Festival of the Americas had a successful second year this weekend

Kayenta Arts Foundation hosted the second annual Festival of the Americas highlighting indigenous culture and art.  

The opening ceremony this year was presented by the Paiute Tribe and served as an introduction to the local Native American tribe. As the festival is only in its second year of running many of the same artists and vendors were there, however, the most noticeable change was the performers.  

The festival includes traditional dances, storytelling, and music performances throughout and featured the Adrian Wall Trio. The group focuses on infusing art and Native American history and was the main performer at this year's festival.  

“It's basically the same layout in the same programming, but it's different programming. And we have new artists. This year, we had for the opening ceremony, the Paiute, Indian tribe of Utah. That was last night. And then tonight is the Adrian wall trio. And so, both of those are new this year, you know, each year we try to have a different opening ceremony and a featured performance,” Kayenta Center for the Arts festival Director Todd Prince said.  

Over 5,000 locals flooded the event last year and Kayenta is expecting the same number this year. Next year, however, is expected to be a larger festival Kayenta Arts Foundation Chair Rob Goodman said.  

As the festival of the Americas is the only festival of its kind in Southern Utah, it brings in artists from all over the U.S. and gives locals a chance to learn about Native American culture and heritage.  

“We will expand next year, I think that festival will grow every year, in terms of the number of artisans that we have, we've already stepped up in terms of the performers we have this year compared to last year. So, I think we're on a roll and we'll just keep doing it and see how much the public wants,” Goodman said.  

There were 31 artists of varying mediums and tribes including the Diné, Hopi, Pueblo, and Inca present. There were also eight performances and six demonstrations throughout the event. 

“I think there are many people living here would have no idea that 1000s and 1000s of years ago, there was only Paiute here. So I think they should come out because the art and the performances are really different and extremely culturally enriching for themselves,” Goodman said.  

Elle Cabrera covers breaking news and topics. Please help us to continue producing this content at thespectrum.com/subscribe.