The first ever Weber County Heritage Foundation “People of Weber County” Cultural Festival is set for Saturday from 4-8 p.m. at Fort Buenaventura Park.

WCHF board member Laura Leonardi told the Standard-Examiner on Tuesday that the festival is a way of shining a light on those who have had a hand in building up the county.

“It is going to highlight the different ethnic cultures that built Weber County and what they did, some key players who came over and really helped build the community and also what they’re continuing to do,” she said.

She said this inaugural festival will put a focus on the contributions of the Japanese, Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation, Italian, Hispanic and pioneer communities.

“In each section, there will be museum-quality displays with photos and words explaining what the people did,” she said. “We’ll also have a free craft for kids and adults to do in each section, and there are food trucks and arts and crafts vendors for each section as well highlighting different folk art and ethnic food from their cultures.”

Leonardi said the festival is the first activity of its kind for the Weber County Heritage Foundation.

“We, as a board, were talking over an event to maybe do in the summer,” she said. “People had thrown around some different ideas, and I kind of thought it would be cool to highlight some of the stories we don’t hear all of the time. The Mormon pioneers coming over, we hear that story. We know that history. So I wanted to facilitate a place for the other people that came here that are just as important to Weber County to have their stories highlighted as well to celebrate how amazing and diverse Weber County has always been.”

She said setting up the festival has been a big learning experience.

“This is definitely the biggest event I’ve been a part of planning,” she said. “We’re definitely learning, especially as we go.”

On the note of learning experiences, Leonardi  said she hopes it will be a fun way for Weber County residents to learn a little bit more about how their home county came to be.

“The thing I’m hoping people take away is how rich Weber County history really is and how much of it we just don’t know,” she said. “We all live here and we love it, but we don’t know where some of this stuff came from and how we got here.”

The festival is free to the public and the hopes are to make it an annual staple.