Celebrate Park City’s heritage at the 126th Miners’ Day

August 30th, 2022 | Park City Community

The calendar may be rounding into September, but Park City is stretching its summer festivities right through Labor Day weekend with the annual Miners’ Day celebration on Monday, Sept. 5.

Since 1884, Park City’s Miners’ Day has been an annual holiday weekend mainstay that brings together locals and visitors alike to celebrate historic-inspired activities in modern, family-friendly ways. From breakfast in City Park to the parade down Main Street to the town favorite “Running of the Balls,” we’ve got you covered with all the details on the schedule, events and more! 

SCHEDULE:

BREAKFAST IN CITY PARK

Kick the day off with a hearty breakfast of pancakes, eggs, ham, hash browns and more, served up by the friendly faces at Saint Mary’s Catholic Church in Park City. Everyone is welcome to this FREE event, although a suggested donation of $5 or more is most welcome. All donations benefit St. Mary’s Catholic Church religious education programs.

BARK CITY 5K

Lace up your running shoes and grab the dogs for the Miners’ Day Bark City 5k. The Miners Day Bark City 5K is a fundraiser, organized by the Park City Twilight Rotary, with a portion of proceeds going back local animal rescue organizations. All canine participants will receive a goody bag, and all finishers receive a medal. Register today!

This event is self-timed, so you can choose whether you’ll throw down your fastest 5K or just have enjoy a jog or walk with friends and family. Dogs on leash and in costume are welcome and encouraged! Strollers are also OK and will start behind runners. Fees are $30 for adults, $20 for kids under 18, and the race starts promptly at 8 a.m. 

RUNNING OF THE BALLS

Being part of the crowd on Park City’s historic Main Street for the Running of the Balls is always an energizing event, which benefits multiple community nonprofits and is organized by Park City Rotary Club. Donations begin at $10 for one small ball, $20 for three medium balls, $50 for eight large balls and $100 for 20 huge balls. Prizes include ski passes and other fun winter activity passes, dining and lodging prizes, and gifts and experiences, including golf, massages, cooking classes, show tickets, gift baskets and more.

MINERS’ DAY PARADE 

The Park City Miners’ Day parade, which has roots dating back to 1896, returns for the 126th anniversary celebration of this town tradition. Grab you spot along the curb of Main Street or Park Avenue, as the parade makes its way and down to City Park. The parade features all things local, including fire trucks, cheerleaders and marching bands, along with community organizations and even neighborhood floats. Want to join the parade? Register today for your neighborhood, nonprofit, company or community organization. Registration closes at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 1. 

FOOD TRUCKS & MUSIC

The Miners’ Day Food Truck Park will provide guests a choice of several popular food trucks from 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and will feature Freshies Lobster Co., Fiore Wood-Fired Pizza, and Rio Sonora. 

Of course, no Park City celebration is complete without music, and Mountain Town Music has lined up two acts to keep the party rolling all afternoon. Local favorite Silver King will kick things off at 11:45 a.m. followed by Grateful Dead tribute band The Pranksters at 2:30 p.m.

MUCKING AND DRILLING 

Park City’s mining heritage will be on display during the Mucking and Drilling Demonstrations in City Park, beginning at 12:30 p.m. in City Park (across from the library and adjacent to the skateboard bowl). This year’s Miners’ Day will highlight ongoing demonstrations, showcasing the grit and muscle it takes to accomplish the demanding work done in Park City’s silver mines.

Mucking: This tricky event features competitors operating heavy equipment to load as much “muck” as possible into a bucket under the watchful eye of a timer. Muck is the broken-up ore that comes from drilling and blasting. The mucking competitors quickly load that ore into an ore cart and dump it as quickly as possible. Back in the early days of silver mining, those ore carts were loaded by hand, shovel load after shovel load. Over time, hand shoveling was replaced by the mucking machine, which looks like a mini front-end loader on an oar cart. 

Drilling: This intense, high-energy event features competitors manhandling a huge drill and hoses, putting every ounce of muscle, strength and sweat into their timed attempt. The drilling event requires putting two deep holes into a slab of rock in the shortest time, use a large compressed-air hammer drill.  This tool requires a tremendous amount of strength, balance and technique.

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