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| Naked Waiters at the Campfire Concert in the Canyon |
Written by Brieanne Enman
The 13th annual Groovefest Music and Art Festival is in full swing. Starting on Monday with Groove Kids, an event geared more toward showcasing the younger musicians in the community, the festivities changed gears toward more adult-oriented performances with LitFest: The Energy of Words on Tuesday, June 23, and the Campfire Concert in the Canyon on Wednesday, June 24.
The third annual LitFest, sponsored by The Independent, was Tuesday night at Off The Cuff and featured many local poets and writers reading their original works. Asher Swan, a professional photographer and recent graduate of Southern Utah University emceed the event, a role which he said was a pleasure to take up.
“I think it’s a great opportunity for spoken word artists to get out and say what they want to say,” Swan said.
The first performer of the evening was Natalie Young, the graphic designer and one of the founding editors for the poetry magazine Sugar House Review. She was followed by Janae Godfrey, Rae Lewis, and Matthew Burnette, who performed his poem “Untitled.”
SUU student Jaitee Pitts performed next, followed by Darren Edwards, who holds the title of Slam Master for the southern Utah Slam Poetry scene. Edwards performed a poem entitled “Privileged.”
The final performers were Ron Coulson; Helen Boswell, an associate professor of biology at SUU and fiction writer; and Nathaniel Taggart, who is also a founding editor of Sugar House Review.
The first Campfire Concert in the Canyon was held Wednesday night in the Cedar Canyon Nature Park with a performance by a group called The Naked Waiters (who were actually fully clothed). The group performed cover songs as well as some originals. The next Campfire Concert in the Canyon will be at the end of August. While these concerts are free to the public, donations are welcome and will go directly to the Southwest Wildlife Foundation for the rehabilitation of injured wildlife.
The 13th annual Groovefest Music and Art Festival continues tonight with kick-off concerts leading up to the main performances in the Main Street Park on Friday and Saturday. Tonight, Richard Tyler Epperson will start the evening at 7 p.m. at Off The Cuff, followed by The Way Down Wanderers at 7:30 p.m. At 10 p.m. Soul What!? will take the stage at Mike’s Tavern for an after hours show for those over 21.
Music in the Main Street Park starts Friday at 1 p.m. and Saturday at 12:30 p.m. Music workshops will be held both days at Artisans Gallery on Center Street in Cedar City. After hours parties will be held Friday and Saturday at Mike’s Tavern and will include performances by Jeffery Halford and Ragged Union. Groovefest ends on Sunday with Gospel Brunch at Off The Cuff and the Groovefest Redemption Party at Mike’s Tavern.
For more information, visit http://www.groovefestutah.com/.
