Sherlene Davis the executive director for Summerfest Arts Faire is leading this year’s event with a renewed gusto for success.
LOGAN – Five-year-old Ben Earl is entering the Summerfest Plein Air contest. He may be the youngest artist to strut his stuff at Logan’s big summer arts event.
After registering with his mom Dixie’s help, he jumped off the steps of the Summerfest office and let out a yell, said Laurie Jackson who signed Earl up for the event.
He will enter as an amateur. Jackson said they expect approximately 60 painters to enter this year’s contest.
Ben said he has been painting for a couple of years.
Dixie said she sets up all his paint stuff the night before and he starts painting as soon as he gets up in the morning.
“It’s in Ben’s blood. His grandmother is a painter,” his mother said. “It’s all he wants to do is paint. ”
She said her days go better if she sets his paints out the night before because he starts painting the first thing in the morning.
The painting competition should be a fun departure with five-year old Ben on the rolls.
Sherlene Davis’ term as the executive director for Summerfest Arts Faire is beginning after Elaine Thatcher’s seven-year run and she is excited for what this year’s schedule of events will bring.
For 38 years Summerfest has been known for its high-quality regional arts and crafts, great food and quality entertainment and it is free to the public. Again, this year it will be held at the Cache County Fairgrounds.
Always held on Father’s Day weekend, beginning on Thursday, June 16 at 11 a.m. until 10 p.m., continuing Friday from 11 a.m. until 10 p.m. and Saturday, June 19 from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m.
Up until last year, the event was held at the Tabernacle on Main Street, but due to the renovation of the historic building it was moved to the fairgrounds.
The Cache County Fairgrounds, located at 450 South 500 West in Logan, will likely be the permanent home for Cache Valley’s art extravaganza, the executive director said.
“We did a survey of participants and visitors last year and there was about a 70 to 30 percent split,” she said. “Both groups favored keeping it at the fair grounds.”
The overriding thing was accessibility to the event (more parking), an air conditioned building and indoor bathroom facilities. The shade from the mature trees at the fairgrounds is also a plus for those warm summer days.
“This year, we’ve scheduled 136 booths, 24 food booths,” Davis said. “Last year we had more booths because we had a carryover from 2020 when Summerfest was canceled.”
There will be two entertainment venues with artists performing throughout the day: an outdoor Cache Valley Media Group stage and an indoor Cache Valley Visitor Bureau stage in the event center.
Headliners for the three nights are all on the outdoor stage: Mothers of Mayhem on Thursday, Music City on Friday and Lonely Hearts Club Band on Saturday. All of the headliner concerts start at 8 p.m. There is continuous music on the stages throughout the day.
Todd Beutler, Cache Valley Transit District CEO, said Route 6 will take people from the Transit Center to the fairgrounds every half hour.
This year’s Featured Artist is Carol Warburton of Avon and her Juniper Moon Studios where she makes pottery.
This year they have expanded the bike-scooter valet service to accommodate more of those types of transportation vehicles considering gas prices. The valet service is located at the northeast entrance on 400 South.
There is a need for volunteers and Boy Scouts who want to earn their Eagle Scout Award, church groups, clubs and individuals who want to help. For people who want to volunteer for the event, go to the website logansummerfest.org.
In 2019, Summerfest generated $1.9 million for Logan and Cache Valley. It brings in sales tax, motel, restaurant revenues and notoriety.