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Utah Travel Headlines

Monday, July 25, 2011

Springville World Folkfest Runs July 25-30

The 25th annual Springville World Folkfest will be held July 25-30, in the community of Springville (located just south of Provo).

Here below is information from the festival website. Visit the website for performance schedules and other information.

Folk dancers and musicians travel from countries around the world to attend the Springville Folkfest, which has grown to become one of the largest festivals of folk dance and music in the United States. Five outdoor evening performances are scheduled during the 2011 Folkfest on the outdoor stage at the Spring Acres Arts Park, located just north of Springville High School at 620 South 1350 East. The stage was designed specifically to accommodate Folkfest performances.

The Springville World Folkfest annually features approximately 250 performers dressed in the brilliantly colored costumes of their native lands. Each dance group brings a select group of musicians to provide live music for the dancing. The dances, music and even the instruments played offer audiences a taste of many different cultures.

The Salt Lake Tribune has this article about the folkfest. Below are excerpts.

If the Springville World Folkfest is one of Utah’s best-kept summer festival secrets, there’s no denying plenty of dancers the world over know it well by now.

For 24 years straight, this big international dance festival in a small Utah town has gathered dance groups from Romania, China, Nepal, Spain and other countries. This year marks the 25th installment, with dancers from Belgium, Bulgaria, Indonesia, the Philippines, Australia, Armenia and Israel.

Based on last year’s attendance numbers, Wulfenstein estimates a total of 14,000 people attending the festival. It all kicks off Monday with a free street dance. The one iron-clad rule for interested performers is no “canned” music. Every international troupe brings its own musicians for a live performance.

It’s also a festival that, behind the scenes, reinforces its own message of cultural exchange. Rather than putting up more than 230 visiting dancers in hotel rooms, the festival relies on volunteer families to take them in. “It’s like travel in reverse,” said Trudy Peck, of Payson, who has served as the festival’s housing chairwoman for five years. “You stay home, and the world comes to you.”

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