NORTH SALT LAKE, Utah — Community-led events that have brought North Salt Lake residents together for cultural celebrations over the past four years are on hold while city leaders consider how the events should move forward.
North Salt Lake's Night Out events have included Pride Night, Juneteenth, Latino Heritage, Pacific Islander celebrations and others. Residents have volunteered to chair the events, which are then presented to an event committee before ultimately going to the North Salt Lake City Council for approval.
For resident Gentry Holbrook and her family, the events have been an opportunity to connect with their neighbors.
“We started going to them. They’re really fantastic,” Holbrook said. “We just instantly fell in love with them. There are so many people in our community who attend them.”
Holbrook said the celebrations reflect what she appreciates about living in North Salt Lake, a community close to a major city that still maintains what she describes as a small-town atmosphere.
“We’ve got the small hometown feel with this kind of sense of community,” she said.
According to Holbrook, residents who want to organize a Night Out event can propose an idea and volunteer to chair it.
“These are North Salt Lake citizens saying, ‘Hey, this is important to me, I want to chair it, this is what it could possibly look like,’” Holbrook said.
The proposal then goes through the city's event committee and eventually to the city council for a vote.
The future of the Night Out events became uncertain following a recent city council meeting.
During the meeting, concerns were raised by mayor Brian Horrocks about whether allowing residents to propose community events could put the city in a position of having to support events or groups whose messages city leaders may not want to endorse.
"We are opening ourselves to saying if you’ve got an idea come forward. So do we have a Latino Night and then the next week some anti-immigration group wants to come and we have to advertise it, pay for it, and put our names behind it?” The mayor said during the meeting. “I just don’t want to be in this position.”
Another city council member explained that there is a process in place already to ensure organizations are not hosting these events. The only event approved that was hosted by an organization was A Boulder Way Forward.
FOX 13 reached out to the mayor of North Salt Lake, who said he had no comment at this time. He said the city attorney is reviewing the events and will provide an opinion on how they should or should not proceed.
Resident Jacob Gordon attended the council meeting and said he was discouraged by what he heard.
“I went up and said how we should keep the Night Out events because it would be a mistake to get rid of them,” Gordon said.
Gordon said he views the celebrations as an opportunity for residents to learn more about their neighbors and experience cultures they may not otherwise encounter.
“Like the Latino Night Out is a good way to get to know your neighbors who may have Latino ancestry or might be a part of that community, and it’s a great way to get to know other people,” Gordon said.
In recent weeks, Holbrook started a petition calling for the Night Out events to continue. She said the effort has received significant support, although there are also people in the community who oppose the events.
Holbrook hopes the celebrations will return in 2027.
“We are here for our community members, we support them, and these things are important and make our communities more rich,” she said.
While the future of the events remains unclear, Holbrook said she hopes residents continue to stay involved in the discussion.