Like many small towns, Cedar City in southern Utah has a close-knit culture when it comes to summertime traditions. One of the key events that takes place each year there is called the July Jamboree. This year’s Jamboree catered to families, pets, vendors, and visitors from near and far. In total, about 350 cars and 15,000 people made it out to be part of the occasion, and in so doing, they supported charitable and humanitarian efforts of the local Rotary Club.
July Jamboree Background
Nicknamed the “Festival City” for its notoriety in the film festival scene, Cedar City is home to about 39,000 residents. The city (at 5,800 feet in elevation) and the surrounding Dixie National Forest offer a relatively cooler retreat from the desert landscape elsewhere in the southwest.
Each year on the weekend after Independence Day, Cedar City’s historic Main Street is transformed into a backdrop for vehicles and vendors. The July Jamboree engages the contributions and efforts of nearly 100 sponsors and is put on by the Cedar City Rotary Club. Wayne Manzione and his brother-in-law launched the event 27 years ago, and Wayne continues to be a key player today. He emphasized that the entire program is put on by volunteers, and it is free to the public to spectate. Funds raised through sponsorships and registration fees go toward humanitarian and charitable projects both in Iron County and abroad. Wayne said that the cause supports the Rotary’s motto of “Service Above Self.”
2024 Jamboree Play-By-Play
The Jamboree started this year with a kick-off party hosted by Tink’s NAPA Auto Parts on Friday evening. Participants enjoyed live music, food, and drinks there – including a beer garden.
The next morning, vehicle registration and breakfast took place beginning at 9:00 a.m. At 10:00, a “rod run” was held, sponsored by Tucker’s Classic Auto Parts. The cruise covered about a 30-mile round-trip journey to a BBQ restaurant in Kanarraville, complete with a photo-op at a historic service station on old U.S. Highway 91 nearby. Finally, the official car show (dubbed “Show & Shine”) took place along a several-block-long stretch of historic Main Street from 4:00 until 10:00 p.m.
This year, the vehicles on display spanned a wide variety, ranging from a 1930s roadster to a Tesla Cybertruck. One of the many standout vehicles was a three-generation family-owned 1968 Ford LTD sedan, named Frances, with only 83,000 original miles. I admired the baby-blue 1966 Chevrolet C10 that was restored by a father and son, and my personal favorite car on Main Street (for obvious reasons) was a very clean white 1989 Honda Prelude Si 4WS owned by John Kostantin of Enoch. About 50 awards were handed out for various categories.
Of course, no community event could be complete without refreshments, and there were plenty of snacks to go around including popcorn, snow cones, cotton candy, beverages, and ice cream.
Future Goals
As much as Wayne and his team would love to grow the Jamboree, its footprint in downtown Cedar City makes it more and more of a challenge to redirect traffic and manage logistics. He said if there were any key takeaways on enhancing the program going forward, it would focus on integrating additional, younger volunteers who can continue this effort with energy and enthusiasm. “A lot of us are getting older and it takes tremendous hours to achieve all this,” he said. “We are hoping that younger people will get involved and start to take it over, so it can continue.”
Anyone interested in connecting with the Jamboree team can do so by contacting the Cedar City Rotary Club. Wayne reflected on the success of the event with this statement: “People love to come because it’s kind of like ‘Small Town USA,’ and they come back year after year.”
Does your community embrace car culture as much as Cedar City’s Jamboree? We would love to hear about it.
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