Provo will celebrate Founders Day this Friday with a step back in time at the Provo Pioneer Village.

Honorary Mayor of the village Steve Nelson invites residents to a special Founders’ Day program that begins at 6 p.m. in the Carriage House.

Tom Alexander, noted historian, will share about Provo’s beginnings. Following his remarks, Elaine Brewster will entertain the public with old-time music on her Hammered dulcimer.

In the village, the wagons will be pulled out and the cabins open for visitors to see and learn about their city and the pioneer era in Utah and across the wild west.

Children should visit the schoolhouse and watch the village blacksmith work with iron and fire. The general store will also be open for residents to purchase village items.

When Brigham Young arrived in Provo and saw that settlers were near the Provo River, he chose a new site for a fort, located where the Pioneer Village now sits. Here, the soil was warmer and less alkaline, according to Images of America Provo authors Marilyn Brown and Valerie Holladay.

The Pioneer Village Gates open at 5:30 p.m. Friday at 600 N. 500 West. For more information and to see the 2021 special video made for Founder’s Day visit http://provopioneervillage.org.

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