New ‘Love Letters’ fall music festival in downtown Salt Lake announces lineup

SALT LAKE CITY — The last petal just fell for Salt Lake music festival lovers, and it turns out their city really does love them.

S&S Presents announced a new 3-day festival called Love Letters quietly in early May, teasing locals on social media with a guessing game and a VIP ticket giveaway. The lineup dropped Tuesday revealing a list full of pop and indie artists, including headliners serenade-singer Joji, singer-songwriter QUINN XCII, and rapper Ashnikko.

The festival, presumedly a “love letter” to Salt Lake City, will be held from Sept. 27 – 29 at Library Square. S&S Presents curated a Spotify playlist including their picked songs from each artist on the lineup that can be accessed now.

Three-day passes are available for presale and will drop to the public on Thursday at 10 a.m. General admission passes are offered at $189 and VIP passes at $329. Depending on the sales performance of three-day passes, single-day tickets could hit the market this summer, along with a more detailed schedule of which bands will play on which day.

 

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Managing director at S&S Presents, Nic Smith said the new festival targets a younger demographic who have “indie-pop sensibilities.”

“We are excited to see if this lineup resonates with fans here in Utah. We put a good amount of research into curating a weekend for those who are fans of this genre,” he said, “but perhaps haven’t been to many festivals before because of the lack of representation. We want to give these folks a new community through this music and hopefully give them a great experience.”

S&S Presents event history

The Love Letters festival is the second festival announced in 2024, the Best Friends Forever festival, which will be held in Las Vegas in October.

The festival host is also the founder of the backyard-like venue Kilby Court and launched Kilby Block Party in 2020. The indie-focused event brought in larger crowds each time, growing from a small gathering to hundreds of thousands, drawing music lovers from all over the U.S. and even some internationally.

“We have also hosted events in Library Square before (such as Kilby Block Party in 2022), so we are confident in our ability to do right by these incredible performers and host a memorable weekend for everyone who attends,” Smith said.

The local music industry giant is also the hands behind the Ogden Twilight and Salt Lake Twilight concert series. The concert series, like the festivals, share a middle ground between national artists and local ones by adding locals to the top of show lineups. This includes the Best Friends Forever festival, which booked local-to-Utah artists for the Vegas show even though it’s states away.

A love letter to locals

“Many of the artists on Love Letters are beginning to his their stride in their music careers with success around the globe, but have yet to play festivals before,” Smith said. “So we are wanting to create an event that celebrates them, as well as showcasing some of our amazing local talent.”

Provo-based act, Goldmyth, said she was booked on the Love Letters lineup back in March.

“It’s exciting because they’ve done such a good job with Kilby Block Party and so to have another big festival in Salt Lake City that’s oriented towards indie pop is huge,” she said. “It gives local artists really cool opportunities. I’m super excited to (play) with some artists that have really inspired me.”

Another local jazz and pop singer, known as Detzany, said she’s excited to see her friends perform, as well as a good chunk of the lineup.

“I’m mostly excited to see Sky Ferreira, Joji, Amelia Moore, Lauv,” she said. “I think the festival is such an awesome idea. I’ve never performed at Library Square but I’m looking forward to seeing what the vibes are!”

Similarly, local group future.exboyfriend said they’re excited to play their new material in Salt Lake for the first time. After playing Kilby Block Party and touring in the past, the band’s frontman Tyler Harris said they’re looking ahead to a new album release.

“I think we’re most excited for Joji, Ashnikko and Bad Suns! Also super excited to play some new songs for the first time in SLC,” he said. “The lineup is really really cool and it’s just such a cool thing to have in SLC.”

Cherry Thomas, local vocal powerhouse and jazz guitarist said she thinks the new festival will be full of happiness and inspiration.

“Honestly I’m most excited to see all of my fellow artist besties perform and spend the weekend with them. I have a lot of pals on this bill with me and it’s going to be so special to share it with all of them!” she said. “Quite fitting for the Love Letters fest.”