The year 2025 brought both loss and unity to Utah, as residents came together to support causes, mourn beloved figures and celebrate new milestones across the state.
WATCH: Utah reflects on defining moments of 2025 as the new year approaches
Political trailblazer Mia Love dies at 49
Former Congresswoman Mia Love died on March 23rd after battling brain cancer. Love made history as the first Black Republican woman elected to Congress, representing Utah's fourth district from 2015 to 2019. Before her congressional service, she served as Saratoga Springs mayor.
Love was 49 years old when she died, but lived to see her children grow up strong, healthy and confident. Her children, Alisa, Peyton and Abby, read a final message Love wrote about the country she dedicated much of her life to serving.
"My parents immigrated to the United States with $10 in their pocket and a belief that the America they had heard about really did exist as the land of opportunity," Love wrote. "What I know is the goodness and compassion of the American people is a multiplier that can simply not be measured."
"Like Benjamin Franklin and countless patriots down through the ages, I believe the American experiment is not a setting sun, but a rising sun," she continued.
Her family said she died peacefully at home surrounded by loved ones.
Sundance Film Festival leaves Utah after 42 years
After more than four decades, the Sundance Film Festival announced it was leaving Utah. Organizers chose Boulder, Colorado as the festival's new home starting in 2027. Sundance claimed it had outgrown Park City, but the decision impacts more than just Hollywood visitors.
"As a local filmmaker, you're sad to see such a big cultural event leave the state, and it just feels like a bit of a loss for everyone involved," one filmmaker said.
"The arts are extremely important to our community, and so we will continue to focus on arts," a local official said.
Colorado offered millions in tax incentives to Sundance in their bid to host the festival.
"There'll be tens of millions of dollars in the city coffers that are gone," one person noted about the economic impact.
Sundance founder Robert Redford thanked Utah for four decades of support. A few months later, on September 16th, Redford passed away at age 89. He died at his home in Sundance of natural causes.
Salt Lake Bees move to Daybreak
In April, the Salt Lake Bees played their home opener in Daybreak, not Salt Lake City. The sold-out game featured a military flyover and the first grand slam at the new ballpark. For the first time in a century, there's no professional baseball in the ballpark neighborhood.
"You never think that something so prominent and historic like a ballpark is ever just going to vanish and turn into a dilapidated unknown," one person said.
In December, Salt Lake City approved a vision for the future of Smith's Ballpark after three years of community input. The plan calls for converting part of the stadium into an entertainment venue, along with housing, green spaces, retail and a fire station. Work on the stadium could start early next year.
Utah's NHL team gets new name
The NHL team settled in Utah got a new name in 2025. Fans welcomed the newly coined Utah Mammoth with enthusiasm.
"I love it. I think it's really cool. I think it's awesome. I think a lot of their secondary logos like the U and the tusk look really, really cool. They did a good job on the jersey. They did a great job. Perfect. Best jersey in the NHL," fans said.
"Mammoth wasn't my first choice, but it's grown on me," another fan said. "I wanted to stay at the club. I love Utah Hockey Club."
Mammoth won a fan vote over Utah Outlaws and the Utah Hockey Club. More than 850,000 people voted in the poll in May.
Community campaigns address local needs
Utah residents helped raise more than $36,000 to pay off school lunch debt across the state during the third annual Erase School Lunch Debt Campaign. The need among Utah students grows every year.
"Every state is having some of these problems, and it's something that we're going to see as cost of living goes up," organizers noted.
The state also saw its longest government shutdown in history in 2025. For the first time, food assistance was not paid out during the funding lapse.
"Organizations across the country are planning for kind of a scenario that we have never really seen. The SNAP benefits for folks for the month of November have been discontinued," a food bank representative said. "So that means every state will have a certain amount of people who some are already participating in programs that food banks would offer, but others are going to be new. And then with the federal employees who are also out of work, we'll have first-timers."
Local grassroots efforts emerged to keep people fed across the state. An emergency Scare Away Hunger campaign launched on October 29th helped raise more than $52,000 for Utah Food Bank, which continues to see elevated need after the government shutdown resolved.
Sports community mourns hockey leader
The Utah sports community mourned the sudden death of hockey leader Kevin Bruder in 2025. Bruder, president and CEO of the Utah Grizzlies, died unexpectedly on May 13th at age 56.
"Kevin's impact on hockey just overall in Utah is tremendous. I mean, he's going to be missed," someone said.
Bruder had been general manager of the Mavericks Center since 1997 and led the Grizzlies since 2005. The Grizzlies were sold and will be moving to New Jersey at the end of the season.
New tallest building opens
A change to the Salt Lake City skyline was completed in 2025. Astra Tower in downtown Salt Lake City officially opened on May 13th. The skyscraper is Utah's tallest building, standing 451 feet tall, 29 feet taller than the Wells Fargo Center.
"It was never our intention to be the tallest building in Utah because of our limited footprint, the complex program, and everything that a project of this magnitude requires. By default we ended up being the tallest building," a representative said.
The tower features 372 residential units and a 4,000-square-foot rooftop terrace.
University of Utah football coaching change
The University of Utah's football team saw a major shakeup as head football coach Kyle Whittingham took a new job with the University of Michigan. Whittingham accepted a five-year, $41 million deal to lead the Wolverines. The 66-year-old coach spent 21 years leading the Utah program.
"So for him to just step down, like it's going to be a major impact on the football team, the relationship they had with Whittingham. And it just, it won't be the same, you know, because it's Coach Whittingham," a fan said.
Defensive coordinator Morgan Scally will take over as Utah's head coach.
Hope for Kiri brings community together
One of the biggest ways Utah came together was through Hope for Kiri. In August, a Holladay family raced against time to save their 3-year-old son's life. Kiri Pok was diagnosed with cerebral ALD, an aggressive brain disease that can be fatal. His family needed to find a bone marrow donor to stop the disease from progressing.
"It's really, really frightening. There's just so many unknowns. It's like a very, very scary thing for a kid to go through. The odds are very low, but we have to keep doing what we have to do. There are currently 39 million people registered. And we don't have a match yet," his family said.
They put out a call to the community asking people to join the donor registry to help find him a match. In just two weeks, more than 10,000 people got tested and agreed to help anyone, not just Kiri, should they be a life-saving bone marrow match.
"If I can save anybody's life by doing swabs or even the bone marrow or blood or whatever they need, I definitely would," one volunteer said.
In November, Kiri's family shared that 11 people from his registry were contacted for further testing because they may be a match for someone in need. Kiri's disease is progressing slower than doctors thought, so his transplant has been postponed. But he's likely to need a transplant eventually, and thousands more need treatment right now.
Those interested in learning more about getting a testing kit can visit HopeForKiri.org.
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