Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
PARK CITY — The Kimball Arts Festival brings hundreds of visitors from around the country every year. Tourists and locals alike enjoy the warm weather and pristine scenery natives have come to expect from Park City. Event organizers said 2013's festival is shaping up to be one of the most successful in the event's 44 year history.
Out of over 900 applicants this year, a ‘blind jury' chose 214 artists to showcase their talent on Park City's Main Street. Katie Snyder, the Development Director for the Kimball Arts Center, said the festival has been growing significantly over the last three to four years.
"We've seen a large rise in the number of out-of-state tourists coming to the festival over the last few years."
Snyder said the festival is supported by local businesses and organizations who all pitch in to help make the event successful and smooth.
"We work with Deer Valley and Park City for parking and public transit. It's a whole community effort."
In recent years, festival organizers have done what they can to make the event more family friendly. Rebecca Shane has two young children. She said she brought her oldest son to the festival when he was just a year old.
We've seen a large rise in the number of out-of-state tourists coming to the festival over the last few years.
–Katie Snyder
"We had to adjust how we took in the festival with kids. Now they have children's activities and art projects. They love it."
Brad Udvardy has two daughters, ages 4 years and 11 months. He waited in the shade while a festival volunteer painted a butterfly on his oldest daughter's face.
"We're here from Baltimore visiting some friends in Salt Lake. There's a big arts festival we're going to back home in a few weeks so we're glad the kids are enjoying this one."
The art on display is as varied as it's creators; Artists from 38 states and 3 countries are represented at the festival.
- Dates:August 2-4 2013
- Prices:Adults $10 for a weekend pass, children;6-18 $5 for a weekend pass
- Location: Park City Main Street
- Hours: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Jim Rosenau, an artist from Berkeley, CA, makes creative conversation pieces out of old, vintage books. He collects books from all over the country and turns them into mounts for clocks, bookshelves and key-hooks.
"I have over 5,000 books stored at my house. I look through garage sales and thrift shops all year for books with unique covers and interesting fonts. I look for anything that qualifies as attractive."
Each year 20 artist slots are saved for locals. Organizers said the event has become what is called a "collector festival", meaning people come back each year to gather new pieces from favorite artists.
The Kimball Arts Festival ran Friday, August 2nd to Saturday, August 3rd and will run one more day, Sunday, August 4th. For more information visit the festival's website.
