The month after one Spanish Fork Fiesta Days ends, planning begins for the next year. This year, July 13-28 will be the culmination of the last 11 months of work as Fiesta Days once again takes over the city.

“Our city administration and the city fathers have always felt like Fiesta Days are a celebration of community,” said Karen Bradford, the Parks and Recreation Assistant Director, and one of the key players in the Fiesta Days celebration. “I think the goal is always just to bring the community together. We’re getting so much bigger.”

With the having grown from about 12,000 people in the early days of the festival to now over 40,000, Fiesta Days has grown with it and now boasts an array of attractions and activities for all ages.

“We have a lot of entertainment,” Bradford said. “We have a lot of great events that are totally free, that I feel is pretty awesome. Kids and grandkids come back to vacation because of all the fun events.”

Some of those events this year include three parades, the annual Grand Parade, taking place on the July 24, the Western Heritage Parade and the Children’s Parade, Spanish Fork’s Got Talent, a street dance, one of the largest flag retirement ceremonies in the state, and lots and lots of sporting events.

“We are very sporty,” Bradford said, citing the golf tournament, tennis tournament, kickball challenge, rodeo, spikeball tournament, softball tournament, 10K and mile races, and bike ride that will be happening this year as part of Fiesta Days. “I’m sure next year we will be adding a pickleball tournament,” she laughed.

Another highlight of the year will be two fireworks shows, held to kick off and then end the bulk of the week’s festivities.

“Fireworks are big in Fiesta Days,” Bradford said. “The last three years we have started out with the the Pyro Musical, we had a big crowd last year.” She explained that the show consists of smaller fireworks so that people can sit closer, and that this year the event has been moved to the Spanish Fork Sports Park Soccer Fields, having outgrown its previous venue. The second, bigger show will be held on the 24 to mark the end of the week’s main festivities, though a few events continue through July 28.

“Sometimes you just have to take a breath and kind of enjoy it,” Bradford said. “It takes a lot of volunteer hours to put on Fiesta Days, and we sure appreciate all that they do. I think the goal is just to let people give back so they can have fun activities and kind of a community, it just brings everyone together. That is totally what Fiesta Days is, is tradition.”

Additional details about Fiesta Days can be found at http://sffiestadays.com.