The Sesquicentennial—A Year of Events

The celebration of the 150th anniversary—or sesquicentennial—of the founding of the Church will be a year-long affair.

Activities are planned at Church headquarters in Salt Lake City and throughout the Church, in more than sixty countries. The Church, organized 6 April 1830, now has more than 4.2 million members worldwide.

The major Sesquicentennial events scheduled during 1980 include:

Mormon Festival of Arts—The annual festival, including displays, performances, and a traditional ball, will be 14 March–12 April 1980 at Brigham Young University. Ticket information is available from HFAC, BYU, Provo, UT 84602.

Grand Ball—The Hotel Utah and the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City will be the settings for this celebration. Tickets will be available after 1 February 1980 from Grand Ball, Activities Committee, 50 E. North Temple, Salt Lake City, UT 84150. Admission is $5 per person.

Annual General Conference—The 150th Annual General Conference of the Church will be held April 5 and 6 at the Salt Lake Tabernacle.

Dedication of the Peter Whitmer Farm—The dedication service at the reconstructed home on the original Peter Whitmer Farm, where the Church was formally organized, will be transmitted to the general conference session in Salt Lake City. (See Ensign, July 1979, pp. 76–77.)

Assembly Hall Concert Series—A series of sesquicentennial performances featuring outstanding Latter-day Saint musicians will be held weekly, April through October, at the Assembly Hall on Temple Square in Salt Lake City. A new pipe organ will be installed in the Assembly Hall, which is 100 years old in 1980. Admission is free but tickets are required.

Tabernacle Choir-Utah Symphony Concert—This concert by two famous Utah-based performing groups will be given at the Salt Lake Tabernacle May 11. Admission is free but tickets are required.

Within These Walls—Billed as the “centerpiece” musical, this production will be presented 13, 14, 19, 20, and 21 June 1980 at Promised Valley Playhouse in Salt Lake City, and at the University of Utah Special Events Center in Salt Lake City. Ticket information will be available after 1 February 1980 at Promised Valley Playhouse, 132 South State St., Salt Lake City, UT 84111.

Days of ’47 Parade—This annual parade on 24 July 1980 celebrates the arrival of the Mormon pioneers in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847.

Mormon Youth Symphony and Chorus Concert—These acclaimed young performers will present a concert 24 July 1980. Ticket information will be available after 1 June 1980 from the Mormon Youth Symphony and Chorus, 50 E. North Temple, Salt Lake City, UT 84150.

World Conference on Records—The Salt Palace in Salt Lake City will be the location for this genealogical gathering 12–15 August 1980. Registration information is available from World Conference on Records, 50 E. North Temple, Salt Lake City, UT 84150.

Zion—This musical retrospective of the Church will be presented at the Salt Lake Tabernacle 19, 20, 26, and 27 September 1980. Ticket information will be available after 1 August 1980 from Zion, c/o Activities Committee, 50 E. North Temple, Salt Lake City, UT 84150. A performance for out-of-town visitors to October conference is planned for 1 October 1980. Tickets will be required.

Semi-Annual General Conference—The 150th Semi-Annual General Conference of the Church will be held at the Salt Lake Tabernacle 4–5 October 1980.

Eight pageants in the United States, Canada, and New Zealand will be presented during the sesquicentennial year. They are:

Hear Him—Temple Hill, Temple View, New Zealand, 15–19 January 1980, 9 P.M.

Missouri, Mormons and Miracles—Visitors Center, Independence, Missouri, 11–14 June 1980, 9 P.M.

Mormon Miracle—Temple Hill, Manti, Utah, July 10–12 and 15–19, 9:25 P.M.

And It Came to Pass—Tri-Stake Center, Oakland, California, July 22–26 and July 29–August 2, 8 P.M., plus two matinees.

America’s Witness for Christ—Hill Cumorah, Palmyra, New York, July 25–26 and July 29–August 2.

City of Joseph—Nauvoo, Illinois, August 12–16.

Nativity Pageant—Heritage Park, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, December 15–26, presented at thirty-minute intervals.

Christmas Festival—Temple grounds, Los Angeles, California, Temple, December 16–25.

The Church’s Sesquicentennial is planned to celebrate the restoration of the gospel, to honor the Prophet Joseph Smith and his successors in the Presidency of the Church, and to acknowledge the achievements of the Church and its members during its 150-year latter-day history. Events are designed to assist in the worldwide missionary effort and to strengthen families through family-oriented activities.

All Sesquicentennial activities are under the direction of the Church Sesquicentennial Committee. Activities committees of the Church are responsible for producing Sesquicentennial activities under the direction of local Church leaders.