Utah Arts Festival Foundation.

The Utah Art Festival began in 1976 as the Salt Lake Festival of the Arts held on a three block section of Main Street in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Festival is now a four day event, featuring around 130 visual artists, 100 or more performing arts groups, appoximately 18 culinary artists, and drawing 80,000 patrons each June to Library and Washington Squares in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah.

From the description of The Utah Arts Festival Foundation records. 1977-2009. (University of Utah). WorldCat record id: 697829092

The Utah Arts Festival began as the Salt Lake Festival of the Arts in June 1977. For three days, Main Street in downtown Salt Lake City was closed while fifty-five visual artists, fourty-three performing arts groups and eight food artists participated in the creation of Salt Lake City's first major free arts event. In 1979 the Festival incorporated and changed its name to the Utah Arts Festival becoming the first state supported arts festival in the United States. The Bicentennial Arts Complex became the five-year home of the Festival and it grew to include a children's art yard and a film event. In 1984 the Festival moved to the Triad Center. Because of local site construction and activities, the Festival moved to the Utah State Fairpark in 2000. After two very poorly attended years at the Fairpark, the Festival moved again to the Gallivan Center in 2002, before settling in 2003 at Library and Washington Squares in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah.

From the guide to the Utah Arts Festival Foundation records, 1977-2009, (J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah)