Summertime means lazy pool-side afternoons, no school, warm weather and ... llamas? That's right. Summer also means it's the time of year for Llama Fest.
The 15th Annual Llama Fest will be on Saturday beginning at 4 p.m. at the Utah Valley Llama Farm on property adjoining the beautiful Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork.
"The original llama festival was 15 years ago," said Charu Das, event organizer. "We did it as a tongue-in-cheek event. Rather then focusing exclusively on the llamas, we incorporated the south-of-the-border food and music. We used a lot of local groups to perform on the stage. ... Now we get probably 3,500 or 4,000 people that come every year."
Besides having 75 llamas, the festival features obstacle courses, races and booths featuring food, crafts and clothing typical of the Andes, the region where llamas are found. The festival also includes live native music from many local acts, including Los Hermanos de los Andes, a band that has been performing each year since the festival began.
Edgar Zurita, a member of the band, said Das "saw us perform and felt that we would be a perfect fit since we are music from the Andes."
The Krishna Temple has had llamas on its grounds for almost 25 years. Followers of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness religion enjoyed hiking, but didn't like carrying around the heavy supplies -- so they invested in llamas to help. The sale of a llama to a wealthy businessman even helped raise enough funds to purchase the land to build the temple back in 1991.
Das said that many people misunderstand and think that the llamas have some sort of religious affiliation with the group, which they don't. However, there are cows and peacocks on the temple site, which are important animals in the religion.
The Llama Fest is a fun, family activity for people of all ages. Das said that llamas are gentle creatures and are especially careful around children.
More than 500 parking spaces are available at the temple site and people are strongly encouraged to park there, instead of on the streets of Spanish Fork.
"If you have been to the festival before, you realize that for an afternoon you're just taking a trip back to the Andes," Zurita said. "You're not only enjoying the music, but the clothing and the llamas and the vendors. They have arts and crafts from South America. It really is like going back to the Andes regions just for one afternoon."
If you go:
15th Annual Llama Fest
Where: Krishna Temple, 8628 S. Main St., Spanish Fork
When: Saturday at 4 p.m.
Admission: $3, $1 for children
Info: Call Charu or Vai (801) 798-3559 or (801) 787-1510, www.utahvalleyllamas.com
