Salt Lake City Has So Much More Culture to Offer Than “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” Will Tell You

NEED TO KNOW

• Salt Lake City raised its profile to reality TV fans with the debut of Secret Lives of MormonWives in 2024, but there’s another side to the city

• Recently, Kilby Block Party brought indie music fans to the city, while the Living Traditions Festival celebrated cultures from around the world

• The Utah capital also offers unique attractions like LGBTQ+ nightlife and scenic outdoor activities

If your knowledge of Salt Lake City is limited to what’s shown on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wivesor The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, you’re only getting half the story.

While the Utah capital is largely known for housing the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints headquarters, immaculate skiing conditions and reality TV drama, it’s far more culturally vibrant than one might think

During a recent weekend, for example, Kilby Block Party music festival brought thousands of indie music fans to the Utah State Fairpark to see headlining performances from Turnstile, The xx and Lorde. Attendees (including influencer Emma Chamberlain) spanned all ages. Many enjoyed mosh pits and crowd surfing for the more raucous sets, while others took in the music while sipping on dirty sodas or craft beers. 

“It’s a huge privilege to get to play here. I’ve been waiting to play here for a long time,” said Lorde on stage at Kilby Block Party, which marked her first-ever show in Salt Lake City. “I always heard good things about you guys. I heard that you really like good music, and I feel that to be true tonight. I also feel like this is the absolute coolest festival ever.”

Kilby Block Party wasn’t the only festival happening in Salt Lake City over the weekend of May 15 to 17. In Washington Square Park, the Salt Lake City Arts Council and the Utah Division of Arts & Museums put on the Living Traditions Festival, a free three-day event celebrating arts, culture and craftwork from various cultures present in the city.

The Living Traditions Festival featured an international food market with offerings from the Basque Club of Utah, the Utah Argentina Alliance, Oaxaca en Utah, the Utah Ukranian Community and the Nepalese Association of Utah, among others.

Attendees could also participate in demonstrations with craft artists making Armenian hand knotted carpets, Mexican piñatas, Belarusian woodcarvings, Native American beadwork, Japanese origami and more. The three-day event also included performances from New Orleans’ Preservation Hall Jazz Band and Alaskan performance group Panyua, as well as local acts like the Brazilian Brazuca Band and Japanese taiko drummer Kenshin Taiko.

Beyond the festivals, there’s lots of sightseeing to be done in Salt Lake City. Visitors can, of course, check out the LDS Church’s Temple Square — or head down the street to the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, which currently hosts the OUT LOUD 10-year anniversary exhibition featuring emerging artists’ poignant works exploring politics, religion and more through an LGBTQ+ lens. The city’s queer scene is quite vibrant overall, with bars like Club Try-Angles, The Suntrapp and more hosting nightly events for the community.

Millennials and Gen Z, at some point during their stay, will likely want to pay a visit to East High School, a main filming location of the High School Musical franchise, canonically set in Albuquerque, N.M., but filmed in Salt Lake City.

Tourists can then venture over to the nearby University of Utah campus, the Red Butte Garden & Arboretum or the Natural History Museum of Utah. All four destinations are also close to outdoor activities like the Hogle Zoo or various hiking trails with gorgeous nature views. For the less outdoorsy, the Van Ryder rooftop bar at the Le Méridian hotel has an outstanding view of the city.

While the popular reality TV shows set in Salt Lake City tend to focus on a small sector of its culture, the city’s approximately 111 square miles have much more to offer.

Read the original article on People