4 Best Performing Arts in Moab and Southeastern Utah, Utah

Colorful hot-air balloons—some from as far away as England—take to the skies over the Valley of the Gods and the town of Bluff during this mid-January festival, held during the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend. Attend the "glow in" if weather allows, and see balloons illuminated against the night sky by the flame from the propane heaters that fill them with hot air. Bring warm clothing and expect crisp, clear weather.

For more than a week each year, Easter Jeep Safari draws thousands of 4x4 vehicles to Moab to tackle some of the toughest backcountry roads in America. For all other visitors (and some locals), this is a good time of year to avoid town.

In southeast Utah there's nothing quite like the taste of the fresh cantaloupe, watermelon, honeydew, and canary melon grown along the Green River. For more than a century, locals have celebrated the harvest with Melon Days the third weekend of September. This small-town event features a parade (watch for the 25-foot watermelon slice to roll down the street), a car show, plenty of music and dancing, and thousands of pounds of Green River's famous melons. The parade winds down Main Street to OK Anderson City Park, where the festival is held. If you're lucky enough to be in the area for Melon Days, don't miss it.

This unique event brings together the diverse Moab community on the last Saturday of October. This festival may not be like any other you've attended; here, people from all over the Southwest build contraptions—catapults, trebuchets, and slingshots—that send pumpkins across the sky. Live music, about 25 vendor booths, and typically beautiful weather make this a popular event. Proceeds go toward the Youth Garden Project.