The Public Lands Podcast EPISODE 3: All About Events with Lynze Twede and Cali Holcombe
Kim Davison: 00:11
Hi everyone, I’m Kim.
Finola McDonald: 00:13
And I’m Finola.
Both: 00:14
Welcome to the Public Lands Podcast.
Kim Davison: 00:17
Okay, hi everybody. Today on the podcast, we have two very, very special guests, Lynze Twede and Cali Holcombe from our Community Events team.
Finola McDonald: 00:25
Welcome! Lynze is our Salt Lake City Public Lands Events Manager. She works very hard to manage the execution of large-scale city events that bring the community together from concept through on-site operations. She also manages and mentors a dynamic event and volunteer team. This team works together to create engaging and inclusive experiences that activate public spaces and build community connections.
Kim Davison: 00:51
And Cali is our Events Coordinator here at Salt Lake City Public Lands. She plans and manages community events that activate parks and open spaces across the city. Her role includes collaborating with community partners and internal departments to create engaging programming for our city’s residents. We are so happy to have you both here. Thank you for joining us.
Both: 01:10
Thank you for having us.
Finola McDonald: 01:12
Let’s dive right in. Okay, Lindsay, can you tell us a little bit about the events that your team hosts for the city, kind of what they entail, who they’re for, all that jazz.
Lynze Twede: 01:22
Yeah, so this year we’ve got over 60 events dedicated to kind of our community, but really our events are for anyone and everyone. And we’ve got lots of fun things coming back this year, including dog training, we’ve got fitness sessions in the park. We’ll bring back our artistral, children’s day, and then of course our beloved yappy hour events as well as our drone shows.
Kim Davison: 01:46
We love them. Last year I went to a yappy hour with my pup, and she had the time of her life.
Finola McDonald: 01:50
It’s so fun! And the drone shows are so cool. That was like the first drone show I’d ever been to. And I was like, this is amazing. They’re wild.
Lynze Twede: 01:58
Yeah, it’s so cool. And like one of the best parts is that they’re different every year, right? So like the lineup of images and scenes is different, um, which just really makes them so unique, and you want to come back again and again with your family. So absolutely, we will be there.
Kim Davison: 02:12
Like, absolutely. So, Callie, we also have some amazing new events this season. Can you break those down for us and tell us a little bit about them?
Cali Holcombe: 02:20
Yes, lots of new things coming this year. So, one event that I’m very excited about is our dancing under the stars. Um, we’re doing three in August, September, and October, each one highlighting a different dance style. There will be an hour of dance instruction and then two hours of free dance with a live band. Um, this will be at the Bonneville Salt Dome, so up uh the canyon a bit of ways with the perfect view of the valley. So I’m very excited to bring those events to us. And then we’re doing a scavenger hunt across the city to celebrate public land, National Public Lands Day. Um, this is an event to help get people out and explore different spaces and see a different part of the uh city that they don’t usually go to and collect a fun little souvenir along the way. Um, and then finally we’re bringing Fright Night Flicks to uh our lineup. So it’s a movie night in the park in Lindsay Gardens to watch a spooky movie with the Salt Lake City Cemetery as the backdrop. Um, a perfect way to kick off the Halloween season.
Kim Davison: 03:25
Those are so exciting.
Finola McDonald: 03:26
I can’t wait for that.
Both: 03:27
That’s gonna be so fun.
Cali Holcombe: 03:29
We’re very excited.
Kim Davison: 03:30
And it’s so cool to activate the Salt Dome because I feel like people pass that a lot when they’re activating public spaces on going on hikes, but it’s not really used for events very much. So I’m excited to see it.
Cali Holcombe: 03:40
So we’re very excited.
Finola McDonald: 03:42
Yeah. Um, okay, Lynze, we have so many parks in salt, like at least more than I could have even imagined that we had when I first started working here. Um, and you and your team do such a good job at activating all these spaces. Can you kind of run us through how you choose what park to activate and what that process looks like?
Lynze Twede: 04:03
Yeah, absolutely. So a lot of times it starts like sometimes our events are just held in like traditional parks. It’s the park it’s always been held at, um, and so we’ll kind of keep that tradition going. Other times we’ll kind of switch locations to highlight new parks in our city or maybe recently renovated parks. Um, and then other times we’re highlighting spaces that are really underutilized, and that could just be like by other special event organizers or underutilized by the general public. Um, and so the Bonneville Salt Dome for this year is a great example of one of those. Amazing.
Kim Davison: 04:37
Yeah, we love that there’s events all over the city for people to explore. So no matter where you live, there’s definitely things to do.
Lynze Twede: 04:43
Yeah, there’s always going to be something close to you in your neighborhood.
Kim Davison: 04:47
Okay, Cali. So I have to ask because I used to work in events as well, and your team works so hard, and I feel like a lot of the work that you all do goes unnoticed. So, what goes into planning these events that the public might not know about?
Cali Holcombe: 05:02
There’s so much that goes into this, and we have a great team with uh that love to go out and find unique opportunities to uh bring events that the public want in their neighborhoods. Um, we’re looking at new local artists, um, local bands that are up and coming and want to have a platform to share. Um, and we’re constantly going around to find new vendors to help small businesses grow. And a lot of the beginning stages is finding those new unique opportunities to highlight the amazing work being done by individuals in Salt Lake. And then beyond that, it’s the permitting, it’s ensuring that we have everything infrastructure-wise at the park and working closely with our uh permitting manager to make sure the event is safe and uh ADA accessible, and then it’s marketing, which is working with you all and making sure that people know about it and are excited about it. So there’s so many things that go into planning these events. It’s a you know year to six month process for all of them, and we start early, and once it’s finished, it’s starting over again for the next year. Um, and it’s it’s a fun process.
Kim Davison: 06:15
That’s amazing. I also think people who live in Salt Lake don’t realize that public lands really hosts like not most of, but a lot of the events put on by the city of Salt Lake because they happen in these public spaces. So I just want to shout you all out because you do the work like for the entire city, and it’s really impressive.
Finola McDonald: 06:34
You really do. I’m always telling people they’re like, Oh, what’s this public lands doing? And I’m I when I list it off, I’m like, we have so many events, and you wouldn’t even believe like what our events team does throughout the year for the city. It’s it’s truly incredible.
Lynze Twede: 06:48
Oh yeah, when I first started, I didn’t even know this position really existed before I graduated college, before you know, I started working for a different city here in the valley, and I didn’t even really know that the parks department and the public lands and these are the folks that are putting on your events in these public spaces. So yeah, it’s really fun. It’s fun to be part of the team and bring all these fun events to the community.
Finola McDonald: 07:13
Yeah. Um, so this is for the both of you. Um, why do you think that parks are such an important place for people to come together? Like, why are parks for these community events?
Lynze Twede: 07:24
Um, that’s a good question. I really think that parks are really kind of the heart of the community. They tend to be where people naturally gather, right? So whether that’s for an event or maybe it’s for recreation, or it could even just be just to go and get outside and get some fresh air. They it’s a it’s a place where people can kind of join in and shared experiences, and it’s really those like connections that make you feel part of a community and help you kind of get engaged with one another. Um, so yeah, it’s it’s special that we get to bring a piece of that to the park.
Kim Davison: 08:04
Kind of going off of that, Lynze. What do you think is the most rewarding part about hosting events for your community?
Lynze Twede: 08:11
I think it’s really like seeing the people show up, right? So it’s seeing like your family, your friends, your neighbors kind of all get together and create memories, have fun, unwind, because that’s really like what we’re doing. We work really hard to make sure that these spaces are fun, that they’re activities that people will enjoy, um, and really kind of that sense of community, you can just feel it when you’re at these events, and those memories we know like last way longer and far beyond these events. So, yeah, it’s special.
Finola McDonald: 08:54
It really is. And Cali, with that, why should somebody add one of our events to their calendar this summer?
Cali Holcombe: 09:01
Um, we want people to be able to come out and enjoy our public spaces. So put this on your calendar to have a day to see cute dogs at the park, to see a new band, and to engage with your neighbors. We want you to come out and enjoy what our city has to offer, and that a part of that is these public events that are free for you to come to and engage with and engage with your your neighbors. Yeah, beautiful, yeah.
Kim Davison: 09:27
And I I feel like because I’ve lived here my whole life. I feel like I keep needing to remind myself to be a tourist in my own city, and it’s so easy just to get into your habits. But I think once you break out of that and try these new events, you might try a new food truck with a different cuisine that you’ve never tried. Like who knows how far you can expand your mind. And I think it’s really exciting that they have these free opportunities in the community.
Lynze Twede: 09:48
Yeah, absolutely. And checking out spaces that you’ve never been. I mean, we talked about earlier how many parks are in just Salt Lake City alone. And so go check out a new park and see what’s around. Really be a tourist in your own city. There’s so much left to explore here. Well, that is amazing.
Kim Davison: 10:05
And as we start to wrap up, I mean, this has been such a great conversation. I feel like I’ve already learned so much. Yeah. But I have a question for Finola, our lovely social media specialist. So, where can people stay up to date on all of the things they need to know about our 2026 community events?
Finola McDonald: 10:19
Yes, you can stay up to date on our 2026 community events through our Instagram page at Salt Lake City Public Lands. That’s where they will be posted. Um, there will also be links to our events webpage through Instagram, and you can also find us on Facebook.
Kim Davison: 10:36
Amazing. Well, we definitely have our calendars all marked with the amazing community events coming up, and we can’t wait to see all of the hard work that your team has put in for the past year plus into action. So, thank you both so much for joining us.
Cali Holcombe: 10:50
Thanks so, so much for having us.
Lynze Twede: 10:52
Thanks for having us.
Kim Davison: 10:52
We can’t wait, it’s gonna be a fun summer.
Lynze Twede: 10:54
We’ll see you there.
Finola McDonald: 10:57
Thank you all for joining us for this week’s episode of the Public Lands Podcast.
Kim Davison: 11:00
Chat soon,
Finola McDonald: 11:01
and we’ll see you on the trail.