Category: Events

Price City is known for many things but one of the most popular things that happens each year are the many parades that take place on Main Street.

That series of events begins in the spring and lasts through October, with the largest parades taking place in the summer with the International Days Parade in late July and with the start of the parade season, St. Patrick’s Day.

This year will be the 37th year for the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Price, and it is expected to be bigger and better than ever. Last year almost 150 entries were involved, and it features all kinds of floats, many from families and small local businesses in the area.

The St. Patrick’s Day Parade is a right of spring in Castle Country, kicking off the passing of winter and the beginning of spring where the white snow bluffs and mountains turn to red and yellow rock and purple peaks.

The parade this year will begin at 9 a.m. on Saturday, March 19. Come and enjoy it and all the festivities that surround this special day.

As we near the end of 2018 it is good to look forward to events and activities that will be going on in the coming years in Castle Country.

January: This is a time for cold weather adventure. Whether a person wants to snowmobile or ice fish, cross country ski or snowshoe, this time of year is exciting in Castle Country. But don’t mistake those nice sunny warm days in the valleys for the snow in the mountains. Most years the snow in the valley  is minimal while the mountains, including the Bookcliffs and the Manti Lasal National Forest allow for the best of winter recreation. Scofield Reservoir is famous for its ice fishing, but that activity also takes place the reservoirs at the top of Huntington Canyon as well. 

February: At the beginning of the month many of the activities that were listed in January still hold true. But as the days get longer and warmer, thoughts to desert hikes and riding ATV’s begin to pop into peoples minds. Mountain biking along the trails of the San Rafael in February can be a delight with very few people near The Wedge and quiet solitude around every turn. Hiking the trails of the desert is a prime example of a time when the temperatures remain cool while working hard going up and down red sandstone cliffs.

March: In March the outdoors really start to take off as the first buds of life begin to appear. The winds in the area make for great classic kite flying during this time. This is also the month when organized town activities begin to appear, with some of them centered around St. Patricks Day on March 17. Price has a huge parade on that day with people enjoying the sun and open air.

April: They say that April showers bring May flowers and sometimes April is raining, but not too much so in Castle Country. Campers begin to take to the outdoors and Easter Weekend is a huge camping time, usually the first general one of the year, throughout the region. 

May: In May the days become warm and much longer as people begin to enjoy the reservoirs and ponds throughout the area both in terms of fishing and boating.In the desert the cactus begin to flower and the small plant spread their color across the sand and rock that make up the San Rafael Desert. As the snows in the mountains melt the rafting, kayaking and tubing become favorite pastimes for many.

June: June starts the summer in the area as many, many events take place across towns in both counties. Event like the Castle Country Rock and Fossil Show, Orangeville Town Days, the Helper Outlaw Car Show and Huntington Heritage Days span the month with activities for everyone.

July: The center of the summer brings some vast celebrations tied to not only Independence Day but also Pioneer Day on around July 24. Huntington Heritage Days continues, as Scofield Pleasant Valley Days takes place on the nearest weekend to July 4. East Carbon Days and the Greek Festival in Price share the same weekend in about the middle of the month. Rodeos include those in Sunnyside, Wellington and Castle Dale. Town days take place in Elmo, Wellington and Cleveland. The end of the month brings Price’s International Days, celebrating the heritage of the immigrants who came to the area to mine coal and work on the railroad.

August: The Dog Days of summer don’t detour any events of this month. Both Carbon and Emery County hold their fairs. And toward the middle of the month the famed Helper Art and Music Festival is held.
September: As the days get shorter and the temperatures begin to cool toward the end of the month, the colors start to come out in the high country. Nothing says beauty more than a warm Saturday afternoon spent touring the canyons of the Wasatch Plateau looking at the reds, yellows, golds and greens of the canyon walls as the trees begin to meet their seasons end. Events in this month include Ferron Peach Days, Spring Glen Days and the famed Green River Melon Days. The month also features the Carbon County Kiwanis Kids Days in the Price City Park. The San Rafael Bike Festival also takes place in the Swell this time of year.

October: At this point the colors on the trees have moved down into the valley and warm days give way to very cool nights. The mysteries of the area are also revealed during this month as the famed ghost of the White Lady supposedly patrols Spring Canyon and as pumpkins are displayed across the county. The Price Farmers Market offers many end of season deals on vegetables, fruit and other things. 

November-December: As thanks is given, hunting in the mountains for deer and elk take place. Helper has its Christmas Arts and Crafts fair in the eleventh month and then follows that up with the Electric Light Parade in early December along with a myriad of other activities to celebrate the holidays. And just as Price has its fireworks display around Independence Day, helper celebrates the night of the parade by launching its own pyrotechnics in holiday fashion. 

The holidays are special times anywhere a person goes, but in Castle Country they are particularly bright as Helper, a small town at the mouth of Price Canyon, begins the holiday lighting up their Main Street as the start of a two-week extravaganza.

Officially known and recognized by the state as “Christmas Town”, Helper begins its holiday season with the lighting event on Black Friday November 23 at 6 p.m.. The lights hung across the town on many historical buildings is magical. The event starts at the Rio Theater on Main Street as the crowd moves north toward City Hall.

The celebration goes on through the week after that with a Luminary Memorial Ceremony on Wednesday, November 28.

Then on Friday, December 7 and December 8 the fun really takes off as a chili dinner takes place from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Helper Civic Auditorium. This feast takes place each evening just before the Helper Electric Light Parade. The parade was the first of its kind in Utah, starting 29 years ago, and it takes place on Main Street. Each year the parade grows larger and more impressive.

And don’t forget that the public can have breakfast with Santa at the Civic Auditorium the morning of Saturday, December 8 from 8 to 11 a.m. as well.

To cap off the parade on Saturday night, fireworks will be launched from the ballpark east of town and the show is spectacular as the lights and the pyrotechnics mix together to make a magical spectacle.

It’s all to say Merry Christmas to all who live and visit Castle Country during the holidays.

It’s hard these days to imagine the world without the music that the Paul McCartney and John Lennon wrote so many years ago. So in that vein, Price City Culture Connection will do an extended program past its regular summer fare by presenting some of that music performed in a free concert by the group called Strawberry Fields on November 16.

The Culture Connection is a regular Thursday evening program that runs from April until September each year in the Peace Garden near the Utah State University Prehistoric Museum with various performers showing off their talents. It is an outdoor venue that many locals and visitors alike love.

This special extended program is being held inside at the Geary Theatre on the USU Eastern campus at 451 North 400 East at 7 p.m.

It is a kickoff to the holiday season that no one should miss.

The annual St. Anthony Carnival has delighted Castle Country residents for nearly 80 years. This year’s festivities will likely to do the same as event organizers prepare well-loved classics for the 2018 carnival.

“The carnival has been put on by the St. Anthony Parish since 1940 and it hasn’t changed much over these many years,” said Erica Kardelis of the parish. “We have a big turkey dinner to start the festivities on Thursday night, Nov. 8 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. The best of Thanksgiving dinner without the shopping, cooking or cleaning up.”

The event takes place at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in Helper (5 South Main Street).

Take out is available for those who wish to take the turkey dinner home with them. There will be more food and fun as the carnival continues on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 8 and 9.

“Besides food and drink, there are games for kids, treats and surprises to purchase, the big raffle and a quilt raffle, 50 games of bingo each night, a bucket raffle and our silent auction,” Kardelis said. “Doors open at 6:30 p.m.”

Saturday will feature a Mexican dinner beginning at 4 p.m. Attendees can enjoy enchiladas, rice and beans for only $10 for adults and $6 for those 12 and younger. Take out is also available on Saturday evening.

“The businesses of Carbon and Emery counties make our carnival successful and we can’t begin to thank them enough,” said Kardelis. “Most donations of goods and services become our bingo prizes. Extra special donations of greater variety, value or desire will be placed on our silent auction or bucket raffle. We invite everyone to come and play and take these wonderful donations home.”

The St. Anthony Carnival is the largest fundraiser of the year for the local parish, contributing to its financial stability.

Price City is known for many things but one of the most popular to out-of-towners is the Desert Wave Pool. The pool is like swimming in the ocean in that it generates waves that break over he swimmers in the pool.

In late October, after the bubble that covers the pool is put up, Spook and Swim begins. It is a spooky party with a spook alley and spooky boat rides. It is just the thing for that Halloween swimmer.

This year the events in the pool will run from October 26 through October 31. On all nights other than October 27 swimming will take place from four to 10 p.m.

October 27 brings different hours with the even running from noon until 10 p.m. And for the last two hours of that night there will be movie shown on the bubble itself.

An all day pass is $2.00 for adults and $1.50 for children.

Come and have fun time with the family and enjoy the spooky swimming party in Price, Utah.

There are a lot of museums in the world, but the USU Prehistoric Museum in downtown Price, Utah is one of a kind.

Best of all on September 22 admission to the collections of the museum is free to the public.

Of course there are a lot of free things in life and for many that price is right. But the museum in Price is not one of those. It is a world-class museum that features paleontological and archaeological treasures seen nowhere else.

The Prehistoric Museum creates understanding and appreciation of natural and cultural processes that formed the geologic, fossil and prehistoric human records found in eastern Utah. They do this through educational and interpretive programs based upon their academic research, preservation programs, authentic exhibits, and the creative efforts of the local staff and community.

Nestled in the heart of a resource rich archaeological, paleontological and geological play land, the museum has much to offer in diverse prehistoric subjects. One thing that makes the museum so unique is that the items on display were actually discovered within a stone’s throw of the museum location! Dinosaurs and other finds from the region are world-famous, but only in the USU Eastern Prehistoric Museum can one see them surrounded by their original context.

Another unique aspect of the museum is that it is not simply a dinosaur museum. It encompasses so much more. This rich region spews forth paleontology, archaeology and geology in abundance, and it is with this advantage, that the museum strives to bring the cutting-edge world of discovery directly to the public. The Utah State University Eastern Prehistoric Museum is one of only five accredited museums in the state of Utah, and the only accredited museum located off the Wasatch Front. It is also a state and federal repository or artifacts and fossils.

The museum features a Hall of Dinosaurs and a Hall of Archaeology. It also has an interactive adventure area for kids. It’s open area concept and friendly and knowledgeable staff are unsurpassed. It is a place everyone should visit at least once, especially if that experience is free, like it is on September 22.

The museum is located at 155 East Main Street and is open year around. Hours are Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. To 5 p.m. It is closed on Sundays and most major holidays.

There is a special kind of melon grown in the southeastern part of Utah and it is the Green River Water Melon. Because of its great taste and texture, it is renowned throughout the melon industry. And because of that the town of Green River holds its annual Melon Days every September.

This year the event takes place on September 14 and 15. A lot of events centered around the eating of the delicious melons takes place over those two days.

On Friday, the day begins with a golf tournament at the golf course that borders the Green River itself. It is one of the best know courses in rural Utah. That begins at 9 a.m.

Then the fun begins in town at the park as vendors show off their wares starting at noon. The annual carnival also begins at the same time. That coincides with a soft ball tournament that afternoon as well.

That evening there is a concert at the John Wesley Powell Museum at 7 p.m. that costs $5 per ticket. That same evening there is square dancing in the park as well.

Son Saturday morning there is a Scout Pancake Breakfast at 7 a.m. at the park which starts just after the Melon Run, a 5K race. Melon Carving, to see who is the most creative, starts at 9 a.m. and can be judged by the public through 4 p.m.

At 10 a.m. there is the Melon Days Parade and the theme is, of course, melons. At noon there is a shooting competition at the Green River Gun Range. At the same time the Melon Days Queen and Princesses perform for the crowd in the park.

That afternoon there is the Melon Games and at 6 p.m. a free concert in the park takes place. That evening at 8 p.m. There will be square dancing,.

And like every year there is an all you can eat Melon bust in the park all day long.

There are a lot of summer events in every area, but fall events, particularly early fall are harder to find. Ferron Peach Days is held every year in September, and is one of those events that bridge that gap.

Ferron is located in the heard of western Emery County and this year it runs from September 5th through September 8th.

On Wednesday September 5, the event begins with exhibits set up at the towns city hall beginning at 10 a.m. That night there is a bike ride at the Mayors Park at 6 p.m.

Thursday night brings the Sidewalk Picasso event at 4:30 p.m. at the Mayors Park. The Peach Days Royalty perform at 5 p.m. and there is a dessert contest at 6 p.m. The fairgrounds in town are will be the site of Roping and Team Roping that evening starting at 6 p.m. as well.

On Friday there is the dedication of the Vietnam War Memorial that has been in the works for years at 6 p.m.at the Mayors Park. Then there is a dinner afterward. Fireworks and entertainment follow the dinner.

On Saturday the day is filled with the last events of Peach Days. There will be a breakfast and a Field of Flags display. Millsite Golf Course will be the site of a tournament all day and at 10 a.m. There is a parade that starts at the corner of Mill Road and State Street. Following the day there are many free events in the Mayors Park. Right after the parade there will be soap box derby.

Saturday also includes rodeo events all day at the fairgrounds and a Mud Bog event as well. A dance will follow those fun activities.

For more information contact City Hall at 435 384 2350 or go to ferroncity@ferroncity.org.