Will Utah Valley finally support a large music festival? Timpanogos Music Festival hopes so
Tyler Monks, far left, and his fellow Utah Music Association directors -- Emily McLean, Mitch Davis and Chris Lewis -- have teamed with the city of Orem and local businesses to put on Timpanogos Music Festival, happening Saturday at Mt. Timpanogos Park.
The Sego Music and Art Festival, shown here in 2007, ran from 2006-08. It drew thousands of local attendees in its final year, but ended when a new location couldn't be secured.
Local band Foreign Figures are among the 30-plus acts playing the Timpanogos Music Festival on Saturday.
On Saturday, downtown Provo might no longer be the only Utah Valley location to draw thousands of concert goers at once.
The Timpanogos Music Festival, a brand new event featuring more than 30 Utah music acts, comes to Mt. Timpanogos Park on Saturday. It’s the festival’s first year, and event organizers are hoping it can gain the momentum, public support and general good fortune that eluded Utah Valley’s now-defunct past music festivals.
Sego Music and Art Festival had a three-year run in Provo, from 2006 to 2008, concluding with approximately 60 bands and thousands of attendees in its final year. Fork Fest, hosted at the American Fork Amphitheater, got the ball rolling again in 2010, but unforeseen circumstances kept those festivals from continuing. A lot has changed since then, though. Utah Valley’s mainstream audience embraces local music to a far greater degree than it did back then.
LOCAL SUPPORT
“I was actually out of state during those times, but I’ve heard those were amazing events, and well organized,” Timpanogos Music Festival organizer Tyler Monks said about Sego and Fork Fest. “We hope that we can put something together that will be well supported by the community and grow every year.”
Monks founded the Utah Music Association in 2012 after returning to Utah from California. He attended high school and college in Provo/Orem. The Utah Music Association’s status as a non-profit has been key: The city of Orem provided the festival a grant through the city’s Cultural Arts and Recreational Enrichment (CARE) program. Monks said the Association’s non-profit status made it eligible for the CARE grant.
In addition, Orem has approved the use of Timpanogos Park. The festival will have three separate stages, 10 food trucks, a DJ, a rock-climbing wall, face painting and a bike valet.
“Getting the City of Orem on board was our biggest catalyst for making this festival happen, because you want to make sure the community supports what you’re doing,” Monks said. “It’s a great thing all around: You have fans that get a great experience for free, you get bands that get great exposure, and businesses get a lot of exposure as well. So it’s a good kind of trifecta.”
NO TIME TO WASTE
This festival’s timetable wasn’t exactly what the Utah Music Association first expected. After pitching it to the city of Orem in October, the event wasn’t given the green light till March. Utah Music Association board member Emily McLean handled booking — which, given the timetable and the plethora of local musicians, was a pretty tall order.
“We could put on an entire other festival and still have the same caliber of musicians that we’ve got performing. It actually was kind of difficult,” McLean said. “It’s amazing to see the dedication from all these artists that are willing to perform and make this a possibility so that we can have it be a free event for the public, and have it be a fun day. If it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t have anyone coming, you know?”
The festival’s lineup has actually changed quite a bit recently. Some notable local musicians backed out after various scheduling conflicts. (It’s also a holiday weekend, remember?) But this year’s event still features a diverse mix of musicians from Ogden to St. George. The event’s Facebook page has nearly 6,000 confirmed guests, so there doesn’t appear to be any shortage of interest. Since parking in Provo Canyon is fairly limited, organizers are encouraging people to bike, walk, carpool or get dropped off — there certainly aren’t 6,000 parking spots at the park.
“As soon as this one’s over, we don’t really get to take a breath,” McLean said. “We have to just already start planning for next year.”
THE COST OF INDEPENDENCE
Saturday’s festival might be a first for certain attendees, but it’s certainly not the first for Utah Valley. Sego and Fork Fest drew no shortage of crowds. According to Matt Gifford, who co-founded Sego, the first year had about 20 bands and drew 1,200-1,500 attendees, growing to 3,000 attendees in year 2.
Police showed up during the headlining band’s set that first year, shutting things down because of noise complaints.
“It’s not like we pursued the proper licensure or permits or anything, because we thought it would just be such a battle,” he said. “It was more just, ‘We’re doing our own thing, we don’t think we’ll get in trouble.’ And I don’t even think if we had the proper permits that they would’ve let us keep playing.”
Sego’s relative independence was a big part of its draw, but it’s also what caused Gifford to opt out after the second year.
“The first couple years, I had more or less bankrolled everything,” he said.
“So while it was really something I enjoyed, when I’m putting in several thousand dollars per year and getting nothing back, that was my thing.”
FROM THE OUTSKIRTS TO THE MAINSTREAM
Provo resident Amalia Smith helped organize both Sego and Fork Fest after being enamored by the first Sego in 2006. By all accounts, she said, it seemed like Sego would continue. The final Sego in 2008 had multiple stages throughout Provo, including the picturesque Rock Castle Amphitheater at the Utah State Hospital campus, which had been Sego’s home base each year. In 2008 it even spilled over onto a stage set up in downtown Provo. Smith estimates there were 3,000-4,000 attendees that year, and five separate stages.
Just a few months before Sego No. 4, however, things started to go south. Those who oversaw Rock Castle Amphitheater refused to make it available — Smith chalked it up to a wedding reception that got out of hand. She and the other organizers scoped out Mt. Timpanogos Park, but the city of Orem wasn’t interested.
“They were like, ‘No, no, we’re not going to do music here. We’re never going to do that,’ ” Smith recalled. “That’s why I was really excited about the new festival being there. It was like, ‘Yes! They’re finally allowing something at this beautiful park.’ It’s perfect for it.
“I wonder if the Timpanogos Festival is kind of Orem’s reaction (to the Rooftop Concert Series) — like, ‘Hey guys, we’re cool too,’ “she continued. “Maybe. I don’t know. But I wouldn’t be super surprised.”
Fork Fest met a similar demise. That event, which featured Imagine Dragons, Fictionist, Joshua James and other up-and-comers at the time, was well received by the Utah Valley community generally, according to Smith. She said there was a mix-up, however, after the American Fork City Art Council fielded complaints about a separate concert that had occurred near the same time frame. According to Smith, the council told Fork Fest organizers they would need to pay for police security if they were to host it at the American Fork Amphitheater again. The cost of security was far more than they could afford.
Smith said she’s glad Utah Valley’s relationship with the music scene has changed since then. And perhaps that means Saturday’s festival won’t experience the same fate.
“What I love about it is I feel like people were really unsure about the music scene, whereas now it’s just a thing,” she said. “People are going big from Provo. It’s legit, so the scene is legit now, whereas five years ago it wasn’t seen as that.”
TIMPANOGOS MUSIC FESTIVAL
What: A first-time music festival featuring House of Lewis, VanLadyLove and 30 other Utah acts.
When: Saturday from noon to 11 p.m. Gates open at 11 a.m.
Where: Mt. Timpanogos Park, up Provo Canyon
Admission: Free
Info: TimpanogosFestival.com, Facebook.com/UtahMusicAssociation
Parking: $5 at the park. Since parking is extremely limited, organizers encourage attendees to bike, walk, carpool or get dropped off.
