History of Merrill Osmond's Youth Pioneer Pageant

As a result of his love of children, and the joy they bring to his heart, Merrill Osmond began creating the Youth Pioneer Pageant in the late 1980's. After writing every line and song with the help of Sam Cardon and Cliff Maag, Merrill was delighted to have the first Youth Pioneer Pageant performed in his hometown of Draper, Utah with over 12,000 in attendance in 1987. The fireworks display at the end of the pageant was known as the largest in the Salt Lake valley, and since then, it has been performed for tens of thousands of attendees throughout the country.

In July 2012, Merrill Osmond and the Olive Osmond Hearing Fund brought the annual Youth Pioneer Pageant to West Jordan, Utah. The re-birth of Merrill’s production was met with an amazing reception throughout the three-day event. Hundreds of local children danced and sang in front of estimated crowd of 15,000. The most spectacular firework finale ended each of the three night performances, resulting in the largest firework show West Jordan has ever seen.