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Hundreds attend inaugural Dixie Days festival in St. George
Summary
Hundreds attended the inaugural Dixie Days festival in downtown St. George, which opened with a run and parade and featured school bands, vendors, family activities and local organizations including the Lions Club and the St. George Exchange Club.
Hundreds of people turned out Saturday for the first annual Dixie Days festival in downtown St. George, attendees and organizers said, a daylong celebration timed with the Dixie Roundup Rodeo that opened with a run and a parade.
Organizers and residents said the week included multiple events, from historic-track displays to screenings at the Electric Theater. "We've had tracks, historic tracks," one attendee said, and the programming continued throughout the week in conjunction with the rodeo.
The parade featured local high school marching bands that drew cheers from onlookers. "Local school bands sounded off in unison, bringing cheers and happy smiles from the crowd," a narrator said. Spectators along the route also voiced support for the event's renaming to Dixie Days, which coincided with the Dixie Roundup Rodeo.
Vendors filled Town Square Park. Members of the St. George Exchange Club and other local sellers offered food and goods; a scone vendor said the festival was a good way to share a family recipe with visitors. "We decided that Dixie Days was a great way to bring out our great and awesome scones," the vendor said, noting the scones were offered to runners in the 4K.
Representatives from the Lions Club said they supported the addition of Dixie Days because it complements the rodeo. "We were totally for it because we felt it would enhance our rodeo as well as start them off on the right foot," a Lions Club organizer said, calling the first-year partnership a success and expressing hope the event will grow.
Families found activities aimed at children, including pony rides, animal feedings and photos with an alpaca. Games such as sack races, beanbag tosses and balloon tosses were also featured. Attendees mentioned lemonade made with local lemons and fresh produce from nearby vendors; one on-the-ground description cited "about 2 and a half lemons" used for a lemonade batch (approximate).
Organizers emphasized local heritage and community spirit as central themes. "We're from Dixie, and we love to hit here, and we wanna support our community," a participant said, while others highlighted a week of events intended "to have something for everyone" and to celebrate Utah's Dixie heritage.
In Saint George, Melissa Anderson, Community Education News.
