it gives each sip a little ore gra it Definitel worth grabbing while it’s around.

Salt Lake Brewing - Perk Up Blondie! his nitro coffee crea ale is one o those beers that locks you in from the first pour er ed e clusi el on nitro it cascades into the glass with that signature velvety surge before settling into a dense, creamy head that practically begs for a sip.

Visually alone, you know you’re in for something smooth, but the aroma seals it. Right up front, you’re hit with a beauti ull alanced coffee nose courtes o Millcreek offee Roasters t leans firl into a ediu roast profile rich and roasty, but never sharp or burnt. There’s no acrid edge, no harsh acidity, just a ar in iting coffee character that feels dialed in rather than cranked up. Take a sip, and that balance continues to shine he coffee leads ut it doesn t dominate. Instead, it settles comfortably into the beer, allowing the malt bill of two-row, oats and honey malt to do its thing. The oats bring that signature nitro softness, giving the body a pillowy, creamy texture. Meanwhile, the honey malt adds a subtle sweetness that rounds off the roast creating a har on that eels refined

What really stands out is how complete this beer feels. It’s not trying to be a pastry stout or a sugar bomb. It’s clean, smooth, and incredibly drinkable at 5.0 percent ABV. The nitro presentation elevates everything, smoothing out edges and enhancing that creamy mouthfeel ithout uting the a or

Verdict: This is creamy bliss, about as close as ou ll get in a coffee or ard ale without tipping into dessert territory. It’s the kind of beer you could easily have more than one of, whether easing into the day or winding it down—a simple concept, executed exceptionally well. ettle in or a nitro pint o this coffee cream ale, only at Squatters/SL Brewing Downtown, while F*#K Human Trafficking IPA is only at Chappell Brewing in South Salt Lake. As always, cheers! CW

BY ALEX SPRINGER | @captainspringer

Quarters Closes Sugar House Location

Right on the heels of a horrible flooding accident that hit the downtown Quarters Bar location, the popular local establishment recently announced that its Sugar House location would be closing. The announcement came via Instagram, citing difficulties with Sugar House’s seemingly endless road construction, slow summer business and skyrocketing rent prices. The location will be open until May 31, and has announced a few swan-song events featuring pop-ups from Beast From the East and D’s Dogs N’ Beefs, along with its signature Killer Queen tournaments. If it’s been a little while since you’ve played some games and downed some beers, throw a little love to Quarters this week.

STK Salt Lake Caviar Collab with Meredith Marks

Our own Real Housewife of Salt Lake City Meredith Marks released a caviar collection, and of course we all want to try it. Lucky for you, STK Steakhouse (stksteakhouse.com) in Salt Lake City will be hosting a caviar collab for the month of May. Diners can order three custom-crafted bites that feature Marks’ Diamond Ossetra Caviar—blinis, deviled eggs and a caviar-layered grilled cheese soldier. The plates are designed to be shareable, and will be on the dinner menu at STK for the rest of the month. Whether you’re a fan of Meredith Marks’ line of jewelry or simply can’t get enough of her antics on Bravo’s reality TV show, now’s a good time to check out our local celebrity’s caviar chops.

MilkShake Factory Opens in Holladay

Utah’s predilection for all things sweet and drinkable has officially summoned a new MilkShake Factory (milkshakefactory.com) into our midst. The national franchise’s second Utah location recently opened in Holladay (1920 Rodeo Walk Dr.) following the success of its first location in Pleasant Grove. As implied by the name, MilkShake Factory specializes in handspun milkshake concoctions. Its menu includes a few classics, but it’s also known for its seasonal shake rotation. MilkShake Factory also has a menu of non-dairy shakes for those who don’t roll with lactose. The MilkShake Factory menu will include its line of signature chocolates, made from recipes that date back to 1914 when the original MilkShake Factory was born.

Quote of the Week: “Don’t let the bastards get you down.” – General “Vinegar” Joe Stilwell

Easy Listening

Mono Tape Club allows for enjoying music with intentionality.

BY ARICA ROBERTS comments@cityweekly.net

Tucked in the Guadalupe neighborhood along the train tracks at 521 West and 500 N. is the newly-opened Mono Tape Club. The stereo listening room is a 21+ esta lish ent that unctions as a coffee shop da and ar night offering tapes records coffee and drinks Even though it has only been open since April 1, the club’s already attracted neighborhood regulars who have been looking for this type of space.

One of the joint-owners, Asher Seevinck, has been visiting Japan since 2017 and became obsessed with its culture.

“There’s a Japanese phrase, ‘Mono No Aware,’ which means the celebration of eeting things or deteriorating things Seevinck explained of the bar’s philosophy. The aesthetic term connects deep appreciation for a moment with the gently poignant recognition that it must end.

Mono Tape Club is intended to be a community hub, inspired by post-World War II Japanese jazz kissas which were intimate, often hidden, café-bars for dedicated listening to a records pla ed on high fidelity, custom-built audio systems. ter the ar finances ere tight not too dissimilar from what we’re experiencing now. You know everybody, everyone’s eeling the s uee e ee inck said he hope is that we can provide something that maybe you can’t quite get at home, so co e and en o this hi fi e perience here with relatively inexpensive drinks and good co unit

Jazz kissas were a way for people in Japan to hear expensive American jazz records in communal spaces. It is a stark contrast to modern streaming culture, and much

more than just background music. The kissas have an etiquette of hushed conversation where music is the focus. For example, the bar program focuses on highballs and stirred drinks, intentionally avoiding shaken cocktails to minimize noise and preserve the listening atmosphere.

hile the concept as first atte pted three-and-a-half years prior in the basement of Yoko Ramen, where Seevinck is also a co-owner, it was shut down due to a landlord issue. Seevinck—along with coowners Joel Davis, Jonathon Armstrong and Kelley Howell—made the strategic decision to have Mono Tape Club in the up-andcoming Guadalupe neighborhood based on the successful growth of other businesses, like the popular ramen spot Koyoté. And now, with the expansion of the community radio station KRCL, this area of Salt Lake City is becoming a major music hub.

At this venue, appreciating music is always at the center. The audio equipment at Mono Tape Club includes two Garrard 401 turntables, “which are like ’60s broadcast turnta les so a e a un tie into R Seevinck added.

MUSIC

The owners have been enthusiasts and collectors of cassette tapes and records for over 15 years. “We really like the idea o all ph sical edia ee inck e plained The bar’s extensive music collection was sourced from the personal collections of the four owners and also features a unique, high-end analog sound system with vintage turntables and custom-built speakers. At Mono Tape Club, there is a clear obsession ith hi fi re erring to high ualit sound reproduction that minimizes noise and distortion, aiming to replicate the original recording with high accuracy.

Other equipment includes a vintage Nakamichi 600 tape deck that runs into a rotary mixer and then into a Japanese boutique amp called a Uesugi Tap 22 6L6. All of that runs into the speakers, which are based on 1950s tech designs. Other unique features are the custom-built bass caps by local furniture studio Salted Grain and—shipped all the way from Germany— Markus Klug’s wooden, multi-cell horns made with technology used to distribute the sound as broadly and evenly as possible with consistent volume.

“I’ve been compiling and tweaking systems for a long time, and this was an e cuse to finall u so e custo horns ro Markus ee inck said

What can one expect when stepping inside Mono Tape Club? It is an intimate space with the continuous spinning of vinyl, cassettes and mixtapes curated by SLC locals, complete with a rotating menu of cocktails, beer, Scotch, Japanese whiskey and coffee ll the o ners ask is that ou come enjoy the space with intentionality.

“Please help us preserve what makes this experience special by entering softly, moving slowly and being mindful of your olu e the clu s e site states

Mono Tape Club is open seven days a eek ro a to 2 p it ser es coffee then becomes a functional bar from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. (Sunday-Thursday) and 5 p.m. to 12 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. The establishment operates under a bar license, requiring all patrons to be 21 or older.

Check out this community space and follow along on their Instagram @monotapeclub, or visit their their website by going to monoslc.com. CW

SHARK SUNDAYS

ASHPAD ONDAYS PINTS AND REE POOL!

TUESDAYS

WEDNESDAYS KARAOKE EVERY WEEKEND

BEST BAR IN UTAH!

GREAT FOOD

MUSIC PICK S

Eric Johnson @ Commonwealth Room 5/15

Ever since he broke through with his third album (1990’s Ah Via Musicom), Austin, Tex. guitarist Eric Johnson has been a prominent musical figure and a widely-admired guitar hero. From his start, Johnson wedded dazzling technique to a strong melodic sense, gaining fans along the way. His pre-fame work included a time leading Electromagnets, a fusion outfit compared to John McLaughlin’s Mahavishnu Orchestra. Once his solo career got underway, Guitar World rated his Grammy Award-winning single “Cliffs of Dover” among the top 20 greatest guitar solos of all time. Via solo albums and collaborations with fellow top-rated musicians like Joe Satriani and Steve Vai, Johnson made his name as an electric guitarist, but the Texas-born musician is passionate and expressive on acoustic as well; to date, he has released two albums featuring acoustic guitar. The seven-time Grammy nominee’s latest release is 2022’s double-album The Book of Making / Yesterday Meets Today and a digital-only companion album, Takeouts. Fronting a power trio, Johnson’s current tour is billed as Texaphonic, and features Tal Bergman on drums and Daniel Kimbro on bass. Eric Johnson comes to the Commonwealth Room on Friday, May 15 at 8 p.m. Tickets for this 21+ show are $45-$56 and can be acquired at axs.com. (Bill Kopp)

UPCOMING SHOWS

Kilby Block Party Pre Party w/ Jewel House

Wave Decay

Spencer Sanders

Jaguar Sun

DLC 5 Year Anniversary Party!

Chroma Lips

MUSIC PICK S

Baby Keem @ The Union 5/16

Hip-hop is a vital element of the 20th century music scene, and I find it very exciting when people do things just to do them—when they create, try, fail, win, lose and whatever. The one thing I find boring is fear. Fear is behind making music that everybody and their mother can get on board with, without having to think or feel anything real or unique. Baby Keem is not afraid. Whether it’s compositions made from collages of samples or hi-hats trilling along, matched with the same booming kick, Keem’s sophomore effort (Ca$ino) is an album full of interesting sounds and perspective. His cousin and mentor, Kendrick Lamar, is also a big supporter. “I was just happy to be around,” Keem told the New York Times. “Knowing that the greatest artist of all time, in my opinion, is a fan of my work and what I can do—all everything aside—that gives me the most confidence in the world.” I’m really not surprised Baby Keem went so far to become so appealing to a wider public, as he seems to be quite the unifying force (in terms of audience), and seems capable of supplying big hit singles walking his own path. Catch this artist on The Ca$ino Tour at the Union on Saturday, May 16. Doors at 7:30 p.m.; show at 8:30 p.m. As of this printing, tickets for the all-ages show are effectively sold out through standard channels. Resale tickets are still available and can be found at ticketmaster.com. (Mark Dago)

PRIDE WEEKEND AT THE PIG

THURSDAY JUNE 4 9pm Karaoke w/DJ MCK FRIDAY JUNE 5 9pm Red Shot Pony

SUNDAY, JUNE 7 • 11AM TO 9PM

ANNUAL GREEN PIG BLOCK PARTY

INSIDE

NOON-3PM 3PM-6PM 6PM-9PM

JUNE 6 9pm DJ Geovante 6PM-9PM NOON-3PM

OUTSIDE

YEECIE 3PM-6PM

MUSIC PICK S

Snail Mail @ Metro Music Hall 5/16

As part of the Kilby Block Party festivities, Snail Mail is headlining the after-party on Saturday, May 16, with Hurtado and Mei Semones supporting. Based in Maryland, Lindsey Jordan started the project in 2015 with internet hit Habit taking off in 2016. Now, 10 years later, she’s performing with big names at one of the largest indie music festivals in the nation. Ricochet is Jordan’s latest release, with hit tracks like “Tractor Beam” and “Butterfly,” taking off ahead of a tour. On her third full-length album, Jordan’s musicianship is similar to the sound of summer twilight hours when the sun meets the horizon. Listening through each track, each song has a heightened emotion attached to it that would pair perfectly with an evening of browsing through coming-of-age films, or experiencing a recent break-up. Maybe even both. With a similar indie-rock sensibility as the likes of Rilo Kiley and Soccer Mommy, she has a transformational sound reminiscent of the ’90s and early ’00s alternative music scene. Catch Snail Mail at Metro Music Hall on Saturday, May 16 at 9 p.m., sponsored by KRCL. You can also check out her set at Kilby Block Party on Friday, May 15 at the State Fair Park. Tickets are $40 ahead of the show and $42 day-of, and can be found at snspresents.com. (Laney Hansen)

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MUSIC PICK S

Lowertown @ Kilby Court 5/18

That feeling of driving your car alone at night with nothing but the headlights ahead of you? That’s what it feels like listening to Lowertown’s music. There are tones of a rural, small-town ambience to each track, sending the listener to a different world inside their head. It’s not quite dissociative, but it is equally as dreamy. Listeners may find themselves in a consistent head bob, eyes shut and music flowing through their veins like an IV was inserted upon the first strum of the guitar. And with the imagery being the reason behind the band’s popularity, it’s no wonder the music sets the listener in a dream state. Olivia Osby and Ashwha formed the duo Lowertown in 2018 in Atlanta, Ga., and have been making music ever since in New York. Gaining traction online, they are returning to Salt Lake City with an all-new setlist and album, Ugly Duckling Union to be released on May 22. Lowertown is influenced by all genres of the spectrum, mainly pulling from indie-rock, folk and experimental electronic sounds. Their music has been compared to the likes of Alex G and Phil Elverum, but they are ultimately their own. From their whimsical and adaptive imagery to the avant-garde energy they bring to the sound board, there is nothing out there like Lowertown. The duo will be at Kilby Court on Monday, May 18 at 6 p.m. Tickets are $29 ahead of the show and $32 at the door. You can find yours at snspresents.com.

(Laney Hansen)

Dethklok & Amon Amarth @ The Union Event Center 5/20

If you’ve ever seen the Adult Swim animated TV series Metalocalypse, then you know all about the fictional, larger-than-life melodic death metal band Dethklok. A band that started out as a parody evolved into an actual group with band members Brendon Small, Gene Holgan, Mike Keneally and Bryan Beller to perform the live music. The irony all along is that Dethklok actually makes high-quality music like “Detharmonic” and “Murmaider,” even if the songs are a bit satirical. Accompanying the tour is legendary Swedish melodic death metal band Amon Amarth (Olavi Mikkonen, Johan Hegg, Ted Lundström, Johan Söderberg and Jocke Wallgren). They’ve been around since the early ’90s, releasing several albums like Fate of Norns and With Oden on Our Side, and their latest album, 2022’s The Great Heathen Army. They clearly play into the “Viking metal” label often attributed to them, but their name—Amon Amarth—is technically Elvish from the name of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Mount Doom. Beat Magazine’s Kosa Monteith referred to the band’s Viking aesthetic as “almost camp or kitschy,” describing the group as geeking out about fantasy. The opener is the California-based medieval fantasy doom metal band Castle Rat.

free will ASTROLOGY

BY ROB BREZSNY

ARIES

(March 21-April 19)

When naturalist John Muir wanted to experience a storm, he climbed to the top of a 100-foot Douglas fir and rode it for hours through gale-force winds. He later reflected that the danger, in his judgment, was “hardly greater” than staying under a roof, and that the exhilaration and sensory richness justified his experiment. I’m not counseling you to be exactly like Muir in the coming weeks, Aries. Please don’t take foolish risks. However, I would love you to explore what truths are available when you put yourself in the path of intensity.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

Biologists say a teaspoon of productive soil contains billions of living organisms. These bacteria, fungi, protozoa and nematodes work in cooperative networks, generating abundance that ensures everything above ground thrives. Your immediate future has this quality. Beneath the visible surface of your life, beneficial processes are generating fertility and possibility. You don’t need to see the miracle to trust it’s happening. Your role is to have faith as you maintain the conditions that allow this mysterious abundance to do its work.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20)

I suspect you would benefit from engaging with a friendly devil’s advocate or two in the coming weeks. Your clarity and understanding will deepen in just the right ways if you converse with affectionate skeptics who like and respect you but also want to help you grow. I realize that such people may be hard to find. If you can’t locate any, you could hire one. Or do the next best thing: Argue with yourself. Entertain lines of thought that are contrary to your usual ideas. Don’t let your habitual self get away with its usual rationalizations. The benefits of this exercise will be unpredictably huge.

CANCER

(June 21-July 22)

In the Northern Hemisphere, the North Star holds a fixed place in the sky. Also known as Polaris, or the Pole Star, it hangs in almost the same spot throughout the night while other stars rise and set. Because of this steadfast presence, it has long served as a trusted marker for navigation, especially for sailors at sea. Over time, it naturally came to represent an inner compass or a guiding ideal. In your own experience, Cancerian, what serves as your symbolic North Star? What’s the steady, orienting force that helps you decide where and how to move next? Now is an auspicious moment to tend to and revitalize your bond with this central source of direction.

LEO

(July 23-Aug. 22)

In the mid 1950s, researchers developed reliable methods for creating synthetic diamonds in the laboratory. Since then, advances in technology have made it possible to grow large, high quality diamonds from small seed crystals in a relatively short time. I invite you to make this one of your operative metaphors, Leo. In the coming weeks, the forces of destiny will align with your efforts if you experiment with nurturing and expanding the parts of your life that are most like a diamond. Facilitate the development of your valuable beauty.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

Scientist Stuart Kauffman theorizes that living systems are healthiest when they operate near the “edge of chaos.” There’s a critical zone between rigid order and unstructured randomness where complexity and adaptability flourish. Too much organization creates brittle stiffness, while excessive chaos prevents coherence. Life thrives when it has some of both. I invite you to ruminate on these themes in the coming weeks. According to my edgy analysis of the astrological omens, you’re being invited to cultivate and foster your own personal “edge of chaos” territory. Your interesting task is to create sweet spots where structure and spontaneity synergize. Locate these happy places and abide there for a while.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)

Choose two small and specific ways you’re going to stop pretending. One example might be how you respond when

someone asks how you’re doing. Another may be an opinion you’ve been softening to keep the peace. Or maybe there’s a desire you’ve been downplaying because it feels impractical or too revealing. Here’s the name of this experiment: Incremental Precision Liberation. The key is to do it casually, with no melodrama or self-consciousness. If it’s successful, you could try another round in two weeks.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)

Scorpio primatologist Frans de Waal devoted years to watching chimpanzees reconcile with each other after enduring discord. He was fascinated by how they rebuilt trust through elaborate rituals of appeasement, grooming and kind gestures. Once the chimps stopped fighting, he marveled, they actively repaired their connection, which often emerged stronger than it was before the dispute. I hope you will borrow their primate wisdom in the coming weeks, Scorpio. Do your best to navigate through conflict or alienation, and then instigate generous acts of rebonding. Don’t sulk, be evasive or go silent. Be creative as you work to replenish what was damaged. The renewed relationship could be closer for having weathered the difficulties.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)

The wandering albatross harnesses the wind, enabling it to travel vast distances with minimal effort. There’s an initial effort that leads to big energy savings. The bird climbs into strong winds and then relaxes as it gets transported, surfing the air currents. I mention this, Sagittarius, because I suspect you’ve been trying too hard and working too much—unnecessarily so. Less strenuous exertion, more gliding, please! Ask yourself what flows are already streaming in your favor. Could you catch a ride on existing momentum? Here’s my advice: Figure out where life’s tides are already moving, then position yourself to get carried along.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

Ethnomusicologists studying throat singing know that Tuvan singers can produce two or more tones simultaneously. The human voice, it turns out, has the ability to harmonize with itself. Most of us never discover this because we never try. What other multidimensional capacities are you not using because you’ve never investigated them or tested their limits, Capricorn? The coming weeks are ideal for experimentation. What unexpected capacities might you get access to if you explored possibilities you’ve assumed were beyond you? You may be able to develop aptitudes and acquire gifts you haven’t discovered yet.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)

Cartographer Gerardus Mercator created his famous world map in 1569, enabling sailors to plot straight-line courses across oceans. But his technique dramatically distorts the size of landmasses. Greenland appears larger than Africa, when in reality Africa is 14 times bigger. And the truth is that every map privileges certain truths while distorting others. This is a key teaching for you right now, Aquarius. Examine the mental maps you’re using to navigate your life. Might they be hiding or warping reality in any way? Consider whether you would benefit from redrawing your inner visualizations of the wide, wild world out there.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20)

Perfectionism has increased dramatically in recent decades and young people are especially affected. But here’s the twist: The compulsion for perfection rarely leads to improved performance. It’s more likely to undermine achievement by triggering paralysis and excessive self-criticism. Now is a favorable time for you Pisceans to rebel against the trend. I encourage you to cultivate a relaxed devotion to being “good enough” as you enjoy yourself thoroughly. Do you know the difference between cheerfully seeking excellence and grimly striving for perfection? Move away from what demands your obsessive rigor and focus on what requires soulful completion.

Mountain River Partners, Inc. seeks Director of Strategic Partnerships in SLC, UT. Support volunteer & employer networks; develop & implement strategies & best practices; provide training development & support resources for volunteers; coord. communications & stakeholder engagement. Mon–Fri, 40 hrs/ wk. Bachelor’s degree or foreign equivalent in social services, science, or a related field AND 5 years of experience. Email resumes

urban LIVING

WITH BABS DELAY

Broker, Urban Utah Homes & Estates, urbanutah.com

Cooling Winds

Do you hear the wind swirling around us? From Vegas to Denver, the cooling winds of change are blowing. You may have heard that Las Vegas property owners are in trouble, but Denver’s real estate market is cooling sharply as well.

You’d be living under a rock to not have heard about how Nevadans are feeling as a result of a toxic economy, ith thousands o orkers laid off from hotels and casinos. Tourism there is dependent on a robust economy, but the market is adjusting as a result of the national economy’s squeezing many folks out of vacations.

CROSSWORD PUZZLE

ACROSS

1. 1912 movie title that idiomatically describes someone special

13. Peak on a graph (not necessarily the highest)

17. Able to donate particular particles, like rubidium and cesium

18. Bill of “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”

19. Characteristic

20. Book after Num.

21. 1998 Disney film

26. Science magazine that folded in 1998

27. Honey qty.

28. Fireplace fodder

30. Suffix with chlor-

31. Philosophical argument for faith in God

33. Neil Patrick Harris-hosted Netflix game show of late 2025

35. Back-and-forths

36. Ohm creation

37. Not a good sign

38. Orioles great Ripken

41. It’s usually under 3 and 4

43. Curvy figures

44. Hard-to-read writing

45. Settings in a book?

Home sales there fell by 8.5% last year, according to Newsweek, and the market is not seeing the crazy price jumps it had a few years back. Denver has seen similar results from the economic downtown and higher mortgage rates for consumers. Realtor.com reports that home ownership costs have risen 22% since 2022, with wages only going up 6%. Median prices last year were down almost 5% with a record high number of homes for sale (90% more for sale than the pre-pandemic years between 2016 and 2019).

According to UtahRealEstate.com, the Beehive State’s housing market is cooling from its 2021 to 2023 peak, toward a more balanced, buyer-friendly environment. There are roughly 16,000 to 17,000 homes for sale statewide, which gives buyers more choices. Howe er in entor is hard to find in so e of the more desirable areas and neighborhoods. Notices of defaults, or foreclosures, have risen, but certainly not even close to the 2008 market crash. Back then there were almost 20,000 foreclosures at any given time—now it’s more like hundreds.

Here in Utah, we’ve got a robust economy with a diverse job market. onsu er ffairs co reports that our residents are earning up to 14% more than the national median household income. Despite the drought, we have a vast landscape within our borders, hich offers an kinds o outdoor activities and draws sports and nature enthusiasts to move here. We’re family-friendly, taxes are low and there’s massive growth in many of our industries to draw workers from out of state. We’ve seen net in-migration for years, despite our rising housing costs.

According to SLRealtors.com, the fi e ost afforda le areas to li e are the Glendale neighborhood, South Ogden, Magna, West Valley and Roy. The fi e ost e pensi e areas or single families are in Alpine, Eden, Draper, Emigration and the Avenues. You know grocery prices are climbing, and gas prices went up 30 cents in the past 10 days. Well, mortgage rates are hovering in the low- to mid-6% range hich a still e afforda le for some—but the price of homes in many areas is keeping buyers out of the market. For example, I’ve been trying to find a client a three edroo t o bathroom home on the east side of Salt Lake under $500,000, and the choices ha e een less than a hand ul o fi ers and ippers gh n

47. Dreams, in Nimes

48. Divest, maybe

54. Resembled, in a way

55. Longtime Pennsylvania senator

DOWN

1. “The Human Condition” author Hannah

2. Georges who created “A Trip to the Moon” (1902)

3. Advantage, metaphorically

4. Dark hours in Dortmund

5. Legal rep.

6. Space station where Shannon Lucid is the only American woman to have stayed

7. Ab ___ (from day one)

8. Kathmandu’s country, per the IOC

9. Bioengineered food, briefly 10. More, at the cantina

11. Way off

12. American Gladiator with an explosive name

14. Friendly words after “hola”

15. Scale used in the summer

16. Calling

21. Trident, e.g.

22. Roundish script letters used in old Latin manuscripts

23. Crude shelters

24. Unsurpassed, as a record

25. Partial phrase on a diner sign

28. Page of music?

29. “Miracle on 34th Street” Oscar winner Edmund

31. Kung ___ tofu

32. Situps’ target

33. Unconvincing argument, in slang

34. “The Time Machine” author

35. Brave group?

38. Like some operations

39. “___ Fideles” (Christmas song)

40. Landlady, e.g.

42. Historic 1945 meeting place

44. Onetime “Daily Show” correspondent Wyatt

46. Road’s end?

47. Rankle

Last week’s answers

Complete the grid so that each row, column, diagonal and 3x3 square contain all of the numbers 1 to

9. No math is involved. The grid has numbers, but nothing has to add up to anything else. Solve the puzzle with reasoning and logic. Solving time is typically 10 to 30 minutes, depending on your skill and

T(AI)nted Love

NEWS of the WEIRD

BY

A growing trend among China’s younger people: creating AI versions of former beaus. Oddity Central reported on May 4 that an open-source module, ex.skill, is behind the trend. Users can feed the module materials like photos and social media posts, as well as custom descriptions, from their previous relationships. The jilted lovers can then “talk” to their AI “ex,” which mimics their tone, nuance and conversational style. Ex.skill’s creators say that the “project is for personal reflection and emotional healing only, not for harassment, stalking or privacy invasion.” Users say the AI module has helped them find closure. “I was finally able to say [to the AI double] everything I’d been hesitant to say, and it made me feel better,” one person said in a social media post.

Blazing Wrenches

Think you’ve got the fastest Allen wrench in the land? Think again: That honor belongs to U.K. resident Hayley McAuley of Wigan (just outside Manchester), who defended her title at the second-annual Flatpack World Championships on May 1. The event, part of a home design expo, had competitors racing through multiple rounds of IKEA assembly with a live audience cheering them on. Wigan Today reported that McAuley displayed “speed, precision and calm under pressure” during the final round, in which she put together a nightstand in just over eight minutes. McAuley went home with the “coveted golden Allen key medal,” and all the assembled furniture went to a local charity. Win-win.

Now Boarding

Eily Ben-Abraham of Elite Event Robotics bought two tickets and boarded a Southwest Airlines flight in Oakland with an unusual companion—a robot named Bebop, UPI reported on May 4. The 4-foot, 70-pound robot gave the plane crew pause. First, Ben-Abraham had to move Bebop from its aisle seat—where its presence violated airline rules about large carry-ons—to a window seat. But the challenges didn’t end there, as crew determined that Bebop’s lithium batteries exceeded Southwest’s allowable amount. The flight, which was headed to San Diego, was delayed just over an hour while the batteries were removed and confiscated. Elite Event Robotics says Bebop will continue to fly commercial, but without its batteries.

Return of the Mac

Some fired employees take the high road, some the low; some choose to defraud their former employer out of tens of thousands of dollars via macaroni and cheese. Such was allegedly the case for Keyshun Jones, who was fired from his job at a Chik-fil-A in Grapevine, Texas, and about a month later, in November 2025, began a scheme of returning to the restaurant, hopping behind the counter and ringing up fake orders of mac-and-cheese, only to refund them to his own credit cards. The restaurant owner reported the thefts, which totaled more than $80,000 over roughly 800 fake orders, and after a lengthy investigation, police arrested Jones on April 17 on charges of theft of property, money laundering and evading arrest.

It’s Come to This

A Florida couple were arrested for criminal mischief after burning a neighbor’s drone when it mistakenly landed in their yard, the Smoking Gun reported on May 3. Christopher Paula, 40, of Port St. Lucie, was flying his DJI Mini 3 Pro drone when it lost communication. While the drone is programmed to go back to its point of origin, it somehow instead ended up in Sandra Marcelus’ backyard. Paula located the drone using a GPS tracker, and when he approached Marcelus’ home, Marcelus, 43, told him through her Ring camera, “You don’t have a f---ing drone anymore, sir.” Marcelus and her husband, Alquidiven Daniels, 49, admitted to burning the drone. Police confirm that the drone had been burned in the fire pit. The couple were charged with a felony but released from the county jail after paying a $2,500 bond.

Nature Gone Wild

A Florida woman who feared she had heard someone breaking into her house was met with a bigger surprise— two alligators duking it out on her screened-in lanai. According to UPI on May 3, Kayla Burress of Ave Maria was home with a sleeping baby when she heard the clamor. The gators tore through the mesh, and Burress filmed one of them biting the other’s tail. “It definitely looked like they were fighting over territory or something,” she said. “It wasn’t like a mating ritual that I had seen, because there was blood and it had its hindquarters, like, in its jaws through the door.” A licensed trapper captured the alligators and relocated them. “It was scary,” Burress said. “And I just warned everybody else in the neighborhood, like, watch your kids. Watch the dogs. Because it was fast and they were powerful.”

The Tech Revolution

Residents of a Toronto neighborhood recently banded together after a Google Maps glitch sent drivers heading the wrong way down a one-way road for several days. UPI reported on May 6 that as early as April 29, Google Maps had mistakenly listed the southbound-only Winona Drive as a northbound street. “[The drivers] come up here with such gusto,” resident J.P. Timmerman said. “The crossing guard seems ready to keel over.” The residents put up a sign: “GPS is wrong.” They appealed to the local police and even to Google. The city even had to install a temporary “do not enter” sign before Google Maps corrected the error. “I will be following up with Google Maps to understand what went wrong and what improvements can be made to prevent this situation in the future,” City Councilor Josh Matlow said in a social media post. “These sorts of Google glitches cause real and immediate safety impacts on our streets. Google Maps needs to be far more responsive to residents’ complaints, and far more transparent about the processes in place.”

Send your weird news items with subject line WEIRD NEWS to WeirdNewsTips@amuniversal.com

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Position may telecommute from home within reasonable commuting distance of Salt Lake City, UT. Apply at https://imh.wd108.myworkdayjobs.com/ IntermountainCareers or email resume to mary.hansen@imail.org. Salary: $151,819.00 - $161,819.00/yr. This posting is for three (3) open positions.