Intro
While Salt Lake is a smaller city, there’s no shortage of outdoor community events to check out during its summer months. This guide compiles some of the most popular festivals and series keeping Utah’s live outdoor music tradition alive, and will hopefully inspire you to get out and explore some fun and interesting events this summer!
Utah Arts Festival
The Utah Arts Festival is one of Utah’s biggest festivals of the year and is fun for the entire family. It showcases art, photography, film, poetry, food, a kids craft area, and a variety of performances that take place on smaller stages throughout the day that are free to listen to.
This year the festival is introducing Arts Fest Amplified! Tickets to attend cost $25 and include the admission fee to the festival for the day. The new concert charge is a part of the festival’s initiative to bring in more national and big-name artists. Check out the schedule for the list of performers for the Amplified concerts.
If you choose to forego the big-name artists and the $25 price tag, you can still check out the rest of the festival for $15.
Time: June 21st-24th
Address: Downtown Library - 230 S 500 W #120, Salt Lake City, UT 84101
Cost: $15 single day ticket, $45 per 4 day single admission passes, $25 per ticket for Arts Fest Amplified concert tickets
Website: https://www.uaf.org
Red Butte Garden Concert Series
Red Butte Gardens is a botanical garden and arboretum nestled in the foothills of Salt Lake. In addition to the gardens, Red Butte has an amphitheatre that supports a yearly outdoor concert series from May to September. The Red Butte concert series has grown considerably over the years and continues to bring in big-name artists and bands.
The venue is beautiful with stellar sound quality, and concert-goers are encouraged to pack in their own chairs, food and beverages. The perks of this unique setting ensure shows typically being very crowded, and selling out quickly. Red Butte members are able to purchase tickets before the general public at a discounted rate, so it’s a good idea to lock down your tickets well in advance or look into their membership options.
Time: May 23rd-September 17th, check their concert lineup for each concert date.
Address: 300 Wakara Way, Salt Lake City, UT 84108
Cost: Concerts vary in cost depending on the band, discounted tickets available for Garden members.
Website: https://www.redbuttegarden.org/concerts/
Salt Lake City Twilight Concert Series
The SLC Twilight Concert Series was almost scrapped for 2018 due to declining revenues and a lack of funding. However, the Salt Lake City Arts Council signed a one year agreement with Broadway Media to help revitalize the staple and to help celebrate the Twilight Series 30th birthday. The artist lineup for the concert series this year is yet to be released, but concerts will be returning to their original home at the downtown Gallivan Center after a brief run in Pioneer Park the last several years.
Twilight Concert Series tickets are subsidized ($10 for 2018, a small increase from the $5 in years past). Due to lower cost tickets for high-quality shows, the SLC Twilight Events are always extremely crowded. The hectic environment is best suited for younger people and may not be best for some families as they run late into Thursday evenings.
Time: August 16th, 23rd, 30th, September 6th, And 13th
Address: Gallivan Center, 239 Main St, Salt Lake City, UT 84111
Cost: $10 per ticket
Website: http://twilightconcerts.com
Ogden Twilight Concert Series
The Ogden Twilight Concert Series began in 2015 and has been incredibly well-received. So well received, in fact, that the Ogden Twilight program received a $30,000 Weber County Recreation, Arts, Museums, Parks grant which will be used to help upgrade the sound system and to provide sun shades for the for the Ogden amphitheatre, where all concerts are held.
Concerts will take place on Thursdays starting on June 7th, and concluding on Thursday, August 9th. Doors and vendors open at 5pm and the band plays at 6pm. The Ogden Twilight Concert series has an outstanding artist lineup this year. Highlights include, Bonobo, Thievery Corporation, The Flaming Lips, Churches, and more! Check the complete lineup for more information.
The Ogden Twilight series has been incredibly well-structured and planned, and its quality lineup and venue have made it a competitive alternative to the Salt Lake Twilight series… so long as Salt Lakers don’t mind the commute.
Time: June - August
Address: 343 E 25th Street, Ogden, UT 84401
Cost: $10 per ticket if bought in advance, $15 per ticket for same day purchase. $1.50 service fee not included for both advance and same day ticket purchases.
Website: http://www.ogdentwilight.com
Salt Lake City Jazz Festival
The SLC Jazz Festival began in 2001 thanks to a serendipitous meeting between Jerry Floor and former Salt Lake Mayor, Rocky Anderson. While Floor and Anderson shared different political views, they both agreed that Salt Lake needed more jazz music and a high quality jazz festival to showcase that.
The SLC Jazz Festival is a great way to experience jazz played by the talented musicians in Salt Lake. In addition to local artists, the festival brings in nationally recognized musicians. This year, the festival is showcasing Ellis Hall along with Santa Fe & The Fat City Horns.
If you're a fan of jazz music or curious about the event, this is a great festival to check out.
Time: July 6th & 7th
Address: The Gallivan Center - 239 Main St, Salt Lake City, UT 84111
Cost: general admission tickets: $12, VIP tickets: $50, children 12 and under: free
Website: http://www.slcjazzfestival.com
Deer Valley Music Festival
Located in Park City, The Deer Valley Music Festival is held at an outdoor amphitheatre behind the resort’s Snow Park Lodge. This festival is one of the more unique experiences as the venue is beautiful, the sound is great and the artists are exceptional.
Most of the artists performing at the Deer Valley Music Festival are also backed by The Utah Symphony, which adds another layer of depth and power to the music.
In addition to the pop and contemporary artists that perform at the Deer Valley Amphitheatre, they have more traditional classical music and film composer tribute concerts as well. Tickets prices vary on the concert and have a tiered pricing system based on Premium Reserved, Reserved and General Admission (lawn seats). Premium Reserved and Reserved tickets sell out the fastest, so make sure to purchase your desired tickets quickly!
Time: Late June-Mid August
Address: 2250 Deer Valley Drive S., Park City UT 84060 (located slopeside, behind Snow Park Lodge)
Cost: Varies on the concert and the ticket option purchased
Website: http://www.deervalley.com/WhatToDo/Summer/DeerValleyMusicFestival
Moab Music Festival
At the tail end of summer you can check out the Moab Music Festival in Southern Utah. The festival highlights jazz, chamber music and latin music, with shows held in a variety of indoor and outdoor stages, including “The Grotto Concerts”, located 30 miles down the Colorado River in a grotto forest. Since these are only accessible by boat, they come with a spendier price tag.
Other concerts at the music festival are either free to attend or much more affordable. Though the Moab Music Festival lacks some of the popular and more contemporary artists that many people are familiar with, the beautiful landscape provides attendees with an unparalleled experience.
Time: August 27th-September 13th
Address: 58 E 300 S, Moab, UT 84532
Cost: Varies on the concert and the ticket option purchased
Website: http://www.moabmusicfest.org
Conclusion
With so many options and great concerts this summer, you’ll have plenty to check out and enjoy. Remember to buy your tickets early as some of the concerts sell out quickly. Let me know in the comments below if there are any other summer festivals you enjoy that I missed! I hope your summer is filled with great music and fun!
If you're inspired by some of the music you listen to this summer and are interested in learning guitar or ukulele, contact us or check out more information about the guitar lessons we provide!