A festival named for wheat and sugar beets
More than a century old Wheat and sugar beets Also Garland City Days
The name is the history. Garland grew up as a farm town on a new Bear River canal, and its two cash crops, wheat and sugar beets, are the ones the festival still carries in its title. Beets in particular built the place: the beet-sugar factory that opened in 1903 gave the town its first big payroll and the row of silos that still marks the skyline. Wheat and Beet Days is how Garland keeps that origin in plain view every summer.
The city runs the celebration under two names, Wheat and Beet Days and Garland City Days, and uses them more or less interchangeably, so you will see both on flyers and on the city calendar. Whichever one you search, it points at the same early August weekend.
It is a long-running tradition, one the city marks as more than a century old, which is a deep streak for a town of roughly 2,400 people. The full story of the factory that gives the festival half its name lives on its own page.
The details
Good to know
- The festival goes by two names, so either search term lands you in the same place.
- The city marks it as more than a century old, about as old as the town's farming and factory era.
- The beet story behind the name lives on the Garland sugar factory page.
The parade and the library Fun Run
A downtown parade A Fun Run for the library Early August
The parade is the centerpiece of the weekend, a homegrown production that runs down through the middle of Garland: floats, antique tractors, civic groups, and local businesses, the kind of lineup a small town assembles from its own clubs and schools rather than a touring show. For a lot of people who grew up here, the parade is the reason to come back.
The other signature piece is the Fun Run, and it has a purpose beyond the exercise: it raises money for the Garland City Library, the town's 1914 Carnegie building and still its working library. Signing up for the run is one of the quiet ways the festival pays its own community forward.
Both happen over the early August weekend, at and around Garland City Park and the downtown route. Start times move from one year to the next, so the current schedule comes from Garland City.
The details
Getting a spot
Curb space along the route fills before the parade steps off, so come early, bring your own chairs, and park a few blocks back. If the Fun Run is on your list, look for the sign-up ahead of time, since it doubles as the library fundraiser.
Before you go
- The parade runs through the middle of town, so arrive early for a good curb spot.
- The Fun Run is a fundraiser for the town library, so signing up supports it directly.
- Parade and run times shift each year; check the Garland City calendar first.
Ballgames, kids' contests, and the car show
Softball and baseball Little Mr. and Little Miss A car show at the park
Garland City Park is the hub of the weekend, and a good part of what happens there is a ballfield tradition: softball and baseball championships that turn the park into a tournament for the couple of days the festival runs. It is the kind of local competition where the teams and the spectators mostly already know each other.
Around the games, the festival runs the small-town staples that make it feel like the whole town's party. There are Little Mr. and Little Miss contests for the youngest residents, and a car show sets up at the park, classic and custom vehicles lined out for the day. None of it is a touring production; it is Garland putting on its own show.
The details
Good to know
- The ballgames run at Garland City Park, the center of the whole festival.
- The car show and the Little Mr. and Little Miss contests are community events, free to watch.
- Exact times and brackets come from the Garland City calendar.
Booths, live music, and a movie in the park
Food and vendor booths Live music An outdoor movie
Beyond the parade and the games, the ground level of Wheat and Beet Days is the booths. Food and vendor stands set up around Garland City Park and downtown, selling festival food and local goods, and they run more or less all weekend, which makes them the easy answer if you just want to show up and wander rather than time a specific event.
Live music plays over the weekend, and one of the nicer touches is a movie in the park: an outdoor screening at Garland City Park after dark, the sort of low-key evening that suits a small town. Between the booths, the music, and the movie, the festival gives you a full day and an easy night with almost no planning.
The details
Before you go
- The booths run most of the weekend, so they are the low-planning way to take the festival in.
- Bring a chair or a blanket for the movie in the park after dark.
- Bring some cash as well as a card; small booths can be cash-friendly.
The children's theater production in July
A companion production Mid-July Children's Charity Theater
Wheat and Beet Days has a companion piece that runs a few weeks ahead of the August weekend: a Children's Charity Theater production, typically a mid-July show put on by local kids. It is the town's youth theater tradition, folded into the same summer as the festival even though it lands on its own date.
If you are planning around the festival and want the full arc of Garland's summer, the July show is worth knowing about, because it is easy to miss when you are looking only at the early August dates. As with the rest of the schedule, the current year's performance dates come from the city.
The details
Good to know
- The theater show is a separate July date, not part of the August weekend.
- It is a local youth production, so casts and titles change from year to year.
- Check the Garland City calendar for the current performance dates.
