Vineyard Days 2026 felt like a community festival with its sleeves rolled up and its heart showing. From tournaments and parades to fishing, crafts, carnival rides, and neighbors filling booths with homemade goods, this year’s celebration marked a another leap forward for the city.
A great deal of credit belongs to two former Vineyard City employees, Anna Nelson and her assistant Zoe Marshall, as well as the ARCH commission whose early planning helped lay the groundwork and event schedule for Vineyard Days. Their work brought in sponsorships and helped shape an event that brought families together across multiple parks and several packed days of activities.
That planning was then carried forward and well-implemented by Teresa Horn and staffers, who brought valuable experience from years of involvement with the OremFest committee. The result was a Vineyard Days that felt organized, energetic, and full of small-town charm, with just enough festival sparkle to make the week memorable.
One of the funniest and most talked-about activities was the Huck Finn Fish Catch at Penny Springs Park, where youth of all ages jumped into the overfill area to catch fish with their bare hands. ARCH Commission Chair Jarom Sidwell brought forward the idea early in stages of planning, and partnerships with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, along with leadership from Parks & Rec Director Brian Vawdrey, helped bring it to life.
The two-hour event was part fishing, part comedy show, and part slippery chaos. Kids dove, scooped, squealed, and proudly held up their slimy little “friends” while parents laughed from the sidelines. It was wonderfully wild in exactly the way childhood memories should be.
The Purple Cow floats and Vineberry Ice Cream provided tastes of Vineyard with an official Vineyard treat celebrating the city’s heritage of grapes and dairy cows. Vineberry deserves a special spotlight. With its deep purple color and original huckleberry-esque flavor, it feels both nostalgic and new, a playful nod to Vineyard’s name, roots, and agricultural story. It is local, memorable, delicious, and feels like a tradition in the making.
The celebration engaged the community in pickleball, spikeball, wiffleball, and continued the annual tradition of the Children’s Entrepreneur Market, food trucks, carnival, boutique market, block party, 5K and Kids 1K, Candy Cannon, a live concert, drone show, and grand finale fireworks over Grove Park and Utah Lake. A sponsorship brought in by Anna Nelson allowed for the addition of a car show and motorized parade.
Mayor Zack Stratton’s narration during the America 250 drone show added a powerful patriotic touch, helping turn the night sky into a unifying, inspiring, and moving tribute to our nation’s and city’s stories.
A highlight of the parade was local Olympian bobsledder Caleb Furnell serving as grand marshal, adding a proud Olympic spark to the city celebration.
Most of all, thanks go to the hundreds of citizens who hosted booths, sold items, shared talents, volunteered time, and supported neighbors. Vineyard Days worked because Vineyard showed up.
This year built a strong foundation, and 2027 has a beautiful runway ahead. Vineyard is special because its residents continue to contribute, uplift, and care for one another.
