3rd Annual Bolivian Festival - Date and Time
I attended the biggest and most awaited Carnival-style celebration in Utah Valley last August 26, 2023, Saturday and it was a blast! The range of fun activities for this year’s Bolivian Festival started at 3p.m. MDT, and ended at 9 p.m.
Venue of the Annual Bolivian Festival 2023
The Orchard at the University Mall in Orem is the venue for the 3rd Bolivian Festival in Orem, Utah. If you live near the LDS Temple in Provo just like I do, the University Mall is less than a 10-minute drive.
The Orchard at the University Mall is located at 575 East Univ. Parkway, Orem, UT 84097.
You can also hop on the Utah Valley Express that has stations conveniently located in different stops in Provo and Orem. It passes each stop, including Provo Central Station, every 30 minutes.
About Utah’s Carnival Boliviano near Provo
The yearly Bolivian Festival at the University Mall in Orem is always an event you would not want to miss!
I attended last year’s festival and it’s definitely one of the events I look forward to each year. You can check out my blog post about my experience when I attended the 2nd Annual Bolivian Festival by clicking here: https://movetoprovoutah.com/annual-bolivian-festival-in-provo-orem/
From mouth watering Bolivian dishes to exciting programs that showcase Bolivia’s rich culture, this event has it all.
This carnival-themed festival is suitable for all ages. There are activities for kids and booths that feature Bolivian crafts. Last year’s highlight was the Miss Bolivia Utah competition which is also part of this year’s program.
I will be in one of the booths this year so see you there!
Program, activities and more details to be posted on El Chasqui Foundation’s event page so keep checking back!
If you want to be part of the team that makes the magic happen, just send them a message for volunteer opportunities.
The Annual Bolivian Festival Experience
We had an amazing time immersed in Bolivian culture on Saturday at the University Place Mall in Orem Utah!
If you have not done a booth at an event, do it, it is a great way to network. We had our booth, a grand prize for those who used the QR code to enter the drawing, we had the spinning wheel for prizes which was a HUGE hit for young and old alike!
We made some good contacts. Tristan was invited on to the stage to introduce our real estate team and do his elevator pitch! He did amazing! We had fliers in English and in Spanish. And Mike from Security Mortgage was there to help us with the Spanish speaking people.
While working our real estate booth at the Bolivian Festival hosted by the El Chasqui Foundation, we walked around to meet the other vendors.
The foundation has a service booth. This was so amazing. Check this out. They take the plastic bags you get your groceries in, all free from donations, and make these amazing mats for the homeless! The plastic bags are weaved into mats. These are heavy duty. I picked one up and can see how they will hold up.
These mats are rolled up so the homeless person can carry it around with them. They lay it on the grass, or ground, and put their bedding on top, to keep them dry. We are going to be doing this as a service project this November in our Relief Society. If your youth group or relief society wants to make these, contact me. I will put you in touch with Susi Lisi.
Some of the fun booths at the festival had food items that are Bolivian such as salteñas, Bolivian empanadas, Chica Morada drink ( this is my favorite Bolivian drink made from purple corn), and I love the main entree meal that they serve, Silpancho!
Here are some photos of Bolivian Souvenirs and Art. We were blessed to immerse ourselves into the Bolivian Culture while we had our Real estate booth at the #BolivianFestival at the University Place Mall in Orem, Utah.
I met this lovely book author Maria Gamero Arlington. She is Peruvian. She had a booth at the #BolivianFestival. I had a nice chat with her about her writing and the research she did for her books.
Right next to our booth was the Bolivian Missionaries booth. This was where anyone who has served a mission from our church in Bolivia could gather and be recognized for their time in Bolivia.
I was surprised at how many people living here in Utah served in Bolivia. I would have loved to be a fly on the wall to hear of their experiences!
Our booth was on one of the boundaries of the Orchard Park at University Place Mall in Orem Utah. We had a great view overlooking the entire festival, stage, and the other booths. This is the view as we were setting up at 1 p.m. The festival started at 3 p.m.
Bolivian Culture: Costume Parade
At The Bolivian Festival, they have a parade each year. The Bolivian costumers are so colorful and quite a variety. Bolivia is a big country with different geographical terrains. The country is divided by the east Andes mountain range and reaches down to the Amazon. So you can imagine the variety of mini- cultures within the Bolivian regions.
Miss Bolivia Utah from last year passed her crown to one of these ladies running for the title of Miss Bolivia Utah and then move on to the USA Bolivia pageant.
Here are the contenders:
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