Utah Stories

Winter Fun, Utah Theater, and Utah Museum of Fine Arts Exhibit

Brave the cold and take a spin around the Gallivan Center, enter a New Year’s race, or go to a play this December.

|


Activities

December—Ice skating at Gallivan Center
Prices include skate rental: Adults $9, children 4–12, and Seniors $8; Children 3 and under free. Hours are Monday–Thursday 4pm–9pm; Friday and Saturday 12pm–12am; and Sunday 12pm–7pm. Visit their website for blackout dates.

December—Christmas Village at Ogden Municipal Gardens
The Gardens are located at 2549 Washington Blvd, and the village is opened daily from 5pm–12am. Visit a winter wonderland lit with Christmas light and a setting of cottages modeled after Santa’s North Pole village. Find more information on their Facebook page.

December 2 and 3; and 9–10—Picture Your Pet with Santa at the Murray Humane Society Book an appointment to have your pet’s photo taken with Santa. All proceeds go to the Humane Society of Utah. Visit their website for more information on how to book an appointment.

December 3–March 11, 2018—Go West! Art of the American Frontier from the Buffalo Bill Center of the West at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts
This exhibit examines the development of the American West through original artworks by Euro-American and Plains Indian artists. Visit their website for more information.

December 13–February 14—Winter Wednesdays at Tracy Aviary
$1 Admission at Tracy Aviary the second Wednesday every month through February. The admission prices goes toward conservation efforts to help protect endangered species. The aviary is located in Liberty Park at 580 E 1300 S.

December 16—Winter Solstice Celebration at Red Butte Garden
Come to the Garden for the first day of winter. A celebration will be held in the Children’s Garden with crafts, stories, and a Yule Log. Held from 9am–noon. Admission is $3. Go to their website for more information.

December 31—Beat the New Year 5K
Join this race for their 40 anniversary. The race is run at Highland High School and Sugar House Park. Visit their website for more information about the race and registration.

Theater

Family Friendly

Hale Centre Theater, Sandy
Aida
November 17–January 20
9900 South Monroe Street, Sandy

Hale Center Theater, Orem
A Christmas Carol
November 25–December 23
225 West 400 North, Orem

Off Broadway Theatre
Star Ward Christmas
November 17–December 23
272 S Main Street, Salt Lake City

Desert Star Playhouse
Christmas Vacation: The Polarized Express
November 9–December 30
4861 South State Street, Murray

Eccles Theater
The Bodyguard
November 24–26
131 South Main Street, Salt Lake City

Kingsbury Hall
Odyssey Dance Theatre’s The ReduxNut-Cracker
December 13–23
1395 E Presidents Circle, Salt Lake City

CenterPoint Legacy Theatre
A Christmas Carol
November 24–December 23
525 North 400 West, Centerville

Tuacahn
Fairy Tale Christmas
December 1–23
1100 Tuacahn Dr., Ivins.

Ballet West
The Nutcracker
December 2–30
Capitol Theatre, 50 West 200 South, Salt Lake City

Repertory Dance Theatre
Ring Around the Rose—Aerial Arts of Utah
December 9
Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, 138 West 300 South, Salt Lake City

Utah Children’s Theatre
Charlie and Chocolate Factory
December 1–January 6
3605 South State Street, Salt Lake City

Ziegfeld Theater
A Fairly Potter Christmas Carol
December 1–23
Ziegfeld Theater, 3934 S. Washington Blvd., Ogden

Utah Symphony
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in Concert
December 21–23
Abravanel Hall, 123 West South Temple, Salt Lake City

Salt Lake Acting Company
The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs
December 1–29
168 West 500 North, Salt Lake City

Pioneer Theatre
Newsies
December 1–20
300 South 1400 East, Salt Lake City

Mary G. Steiner Egyptian Theatre
Elf the Musical JR
December 7–9
328 Main Street, Park City

Date Night

Gallivan Center – Excellence in the Community
Josh Wright—Classical Piano
December 21
Gallivan Center, 239 South Main Street, Salt Lake City

Utah Repertory Theater
The Bridges of Madison County
November 25–December 10
Regent Street Black Box Theater at the Eccles Theater, 131 South Main Street, Salt Lake City

,

Join our newsletter.
Stay informed.


  • Highway 6 and the Midland Trail: Utah’s Transcontinental Highway History

    From Price Canyon to Delta’s desert stretch, Utah played a central role in building the Midland Trail, one of America’s earliest transcontinental highways and the foundation of today’s Highway 6.


  • Whiskey, Bullets & a Buried Town: Archaeologists Reveal Alta’s Wild Past

    Before Alta was known for powder days and lift lines, it was a silver mining town clinging to the side of a narrow canyon. In the late 1800s, men lived at 8,000 feet, went underground each day, and endured winters that regularly buried buildings in snow. This past summer, that mining town resurfaced — literally — during construction at the Alta Ski Area.

    To understand what Alta really looked like, you don’t begin with legend. You begin with its trash — and this time, that happened almost by accident.

    Alta Ski Area was installing underground water reservoirs to support snowmaking. Because the project sits on Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest land, an archaeologist was required to monitor the excavation. No one expected the trench to produce much.

    But, It did.

    Artifacts began surfacing almost immediately. Enough that the Forest Service contacted the Utah State Historic Preservation Office for help. Lexi Little, who coordinates the Utah Cultural Site Stewardship Program, helped mobilize nearly 30 volunteers to assist with what quickly became a focused two-week excavation.

    Winter deadlines were approaching. The pipes for the reservoirs had to go in the ground. There wasn’t time for a slow, extended dig.

    “It was two weeks of digging in the dirt and helping figure out exactly what we were looking at,” Little said.

    Most of the people screening soil weren’t professional archaeologists. They were trained stewards from around Utah — part of a statewide volunteer network that now approaches 500 people. They poured dirt through shaker screens, scanning for fragments that could piece together a town long buried.

    “Archaeology is human trash,” Little explained. “Archaeologists are very into trash.”

    Alta had left plenty behind.

    https://youtu.be/hzIHzx3OGoo?si=dKcl2CEz-t6FZzYw

    Victorian-style ceramics appeared first — the kind typically used in hotels. Medicine bottles followed. Ink bottles. Hand-blown glass. A porcelain doll’s foot surfaced from the soil, a small detail that shifted the mental image of the town. Families were here. Children were here. This wasn’t only a camp of miners.

    The bottles helped establish time. Manufacturing details — whether glass was hand-blown or mold-made, whether a maker’s mark appeared on the base — allowed archaeologists to date many of the artifacts to the 1870s through the 1890s, when Alta was booming as a silver mining town.

    “That gives you that range of dates for when Alta was really booming,” Little said.

    One reusable soda bottle clearly stamped “Salt Lake City” connected the canyon to the valley economy below.

    Then something unusual rolled out of a dirt pile.

    A corked bottle. Intact. Liquid still inside.

    Continue reading and support independent Utah journalism with a purchase of Utah Stories (Digital + Print) or 3 month free trial (Digital).


  • How Horses Help Kids Heal: Inside Utah’s Equine Therapy World

    Kelty Johnson trains horses for a living, but her deeper work happens in the quiet space between animal and human. On the Utah Stories podcast, she explains how equine therapy helps children regulate emotions, build confidence, and reconnect through presence rather than pressure.


  • Angela Brown: The Woman Behind SLUG Magazine and Craft Lake City

    Angela Brown is the publisher and owner of SLUG Magazine, one of the city’s longest-running independent publications and a central voice in Utah’s alternative arts and music scene. She is also the founder of Craft Lake City, a nonprofit that has grown into one of the state’s largest platforms for local makers and creative entrepreneurs.