A cast of around 1,000 volunteer performers is set to fill Salt Lake City's Conference Center stage Friday and Saturday night for the 24th annual Luz de las Naciones, a sold-out celebration of Latin American music, dance and traditional dress that organizers say welcomes people of all backgrounds, regardless of what language they speak. The free event, hosted by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has already sold out its in-person tickets, but a livestream and later on-demand viewing will keep it accessible beyond the Conference Center's walls.
“Luz de las Naciones” translates to “Light of the Nations” in Spanish, a phrase organizers say refers to Jesus Christ, often called the Light of the World, according to Deseret News. The performance is an annual showcase of traditional and folk culture from across Latin America, and this year's program features acts representing Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Spain and Venezuela, according to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Newsroom. The 2026 lineup also showcases performances from African and African-American cultures.
Sold-Out Shows, But a Path to Watch From Home
Live performances are scheduled for 8 p.m. Mountain Standard Time both Friday and Saturday inside the Conference Center, the church newsroom reports. Tickets for in-person seating are sold out, but the Saturday show is set to be broadcast live in Spanish on the event's webpage, with English and Portuguese subtitled versions also available. A recording is planned for streaming and on-demand viewing beginning Saturday.
Organizers describe the cast size differently across their own materials — the church newsroom's event announcement puts the cast at 1,000 volunteer musical artists, while Church News describes over 1,000 volunteers singing, playing in the orchestra and performing dances. Either way, it is a massive, all-volunteer production built around traditional clothing, music and dance.
Heritage and Interpretation Shape This Year's Numbers
Among this year's creative voices is Brianna Flores Villaalta, a Bolivian American performer who has participated in Luz de las Naciones for 15 years but is choreographing for the first time in 2026, per the same Deseret News account. She choreographed both the Colombian and Cuban performances, reworking the Cuban number in particular: where the show has traditionally featured salsa for Cuba, Flores Villaalta instead built the routine around a caringa, a lesser-known courtship dance.
The Colombian piece uses storytelling to depict Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ departing for heaven, a different approach from the folkloric steps often associated with that segment, Deseret News reported.
An Ecuadorian Bride and a Temple on the Way
Performer Annaleah Thurber, who has an Ecuadorian mother, is dancing in an Ecuadorian wedding number and will wear a bridal dress from Otavalo, a city in northern Ecuador that is soon set to have a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ, the outlet notes. The detail threads a personal story into the broader celebration, linking a performer's heritage directly to the show's themes of faith and ancestry.
Jason C. Jensen, an Area Seventy of the church who chairs the Luz de las Naciones executive committee, learned Spanish while serving a church mission as a young man. He said the event is meant for people regardless of what language they speak, according to the Deseret News report, underscoring organizers' framing of the show as a crossroads of culture rather than a performance for any single audience.
Decades of Roots, From the 1920s to a Pandemic Pause
Salt Lake City's Latino history provides context for the event, but does not establish a direct lineage to the modern production. Utah Heritage & Arts documents a thriving Mexican and Latino community on the city's west side by the 1920s; that record does not show that gatherings from the period were predecessors of Luz de las Naciones. In 2020, COVID-19 moved the celebration entirely online, splitting it into two virtual events held Nov. 7 and Dec. 19, with a cast described at the time as more than 1,000 Latino dancers, singers and other performers.
By 2025, the show was back in person at the Conference Center for its 23rd year, drawing tens of thousands of attendees in person and many more thousands watching the Saturday broadcast, per the church's recap of that event. Last year's program carried the theme “Paz que Ilumina,” or “Peace that Shines,” and commemorated 100 years since the restored gospel of Jesus Christ was first preached in South America.
Latino Culture in the Wider Community
According to KSL.com’s report on Census Bureau estimates, Latinos made up 21.9% of Salt Lake County’s population in 2024, up from 21.2% in 2023. Those figures describe the county’s population, not Luz de las Naciones’ audience. KSL.com’s Hispanic Heritage Month guide also listed a separate Mexican Independence Day celebration organized by the Mexican Consulate of Salt Lake City, scheduled for Sept. 13 at the Gallivan Center with mariachi and folkloric dance. That event was distinct from Luz de las Naciones.
This year's 24th edition continues that arc, organizers say, emphasizing Latin culture alongside Spanish and Portuguese music while also including an African-American song in the 2026 production. For those without a ticket, a standby line is expected outside the Salt Lake Tabernacle for overflow crowds and the possibility of Conference Center seating opening up, according to the church's event page.
