SoJo Summerfest is South Jordan's welcome to summer. The city bills it as its premier event of the year, and it runs as a week-long festival that starts small on a Tuesday evening in Daybreak and builds to a full Saturday of races, a parade, a carnival, a free music festival and fireworks. It lands in the first days of summer vacation, which makes it one of the earliest big city celebrations on the calendar for Utah Valley families.
The week, day by day
South Jordan published the 2026 festival like this, and the shape holds from year to year:
- Tuesday, June 2: the Parade Preview and Kite Festival at Highland Park in Daybreak, 5 to 8 p.m., with food trucks and a craft from the Gale Museum.
- Wednesday, June 3: the Mulligans Bash at Mulligans Golf & Games. In 2024 the city described it as free mini golf, batting cages, chipping and putting games and a barbecue.
- Thursday, June 4: Carnival Family Night, 4 to 10 p.m., with an artisan vendor market, food trucks and a root beer garden.
- Friday, June 5: the carnival from 4 p.m. and a movie in the park at 9:15.
- Saturday, June 6: the 5K at 7 a.m. and the kids' run at 7:30, a parade breakfast, a chalk art festival all day, the parade from 9 to 11:30 a.m., the vendor market, the carnival until 10:30 p.m., and fireworks at 10.
The free SoJo Music Festival runs across two of the festival's nights. Most of it happens at South Jordan's City Park, off Redwood Road at about 11000 South, which the city calls North City Park on its festival pages.
The carnival
The carnival runs Thursday through Saturday. South Jordan sold unlimited-ride wristbands in advance for $30 in 2026, until noon on the Thursday, at City Hall, the Community Center, the Public Works building and Mulligans; after that, wristbands and tickets were sold at the carnival.
The parade
The Saturday parade is the centerpiece of the week, and the Tuesday preview in Daybreak lets families see the entries up close before they roll. In 2026 the city added an America-themed float of its own for the nation's 250th anniversary.
The free things
Much of Summerfest costs nothing. The SoJo Music Festival is free, and the city's own festival photos show the kind of park activities that fill the Saturday: a dinosaur encounter, a butterfly tent, chalk artists at work and a Best in SoJo dog show.
Fireworks, in the drone-show era
Across the Salt Lake Valley, drone shows have been replacing fireworks. Salt Lake City moved to drones after its city council declined to fund holiday fireworks in 2022, citing environmental concerns; Millcreek and Heber closed their 2026 Independence Eve celebrations with drone shows, and Draper added a drone show to its fireworks in 2026. South Jordan itself co-presented a Daybreak drone show at an end-of-summer bash in 2023.
SoJo Summerfest, so far, has kept its fireworks: the 2026 festival ended at 10 p.m. on Saturday with a half-hour show over City Park. Check the year's schedule if one or the other matters to you.
Getting there from Utah County
OpenStreetMap routing puts South Jordan's City Park about 32 miles and 40 minutes from downtown Provo without traffic, a straight run up I-15 and west. Highland Park, for the Tuesday preview, is farther west in Daybreak. For everything else South Jordan offers, from Oquirrh Lake to the Bees' ballpark, see Things to Do in South Jordan and Daybreak.
Practical notes
- Buy carnival wristbands early. The presale price ends at noon on the Thursday.
- The parade is a morning event. It started at 9 a.m. in 2026, so come early for a good spot.
- Saturday runs from dawn to dark. The 5K starts at 7 a.m. and the fireworks at 10 p.m.
- Check the year's dates. The festival moves between late May and early June.
Related Guides
- Things to Do in South Jordan and Daybreak
- Salt Lake County From Utah Valley
- Draper Days
- West Jordan's Western Stampede
- Bountiful Handcart Days
- Orem Summerfest
- Fort Herriman Towne Days
- Riverton Town Days
Frequently Asked Questions
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