16th Annual Llama Fest

When: July 17th, 2010

Where: Krishna Temple, South Main, Spanish Fork
Contacts: Charu or Vai 798-3559/787-1510
Web Site: www.utahvalleyllamas.com


The 16th Annual Llama Fest will be held at Krishna Temple and Utah Valley Llama Farm two miles south of Spanish Fork on Main St. The event is scheduled for July 17th.

Music at Llama Fest In their native Peru, Chile, and Bolivia, llamas carry heavy loads over terrain which is impassable to motorized vehicles. They are the trucks of the Andes. In America, life is much easier where they have become popular for carrying camping gear on weekend hikes and day trips. Many have found a niche as sheep guards on the open range. Still others, like an RV purchased with good intentions but somehow never used, spend their lives simply munching grass and looking gorgeous and exotic to passers by.

The Llama Fest was originally conceived as an opportunity to highlight Llamas and their owners in the most public way possible: in the overall cultural context of food, music, spinning and weaving demonstrations, music, dance, and competitions between the llamas and their handlers. “If an average attendance of 4,000-5,000 is a public enough event,” says festival coordinator Chris Warden, “ then we’ve been successful.

"This is an event which offers more than many festivals. Other festivals have booths,Llama, Boy, & Ramp exhibits, and some food. Above that, any festival that has good, live entertainment will definitely be successful: if over and above that, you have llamas, which everyone likes, and which are relatively safe for children, then you have really got something that nobody else can offer."

‘We have over 50 llamas ourselves at KHQN Radio/Utah Valley Llamas and we encourage other llamas owners from all over the state to bring their animals. It’s a nice family outing where the kids will compete on the obstacle course and show ring with their llamas for ribbons, and the parents and grandparents will cheer them on.”

The Llama Fest features a baby llama (cria) corral where the children can fraternize with their animal counterparts. There is a beautiful baby contest as well as a costumed event.

Continuous live music and dance on the outdoor stage will come from Alborada, Kausachun Peru, The Good Karma Blues Band, and Center Stage Performing Arts. Richard Christensen has been to every Llama Fest since 1995. “Early on in the evening, it’s nice to watch the llamas and their handlers. The llamas are well groomed, graceful, and gentle. It’s like watching living art to the background music of the Andes. Towards dusk the beat picks up and many of the younger folks, like myself, like to dance.”

Food booths will offer such south of the border favorites as chili, nachos, emphanadas, braised vegetables with fried curd, bread pudding, spicy wraps, and lemon mango fruit drinks.

A good selection of Andean craft items like jewelry, rugs, shawls, carvings and clothing will be available on site. Please note there are 600 parking spaces on the temple property. Parking is free. There is no need to park on the road, and walk a long way to the event.

Llama Race at Krishna TempleBring the whole family for a fun and educational experience. Admission is $3.00 per person or $1.00/children. Llama Fest XVI is sponsored in part by a grant from the Utah Arts Council & The National Endowment for the Arts.

** Please note there are 600 parking spaces on the temple property. Parking is free. There is no need to park on 
the road, and walk a long way to the event.

Directions:
If you are coming south on I - 15, take exit 257, turn left at the bottom of the exit ramp and travel three miles to the temple. You'll proceed through Spanish Fork (about 5 traffic lights) on Main St. (which changes its name to State Road), and continue another 1 1/2 semi rural miles. The temple is highly visible on a hill to the right hand side. Coming north on I - 15 exit at 253, turn right at the exit ramp stop sign, and follow the signs to Krishna's Lotus Temple. (801) 798-3559

For more information, or to volunteer help before and during the event, call 798-3559/787-1510. Visit our web site at www.utahvalleyllamas.org

Volunteer information : the following volunteers at Llama Fest will be rewarded with a free meal and/or festival T-shirt (discretion of managers). Those who volunteer to help with parking will receive BOTH meals and T-shirt.

• Pre-festival cooking, Tuesday, Wednesday July 16, 17, 
9 am - 1 pm. Come for all or part of the time.

• Grooming llamas and festival set up, Noon - 3 pm

• Parking Attendants (shifts) 3:00 pm - 6:00 pm or
 5:00 pm - 8 pm

• Traffic Control 3:30 pm - 7:30 pm

• Food Service 3:30 pm- 6:00 pm or
 6:00 - 8:30 pm

• Cria Corral 3:30 pm - 6:00 pm or
 6:00 pm - 8:30 pm.

All fees for admission ($3.00 adult $ 1.00 child) 
apply as well to volunteers.

SLC Urban article

Day 60 – Visit the Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork.
By Andrew Stone • May 24th, 2010


While this is not in Salt Lake City, it is a close drive for all of us and a trip worth taking on many levels. Historical information, cultural information and more. The Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple is a beautiful place tucked away in Spanish Fork. Now tell me that you expected to find a Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork.

There is a wonderful article on Utah.com about the building of this temple and how a Hare Krishna Temple came to be built in Utah. Here is a short quote from the full article:

While the temple is a first for Utah, it is part of a growing worldwide movement that has placed temples in cities from Stockholm to Sao Paulo, and Miami to Mayapur. The Krishnas do not proselytize but the invite everyone to their weekly services and vegetarian feasts, as well as the annual LlamaFest in nearby Spanish Fork. They also exude amity with their peaceful outlook, karmic good will, and ohm-ing happiness.

Located at 8628 South Main Street Spanish Fork UT 84660, the Temple hosts seasonal festivals, weddings, receptions, and other weekly services for prayer and meditation. The Holi Festival or, Fetival of Colors, is anxiously awaited every year.

While visiting the grounds the Lotus Temple is certainly the centerpiece of your visit and is absolutely beautiful. There is always something going on and I highly suggest that you visit their website HERE for more information and a full calendar of exciting and beautiful events. The Llama Festival is coming up on July 16th.

If you're hungry and vegetarian is your thing the Temple also serves a vegetarian buffet everyday from 11am – 7pm.

Experience the traditional foods and spices of the world’s most diverse cuisine, but with a difference…….the entire buffet is blessed (every day) by Lord Krishna! Twice daily food freshly prepared food is taken from the buffet and offered to Krishna. When it is returned to the buffet, it is no longer bhog (physical food only) but is prasadam (blessed food). In that way, in addition to being filling, it has an uplifting effect on those who eat it. Join us for our specialties, which change daily…..


About 365 Things To Do In Salt Lake City: This series features 365 wonderful things you can do in Salt Lake City, one day at a time, they may be year long activities or single day adventures. If you have something you want us to feature in this series always feel free contact me and let me know. Follow 365 Things To Do on Facebook by clicking HERE

Kirtan at Ganesh Temple

Jai Krishna, Caru, Vaibhvavi, & Laurie went to Ganesh Temple in South Jordan at their invitation to do kirtan. It was the annual "Temple Day" celebrating the anniversary of the opening of the temple in 23003, I believe. We've participated in the Rathayatra with kritan for several years. Every year it gets more well organized and fun, as everyone will see from the following video.

Temple Organic Gardens

This is a photo of Hanuman on the temple's most recently planted garden plot. Alanath has been growing another for three years now. Between the two there is about 3/8 acre under cultivation, planted in lettuce, chilis, green, red peppers, cucumbers, red potatoes, eggplant, broccoli, etc. Looking for volunteers to help expand. We are committed to growing all our own produce and selling the rest. We even have at present extra trays of seedlings for sale. (801) 687-2730.

High School Classes

Yesterday had the best of three 1 and 1/2 hour classes at Mt View High, teacher Rod Jackman cooked curry, & Caru talked on Krishna Meditation. With live video feeds to 7 high schools total number of students reached was between 600 - 800.

Voice of America at the Krishna Temple

Joseph Mok, who filmed the Holi Festival for Voice of America, posted a 7 minute segment on Youtube. It is a very well, professionally done piece which will be featured in "Cultural Odyssey", a TV show which is viewed by 30 million Chinese in Taiwan, the Mainland, Singapore, and Macao.

Bhaktivinode on National Prayer Day

These are remarks which Caru Das made Thursday evening in the Provo Taberanacle as part of the National Prayer Day Observances across the country. Though it was conceived as an opportunity for Americans of different faiths to pray together & unite, the evangelsts generally feel that Hindus, Muslims and Mormons do not pray to the same God, and pointedly exclude them from the majority of services, which are organised by the National Prayer Day Task force. Caru opens his message by quoting the son of Billy Graham on the subject, & proceeding to Bhaktivinode Thakur.

For more on the controversies surrounding the National Day of prayer, click on these links. Salt Lake Tribune, Deseret News which briefly quotes Caru, and Jews on First

Caru's rermarks

"In an interview Tuesday, Franklin Graham, Honorary Chairman of the National Day of Prayer Task Force, mocked Muslims and Hindus and said they "do not worship the same God I worship." Bhaktivinode Thakur, 130 years ago, in 1880, commented on this mentality, whch is nothing new. It's elevated prose so I’ll enunciate carefully.

“The true critic is a generous judge, void of prejudices and party-spirit. Thoughts have different ways. Both the Western Christian and the Eastern devotees will utter the same sentiment, but they will fight with each other only because they have arrived at their common conclusion by different ways of thoughts. Thus it is, that a great deal of ungenerousness enters into the arguments of the pious Christians when they pass their imperfect opinion on the religion of Devotion.

Plato looked at the peak of the Spiritual question from the West and Vyåsa made the observation from the East. They both hunted after the Great Spirit, the unconditioned Soul of the Universe. They could not but get an insight into it. Their words and expressions are different, but their import is the same. They tried to find out the absolute religion and their labors were crowned with success, for God gives all that He has to His children if they want to have it. It requires a candid, generous, pious and holy heart to feel the beauties of their conclusions.

Party-spirit––that great enemy of truth––will always baffle the attempt of the inquirer, and will make him believe that absolute truth is nowhere except in his religious book. Some, thinking in their own way, can never see the beauty of the Christian faith. The way, in which Christ thought of his own Father, was love absolute and so long as one will not adopt that way he will ever remain deprived of the absolute faith preached by the western Savior. The critic, therefore, should have a comprehensive, good, generous, candid, impartial and a sympathetic soul.

God is the soul of the principle of goodness! (strong emphasis) The incarnations of that principle are innumerable! They are not limited to only one conduit for all people, all times and all places and all circumstances! As thousands of watercourses come out of one inexhaustible fountain of water, so these incarnations are but emanations of that infinitely good energy of God which is full at all times.” We are allowed to call such sages as Vyåsa and Nårada Muni, as avatars of the infinite energy of God, and this spirit goes far to honor all great reformers and teachers who lived and will live in other countries.

We are ready to honor all great men, because they are filled with the energy of God. Pure goodness is not intended for a certain class alone but it is a gift to man at large in whatever country he is born and whatever society is bred. Ultimate goodness is the Absolute Love binding all men together into the infinite unconditioned and absolute God. May peace reign for ever in the whole universe in the continual development of its purity by the exertion of future heroes, who will be blessed with powers from the Almighty Father, the Creator, Preserver, and the Annihilator of all things in Heaven and Earth.

Pure devotion does not allow us to ask anything from You Lord except eternal love towards You. The kingdom of the world, the beauties of the local heavens and salvation itself are never the subjects of pure prayer. We meekly and humbly say, “Father, Master, God, Friend and Husband of my soul! Hallowed be Your name! I have sinned against You and I now repent and solicit Your pardon.

Let us pray.

Let Your holiness touch my soul and make me free from grossness. Let my spirit be devoted meekly to Your Holy service in absolute love towards You. I have called You my God, and let my soul be wrapped up in admiration at Your greatness! I have addressed You as my Master and let my soul be strongly devoted to your service. I have called You my friend, and let my soul be in reverential love towards You and not in fear! I have called you my husband and let my spiritual nature be in eternal union with You, forever loving and never dreading. Father! let me have strength enough to serve You as the consort of my soul, so that we may be reunited in eternal love!” “Om shanti shantihi shantihi.”