Folklore encompasses more than you might imagine. It’s not just stories and customs, but also jokes and games and beliefs and internet memes and slang and traditional dress and cosplay and quilts and log houses and so much more! What unites all these different forms of cultural expression is that they share the qualities of being both dynamic (informal, variable) and conservative (traditional, consistent). In other words, folklore is the cultural forms and expressions that everyday people share with each other, adapting and changing them as needed to fit new cultural and communicative contexts. By examining oral and material themes-and-variations in a society, we can recognize the most deeply held beliefs of that culture and learn much about ourselves, collectively and individually, in the process.

Utah is one of the best places in the United States in which to be a fan of folklore. We've got cowboy poetry, traditional music and dance, native cultures, religious folklore, regional foodways, university customs, and more than our fair share of haunted houses, local legends, and scary stories. Every region has its own folklore, but Utah's folklore highlights the unique and diverse nature of Utahns themselves, and the Folklore Society of Utah is proud to represent that.