(upbeat music) - Escalante Utah is celebrating its rich heritage at the 2025 Heritage & Wild Potato Festival.

Joining us remotely to tell us more about the history of Escalante and the purpose of the festival is Karen Munson.

Karen, welcome.

It's nice to have you here.

So let's start with why the Potato Festival?

- You know, we have people interested in this area because of its beauty, its amazing slot canyons, and we wanted to inform people of the rich culture that contributed to creating the town of Escalante and the diverse community that we have here.

- Great, and I know that people that've subsisted on the potatoes that grew there, the wild potatoes, as well as the Native Americans.

So the potato's something pretty special there.

- It is.

It has lost...

It's not grown here as much.

And so we're having a resurgence, educating people about how to grow it and the benefits of it.

It's much higher in protein than the potato that you buy at the store, and it's only about the size of your thumb, but they're delicious and a lot of restaurants are starting to offer it as a side dish.

- Ah, that's great.

So why don't you talk about some of the activities?

You've got lots planned that you'll have on this special day.

- Thank you.

We really want to represent the Native Americans who settled this area long before the white man came in.

And so we have Native American crafts and vendors selling, and we'll have drum circles and we'll have a keynote speaker talking about his Native American past connected with the potato.

Then we have Pioneer crafts, Pioneer vendors.

We have a team roping event, and then we've got genealogy, a lot of speakers, and live performances celebrating the ranchers and the cowboys and that part of our culture.

So we're just trying to bring everybody together.

- Ah, that's great.

And I know it is one of the most beautiful spots.

It's that Highway 12 is included in all sorts of travel guides so people can find out more about what makes Escalante so special by coming to the festival.

So I thank you for being here.

Thank you.

- [Karen] Thank you very much.

- And if you'd like to know more about the Escalante Heritage & Wild Potato Festival, it's May 30th and 31st at Escalante Heritage Park.

Go on Facebook to Escalante Heritage and Wild Potato Festival.

I'm Mary Dickson.

Thanks for watching "Contact".

(upbeat music) - Local events, arts, culture.

It's what brings us together.

Hi, I'm Mary Dickson.

Here on Contact, we introduce you to local events and organizations that serve your neighborhood.

If you work for a nonprofit and would like to appear on our show, please visit pbsutah.org/contact.