It was a sunny day with a light breeze and kids ran around with painted faces and balloon animals.  The first annual Westside Arts, Food and Music Festival was in full swing. “This is our first year and we couldn’t be happier with the turnout!” said Restore North Temple Founder, Jade Sarver.  “The whole purpose of this event is to bring our entire community together to appreciate all the things our neighborhood is known for.  Our food, our art, our music and our history!”  The event was well attended with estimates in the range of about 500 people.  The event was free to attend and featured over 30 local artists and vendors, as well as 3 stages packed all day with live music from bands like The K Tones, individual guitarists and singers like local favorite Dan Weldon, and local dance groups like the popular Malialole Dance group, who performed several traditional dancers, and even got a few audience members to jump in.  “I’m here for the food trucks!!” said one festival goer.  The Red Food truck sold delicious Peruvian sandwiches, and Facil Taco truck sold locally flavored fare.  “We are so thankful to Westview Media, the River District Business Alliance Neighborworks and Rocky Mountain Power for being our key sponsors.  We were able to put on this free event for neighbors through generous donations from local businesses,” said Sarver.  The event was held at the Sugar Space Arts Warehouse.  “This was a hugely successful event,” said Brittany Reese, owner of Sugar Space.  “We would love to host more events like this in the future.”

Restore North Temple is a citizen-led, grassroots movement to bring the entire west side community together to support the restoration of our Grand Boulevard, North Temple.   The purpose of this movement is to unite residents, community organizations, and businesses to reduce crime, increase economic development and improve the perception of the west side of Salt Lake City, particularly focused on the North Temple corridor.