Local performers are ready to step into the spotlight at this year’s Southern Utah Performing Arts Festival (SUPAF). Approximately 5,000 local student singers, dancers, and musicians are poised to participate in the 27th annual SUPAF, which will commence Tuesday, Feb. 9th and continue throughout the next eight weeks.
The Southern Utah Performing Arts Festival is the creation of the St. George Exchange Club, a local service organization. Since its inception, the Exchange Club has organized, produced, and hosted the festival, providing a forum for talented artists from all over Southern Utah to perform before professional adjudicators who provide critique and mentorship. Participants in each category vie for superior ratings as well as top honors. Adjudicators select performers for first, second, and third place who will be recognized at the awards ceremony in April. Some of the top participants will be invited to perform at the ceremony. This makes this year’s location, Tuacahn, “especially exciting,” stated James McFadden, current president of the St. George Exchange Club.
“We are pleased and excited to announce that Tuacahn Center for the Arts Amphitheatre in Ivins is the location for this year’s Awards Ceremony and winning performances,” McFadden continued. “It’s a distinct honor and privilege. We sincerely hope to make Tuacahn an integral part of this amazing festival for years to come. The 
generosity and support that Tuacahn and its managers have extended to our club is unprecedented, and we can’t wait to watch our students perform on their stage!”
Dixie State University (DSU) has been a great supporter of SUPAF for several years, hosting the most popular event—piano—and providing oversight as well as personnel. However, this year, the School of Visual and Performing Arts has decided to make DSU a title sponsor of the event. “With the backing of Dixie State University,” said Brett Labrum, program committee chairman, “our already wonderful event will just get better and better.”
Performances for the Southern Utah Performing Arts Festival will be held at two new locations this year, the Electric Theatre (vocal) and Hurricane High School (choir). Other events are slated for DSU (piano), Dixie High School (strings and orchestra), Snow Canyon High School (dance), and Pine View High School (brass, woodwind and percussion). A complete schedule of events, performance times, and locations can be found at http://supaf.org.
About the St. George Exchange Club
The St. George Exchange Club has actively served Southern Utah for over 40 years with members who are local business owners, community leaders, and volunteer citizens. Complementing the club is the St. George Exchange Club Foundation. Each year, club members are elected to preside over the foundation board, which is currently led by Jinks 
Dabney. The St. George Exchange Club Foundation is a registered 501(c) 3 and manages all funds donated or raised by the club. Funds raised are returned to the community through various programs the St. George Exchange Club sponsors. In addition to SUPAF, The St. George Exchange Club also sponsors and hosts “The St. George Mayors Walk,” “Iron Kids Fun Run,” “Student of the Month Recognition,” “Freedom Shrine installations and dedications,” the “Give Me Liberty” program serving area 5th graders, and “Give a Kid a Flag to Wave” at the annual Veterans Day Parade in Washington City. The St. George Exchange Club, in cooperation with DSU, also awards each area high school’s top graduating senior with first year tuition grants, and in 2015 the club contributed over $100,000 to help the City of St. George build the “All Abilities Park” which is slated for dedication this coming spring.
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