BYU NewsNet - Pioneer Day Celebrations Roll Out

The traditions of Pioneer Day will carry on this year with celebrations all over the area that last all weekend.

Provo will sponsor the Pioneer Day Extravaganza in North Park located at 500 North and 500 West. The events start at 9 a.m. and will go until 2 p.m. There will be games, food, music, entertainment, a farmer's market, an antique car show, a re-enactment pioneer camps and a Native American village.

The Pioneer Day Classic, 10k and 5k races, will start in Provo at Timpview High School at 8 a.m. Once the race is over, a party for the racers will be at the finish line. Racers can register up until race day.

Firework shows will be put on at Mapleton Pioneer Days and Spanish Fork Fiesta Days during the July 24 celebration. Both cities have parades at 9 a.m. Fiesta Days includes a day full of events, ending with the popular Fiesta Days rodeo at 8 p.m. The fireworks will follow the rodeo and round up the events for the day.

Salt Lake's Days of '47 Pioneer Day celebration will kick off with the Sunrise Service at the Tabernacle at Temple Square. Following the service, a parade will begin running from South Temple and State Street down to Liberty Park. The Days of '47 Rodeo will have its last night on the July 24 at 4 p.m. in the Energy Solutions arena.

After a day of celebration, the Days of '47 will end with a concert featuring the entire Osmond family with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra on July 25 and 26 at 7:30 p.m. in the Conference Center in Salt Lake.

With such a variety of events choose, BYU students are celebrating the holiday in a number of different ways.

"For me, going to the rodeo is just a must for pioneer day," said Dave Clark, a senior at BYU. "It has always been a tradition for my family."

Some students are planning celebrations of their own and make Pioneer Day a time to spend time with family and friends.

"I'm planning a barbeque for all my friends this year," said Sarah Harold, a junior at BYU. "We are just going to be swimming, eating and socializing, and then finding some fireworks at night."

July 24 marks the day that the first company of pioneers led by Brigham Young entered the Salt Lake Valley in 1847. The holiday was commemorated in 1849 and was held at the site of the future LDS temple in Salt Lake City. While the celebrations are still centered in Salt Lake City and surrounding areas, the holiday has become a day for LDS Church members in all areas of the world to remember the sacrifices that the early pioneers of the church made to establish the church that exists today.