BOUNTIFUL — When you’ve been around as long as Summerfest, sometimes you have to shake things up a little.

The Bountiful/Davis Summerfest International Art and Folk Festival is set to run Aug. 5-8 with several new elements up its sleeve, including new performing groups, the first-ever Taste of the Town South, more prize opportunities, a modified Artists in Action event, and a chuckwagon breakfast. Several of the elements were the result of recession-induced brainstorming, helping to keep Summerfest as big, entertaining, and (mostly) free as ever.

“It’s very exciting this year, with several things we haven’t done before,” said BDAC Executive Director Emma Dugal. “We had to get creative.”

This creativity will be apparent right from the beginning, when the festival’s annual Street Dance is combined with the first-ever Taste of the Town South on Aug. 5, starting at 6 p.m. (the Street Dance will start at 7 p.m.) Co-sponsored by the Davis Chamber of Commerce, the event will allow residents to sample food from area restaurants as they watch this year’s Summerfest dancers and musical groups perform in the closed-off Main Street.

“The Street Dance usually turns into one big party,” said Dugal. “This will only encourage that.”

This year’s performing groups, which are coming from China, South Korea, Spain, Romania, Hungary, and Poland, will also be mostly new to Summerfest (some of the performers from China and South Korea may have come with other groups). To celebrate that, the Bountiful Davis Art Center has teamed up with Creative Arts Academy to hold dance workshops from 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.

“Each studio will represent a different country, and kids can go around and get stamps in their passports” said Dugal. The workshops are free, but space is limited so call 295-3798 to register. “I’m really looking forward to it.”

Artists in Action, where people can come watch local artists create outside, has also made a change this year. The artists will be gathered around the Bountiful Tabernacle from 5-9 p.m.

“Before, we had them scattered up and down Main Street, but people weren’t really connecting it to the festival,” said Trixee Buckingham, who is organizing the event. “We wanted to give them the attention they deserve.”

The Opening Ceremonies will be held on Aug. 6 at 6:30 p.m. at Bountiful City Park (400 North and 200 West). This year, though, there will also be a Mayor’s/VIP tent reception at the park for sponsors and invited guests.

Though donations have been down, Dugal said that both the community and local organizations have been supportive of Summerfest, and KUED came in with a last-minute sponsorship generous enough that Aug. 7 will be known as KUED day.

Host families will also be invited to the reception. Only about 50 percent of the arriving dancers currently have host families waiting to take them in, and BDAC is urgently looking for more volunteers.

“We need quite a few families,” said Dugal. Those interested in volunteering should call 292-0367 for more information.

On Aug. 7-8 the festival will be going strong at Bountiful City Park from 10 a.m.-10 p.m. with arts booths and an entire day of performances. This year, buttons will be available for sale that enter purchasers in a contest for prizes from different artist booths. On Aug. 8, Summerfest will also hold its first-ever Chuckwagon Breakfast at 8 a.m. at the park. The event will be co-sponsored by the First Southern Baptist Church of Bountiful.

“It’s expensive to put on Summerfest, but we love it,” said Dugal. “I think it will be a lot of fun.”

jwardell@davisclipper.com