(light upbeat music) - SoJo Summerfest returns with a week of music, food, fireworks, and family-friendly events that showcase South Jordan's community spirit.

The festival features carnival rides, live entertainment, and so much more.

Rachael Van Cleave joins us now to share how the festival creates shared traditions and lasting memories.

Welcome, Rachel.

- Well, thank you.

Thank you for having me.

I'm happy to be here.

- Thanks for being here.

So tell us about what we can expect at this year's Summerfest.

- So, SoJo Summerfest is our premier event of the year.

We are one of the earlier summer events.

A lot of cities or organizations have 'em around 4th of July or Pioneer Day.

We are the kickoff to summer.

At SoJo Summerfest, we say, "Where summer begins."

It's kind of the tagline for it.

And it has so many things, and much of it is free to the public.

- Oh wow.

- Which is, we love for people to come out.

Come check out South Jordan.

Come see our beautiful city and all that we have to offer.

And the event, like, you mentioned some of the really key things like the carnival, the concerts, so.

- [Liz] And the rides.

- [Liz and Rachael] And the rides.

- It's a big draw.

People love the carnival, which we do through City of Fun, which is a great carnival organization.

But earlier in the week, we start with a couple of kind of warmup events we like to call 'em.

First is our parade preview for... Much of what happens at the Summerfest is right in the center part of town.

This brings some of the parade over to our far western portion, which is our fastest growing portion of the city.

And so they get to see the floats.

We do a kite festival with it, and Mary Poppins shows up, which the kids love.

- [Liz] I bet that is a treat.

And does she sing and perform and all of that?

- You might hear a little bit of singing here and there.

- She's got to.

- She's got to.

(laughs) But she will be flying a kite, I'll tell you that.

- [Liz] I love that.

- But yeah, so we do that and then our Mulligans Golf and Games, which is a city facility.

We do the Mulligans Bash, which offers a lot of, like, free mini golf and various things for people.

They can go and check out Mulligans.

- You're saying my favorite things, free, free, free.

All right, well, if you would like to check out SoJo Summerfest this year, we've got the information for you on the screen.

It is June 2nd through the 6th at Highland Park, Mulligans, North City Park.

Just go to sjc.utah.gov for more information.

I'm Liz Adeola, and I'm so grateful that you're here watching "Contact."

Thanks.

(light upbeat music) Philanthropy, Arts, culture.

It's what brings us together.

Hi, I'm Liz Adeola, the host of Contact, a show that connects you with local events and organizations that serve your community.

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