Boulder Community Market and Escalante Canyons Art Festival

Nothing brings a community together quite like food, and a farmers market is the ideal hub — a melting pot of local growers and producers meeting, greeting, and selling their delightfully fresh and delicious products to their neighbors. Additionally, it’s a great place to pick up unique art and crafts while the kids have a blast running around in the sunshine. Indeed, towns big and small come alive on Saturdays during the growing season.

The Boulder Community Farmers Market is a charming market along the All-American Road, Scenic Byway 12, and all are welcome to energize their journey with a little high-elevation positive community vibe. It’s not uncommon to see townsfolk giving hiking advice to happy tourists while grocery shopping. Stop by during the growing season from 9 a.m. to noon to pick up provisions for the road, and get a real sense for that magical Boulder Mountain vibe. You’ll find fresh garden vegetables, tubers, flowers, and prepared goods to make your drive to Bryce Canyon or Capitol Reef national parks a tastier experience.

About 28 miles down the scenic byway sits Escalante, home to the annual Escalante Canyons Art Festival/Everett Ruess Days, usually held in September at various venues around the city.

The festival’s namesake, Everett Ruess, is a legend in many artistic and Utah historic circles. Despite his young age, the 20-year-old artist rubbed shoulders with painter Maynard Dixon, and well-known photographers Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, and Dorothea Lange. In November of 1934, Ruess mysteriously disappeared in a rugged canyon near Escalante. His love for the red rock country and canyons of Arizona and Utah, his poetic musings of his wanderings, the mystery of his death, and the art that lives beyond him have inspired many.

Envision Escalante and Escalante Canyons Group for Arts and Humanities present the annual Escalante Canyons Art Festival/Everett Ruess Days as a working art festival. Their goal is to celebrate the varied fine art that draws from the majestic Escalante country and to welcome people to learn some of the area’s rich history.

At the festival, there are many events throughout the week. Some of the highlights include workshops, demonstrations, open studios, speakers, exhibits, galleries, musicians, and more.

One of the best things about this festival is if you need a break from the art (or when you want to see all the beauty first hand), you can venture out into nearby canyon country and explore for an afternoon or overnight before coming back and indulging some more in the creative art experience. Everett Ruess would have wanted it this way.

GPS Coordinates:
Boulder Community Farmers Market: 37.901607, -111.423502
Escalante Canyons Art Festival (Escalante town center): 37.770410, -111.601824