Days of ’47 Pioneer Day Utah style

Going to Utah is going home for me.  The Days of ’47 Pioneer Day is pure Utah.  No where else is there anything like it.  I decided to celebrate Pioneer Day in Utah this year with the added bonus of some of my family being in Salt Lake City.  We kicked off the celebration by attending the Pioneer Day Concert at the Conference Center.

The artist who brought magic to life as Prince Hans in Disney’s blockbuster film Frozen headlined this summer’s Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square’s Pioneer Day concerts. Santino Fontana joined the Choir in two gala performances entitled “A Summer Celebration of Song,” that were held on July 18 and 19 at 8 p.m. in the Conference Center. The concerts were conducted by Mack Wilberg, music director of the Choir, and Ryan Murphy, associate music director.

It is possible to watch the program in its entirety on YouTube:

This year the youth parade was a must see..both Henry and Becca, were a part of it walking beside their Stake the Monument Park North Stake’s float.

Of course Henry would have nothing doing with flower petals around his neck or a headband on his head…but he did like being in the parade.

And a couple of the other really good floats…remember this is the youth parade:

After the parade we enjoyed the festivities at the City and County building block downtown Salt Lake City where the Family Festival was in full swing…

A fun tradition that Jen started with her kids was to go to the “preview” party where one gets to preview all the floats that will appear in the parade.  You get to get up close and personal with the floats.  There are also fun activities for the kids.  Rachel Kunz Lingmann and her children joined us!

See the Preview Party floats in picture gallery here:

And the big event the 24th of July Parade!  Bob and I headed down to get good “seats” on the street at 3:30 in the morning only to find very few spaces left since most places were taken up by people that had camped overnight!  After walking several blocks we did find a great spot and “staked out”  our space.

Everyone, including Izzy,  joined us shortly before the parade began:

And the main event:

We finished the day with a visit to Heritage Park…perfect activity for Pioneer Day!

Other fun things we did in Salt Lake City:

Foothill Villages Annual Sidewalk Sale

Tennis lessons

Soccer

Swimming

Caroline at Little Gym

Other SLC moments: