SOUTHERN UTAH — Denizens of Southern Utah have been favored with another beautiful weekend jam-packed with fun events for all ages. St. George News was on-site providing coverage for a few of the weekend’s biggest events, including the Zion Half Marathon, Kayenta Street Painting Festival and Juan Spring Festival.

Below you’ll find information about the festivities and a photo gallery for each event.

Click a photo in each gallery to enlarge and cycle through the photos. After viewing a gallery, scroll down to see the next.

Zion Half Marathon

Saturday started early for some 3,000 registered racers who came to run the Zion Half Marathon. The annual half marathon is part of a series of races held near national parks across the country put on Vacation Races. This year’s race sold out and had runners from 49 states and a handful of countries, including some as far away as Bolivia.

The race, which traditionally runs from Veyo to Springdale on state Route 9, was held on Smith Mesa this year due to road construction on the highway. This year’s course offered stunning vistas of Zion National Park to the east and Pine Valley Mountain to the west.

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Kayenta Street Painting Festival

The pavement in the Kayenta Arts Village in Ivins got a lot more colorful Saturday as student and professional artists alike converged on the area to participate in the Kayenta Street Painting Festival.

The annual festival showcases a variety of artists who create kaleidoscopic murals on the street using pastel chalk as their medium. The first street painting festival was held in April 2011, and it has continued to be a major draw for the arts in Kayenta ever since.

The Kayenta Street Painting Festival, located at 881 Coyote Gulch Court in Ivins, continues Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., featuring live entertainment, face painting, food vendors and an opportunity for children to purchase their own chalk set and color a square. Children’s chalk sets are sold for $5 at the event.

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Juan Spring Festival

Hundreds of people filled Town Square Park in downtown St. George Saturday evening as the second “Juan Spring Festival” celebrated Latin American cultures with music, dance and food.

See video coverage of the event in the media player top of this report.

Event organizer and on-air radio personality Pedro Magdiel Lopez of the Spanish-speaking station Juan 104.1 and 106.7 FM was joined by co-host Carl Lamar in welcoming various entertainment acts to the stage, as festival-goers enjoyed the vendor booths and activities.

Capping off the evening was a lively concert by Sonora Tropicana, a popular Latin American cumbia band.

Click on a photo then use your left-right arrows to cycle through the gallery.

Written by St. George News reporters Hollie Reina and Jeff Richards.

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