By Collette Hayes | [email protected]

A festive crowd gathered for Blue Moon Festival 2022 at Holladay City Town Hall in August  for a night of art, music and local food. Bringing unity to the community as well as highlighting what makes Holladay a beautiful place to visit and to live, the event was filled with something for the entire family. 

Holladay Arts Council executive director, Sheryl Gillilan, and her arts council committee organized an event that was informative and entertaining and included vendors, crafters and live band performances. The event was co-partnered with Excellence in the Community, a nonprofit organization whose vision is to harness the talent of Utah’s best musicians, and music was the centerpiece of the night. Kage Hughart Project, a four-piece blues/rock band started the night off with original rock favorites. The Hughart Project was followed by Ryan Shupe and The RubberBand who brought the crowd to their feet with bluegrass and American country music.

“People of all ages are here, babies in parents’ arms, and I was just introduced to a woman who was 98 years old,” Gillilan said. “The festival is literally a huge party bringing the community together where there is something for everyone. The vendors, the food, the bands—everything has been fabulous. None of this would be possible without the generous support of our sponsor Holladay Bank and Trust, my great arts council crew and all of the others who volunteer behind the scenes.”

The Blue Moon festival allows vendors, artists and musicians to promote and market their talent and their products. Barbara Brandeburg, a plein air artist, was encouraged by her daughter, a Holladay resident, to sell her landscape scenes at the festival. After a successful career designing quilt patterns under the name of Cabbage Rose, Brandeburg turned off her sewing machine and picked up a paint brush to create art that depicts a gentler time and the quiet and calm of nature. 

“After my husband died four years ago, I decided to begin painting to fill the morning hours,” Brandeburg said. “I started as an outdoor painter which is called plein air. I then moved to studio work and larger paintings. Most of my smaller paintings were done on location and are more spontaneous.”

Creative artists of the food kind were also there. A California native, avid snowboarder and tiramisu chef, Paula Williams now lives in the Salt Lake Valley. She began making tiramisu for her coworkers who along with local food writers in Salt Lake encouraged her to go into business selling this Italian dessert.

“Twisted Tiramisu offers up to 43 flavors and counting,” Williams said. “Summer events such as the Blue Moon Festival are so important for us because you’re meeting the public and the customers you are selling to. Twisted Tiramisu provides tiramisu for most all special events including weddings, anniversaries and birthdays.”  

Unified Fire Authority and Unified Police Department-Holladay Precinct were on hand during the festival to provide information and to answer questions about safety and ongoing support they provide for the community.  

Holladay resident Peter Monson and his daughters Aspen and Emerson, attend the festival every year. The family enjoys the delicious food from the local food trucks, the many vendors and the talented musicians.

“My favorite things about the Blue Moon Festival are getting my face painted and getting balloon art,” said Emerson, age 9. “I’m really hoping I get to see the Blue Moon at the Festival, but I’m not sure that is even possible. It would be so cool.”

The Blue Moon Festival will be held next year on August 26, 2023. For information on how to become involved in next year’s festival, visit the Holladay Arts website at www.holladayarts.org.