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Provo Mayor Michelle Kaufusi

Courtesy Provo City

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Equestrian units walk along the Freedom Festival Grand Parade route on University Avenue on Friday, July 4, 2025, in Provo.

Jacob Nielson, Daily Herald

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Shoppers browse the booths at the Provo Farmers Market in Pioneer Park in this undated photo.

Courtesy Provo Farmers Market

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Summer is a great season in our valley. In Provo, it means shorter lines at restaurants and shops (a lot of the students are gone, not that we don’t love when they’re here too!). And it means our farmers market opens!

Local passion for the Provo Farmers Market is incredible. A well-to-do executive surprised us recently when he said he and his wife drive into Provo for it every Saturday!

Located right where pioneers struck a stake into the ground to mark the center of Provo (later, that “center” was moved five blocks east), it’s easy to access off the Center Street freeway exit. Or, if you’re in Provo, try biking there; there’s a bike valet service when you arrive!

What will you find there? Crafts and craftswomen; art and artists; produce and the folks who farmed it. Farmers markets are about shopping local, about shopping simple and about connections. In our commercialized world where every store across the nation can start to look similar, it’s nice to walk into a little booth and see what one person has created with their own hands — and to chat with that person while you’re at it!

Held at Pioneer Park (500 W. Center St.), the Provo Farmers Market features food trucks and more than 200 booths. It generally runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Saturday from the start of June to the end of October. Whether it will be your first time or your hundredth, stop on by!

What else can you experience here in our valley each summer? Summer festivals! Did you know there are 18 of them?

According to Explore Utah Valley, here’s the list, in the order of their starting date (or, in the case of the year-round Freedom Festival, the date of its main events):

Pony Express Days (Eagle Mountain); Oremfest; Vineyard Days; Forkfest (American Fork); Art City Days (Springville); Strawberry Days (Pleasant Grove); Lehi Round-Up; America’s Freedom Festival at Provo; Scottish Festival (Payson); American Fork Steel Days; Fiesta Days (Spanish Fork); Santaquin Orchard Days; Lindon Days; Payson Onion Days; World Folkfest (Springville); Utah County Fair (Spanish Fork); Highland Fling (Highland); and Salem Days.

By the way, it’s not a festival, but a similar gem is Payson’s annual Salmon Supper, a tradition that dates back to 1954.

Why not make it a point to check out these festivals and events over time? Whatever the size of the city or town, there’s something great about local community pride. And events like these are where community pride is on display.

Of course, I’m partial to the Freedom Festival, which consists of more than 20 separate events and traces its roots back to the 1870s. Our parade is awesome, and so are the various other events ranging from Military History Days to the Fine Art Show. One of my favorite parts of the Freedom Festival is when we recognize commendable individuals. This year, we honored and hosted these four:

Carlotta Walls Lanier, who was one of the Black students known as the Little Rock Nine who chose to attend a white high school after the landmark Supreme Court ruling in Brown versus Board of Education. Initially, the Arkansas National Guard prevented their entry, but President Dwight D. Eisenhower then ordered the U.S. military to escort and protect the nine students. Carlotta rose above the opposition hurled at her — ranging from unkind looks to the bombing of her home — and refused to let any of it stop her from pursuing her education and her dreams. She stood then and stands now as an enduring inspiration.

Charles Mully, who was abandoned as a child and grew to adulthood on the streets of Kenya. He had become a Christian and one of the most successful businessmen in his nation when his conscience was pricked after an encounter with young people still on the streets. Based on later spiritual guidance, he abandoned his businesses in favor of helping children in need. Since then, he and his family have provided food, education, hope and love to more than 12,000 children at their campus in Kenya.

John “Jack” Rhodes, who lives right here in Provo and had been called on by his Vietnam War comrades to pray when they were heading into combat. They had seen how he was undeniably protected. In a little over a year, he flew more than 200 combat missions, sometimes with bullets hitting just to the left and just to the right of his head. He was shot down twice, but he kept at it time and again. In one incident, his skill and heroism rescued and saved a large group of captive children. It was inspiring to hear him speak.

Frank Sweeting, who left his hometown to join a battalion of other Southern Utah boys headed to the Korean War. A local church leader promised that if they were true to their God, not one of them would be killed. One night in Korea, their battalion came under heavy fire and they took to their weapons. In the morning, flags of surrender were waving all around them. Their battalion of 240 soldiers had fought 4,000 enemy troops through the night. Over a thousand of those troops lost their lives or were captured. But when a visiting commander asked the boys’ leader how many had died on their side, the shocking answer was none.

Remarkably, Frank’s wife said he had never told her about his involvement in this now-celebrated miracle at Gapyeong. It was also touching to hear how on the day he returned home from war, Frank saw his dad in the field, dropped his bag on the porch, and went and worked till the job was finished. Here was a man committed to the task at hand.

Heroes. I’m thrilled that we take the time to honor them. They deserve to be celebrated and thanked. But so do a lot of people around us, including those who make the Freedom Festival events happen. Allow me to highlight one.

Aly Conger runs Freedom Days, a three-day event featuring carnival rides, more than a dozen bands and hundreds of booths. Its logistics include lining up and paying musicians, contracting with a carnival-ride company and booth vendors, and arranging for portable toilets, generators and trash pickup. It’s not uncommon for Aly to spend 30 hours a week on this labor of love, and that’s not talking about the week of the event. Once that begins, she can be there from 6 a.m. till midnight. Her compensation: zero. Number of committee members: zero. Total recognition: not a lot. Amazing-ness level: through the roof.

Aly says the payoff is seeing families enjoying the event. But her drive goes deeper than that. She wants people to view the Constitution — and the freedom it provides — as important. When you stop celebrating it, she says, people stop thinking about it. Wow, Aly. Thank you.

We live in a great place. Let’s be sure we enjoy it each summer, and let’s also take time to notice the incredible people around us like Aly Conger.