Utah Taiko Experience - Bringing the World to Sanpete County!

We are gearing up for the 2026 Utah Taiko Experience (UTE), and we’d love to have you or your business on board as a local partner. What makes UTE so special? If you’ve heard deep drums echoing through the local mountains in July, you know it’s something different.

UTE is a 10-day program that does three big things at once:

1. We share Utah with the world. We bring talented taiko artists from across the globe right here to Manti to experience our mountains and our hospitality.

2. We share the Taiko discipline with the local community through free, hands-on workshops that both inspire and uplift our local youth and families, while raising funds for Manti High School performing arts..

3. We share world-class cultural arts with our community, bringing world-famous Japanese drumming (Taiko) artists to stage a massive, professional concert right here in Manti City Park - for free.

It’s a unique exchange that doesn't happen anywhere else, and we want to make sure every resident has the chance to see it. 

Economic Impact: Our participants stay in local motels, eat at our restaurants, and shop in our stores. To date, UTE has brought an estimated $94,500 into the local economy.

Giving Back: Last year, we reached over 2,500 residents. Your support helps us keep the "Summer Thunder" concert and our "Taiko Discovery" community workshops completely free for local families - supporting the arts, the cultural landscape, and the economy of Sanpete County.

A Tax-Deductible Partnership: This year, UTE is under the UTAIKO Arts Foundation: a federally registered 501(c)(3) non-profit (EIN: 39-4841339). This means your sponsorship is fully tax-deductible. It’s a simple way to support the community while getting your business name in front of over 1,000 local attendees at our big July 25th concert in the park.

Visit the following link: UTE SPONSORS to view complete sponsor and event information, including our different partnership levels, ranging from $200 to $2,000. Every bit of this stays right here to help pay for the instrument logistics and transport, travel for acclaimed taiko instructors, and staging our exciting Summer Thunder open-air community concert.

If you have any questions, please give me a call at (435) 314-5592. Thanks for helping us keep the cultural beat alive in Sanpete County!

All the best,

Rannoch Purcell

Director - UTAIKO Arts Foundation