Lori Singer, young, with long wavy hair, one arm raised behind her head, leaning on a wall — Lori Singer in March 1983, two months before filming began in Utah. Anefo press photograph. Rob C. Croes for Anefo (Nationaal Archief) · CC0

Kevin Bacon with shoulder-length fair hair in a dark suit, photographers behind him — Kevin Bacon at Cannes in 2004, twenty years after the film. No free photograph of him from 1983 or 1984 could be found. Georges Biard · CC BY-SA 3.0

Footloose

Bomont never existed. It was made in 1983 out of four Utah towns, and the most important thing in the film is a shoelace. Lace the shoe and walk the real town.

The lace is still in the box.

Seven eyelets · seven scenes · seven real places

Lace up.

Thread the lace from the toe up. Each eyelet is a scene from the film and the real Utah County place where it was shot in 1983. Ren won at tractor chicken because his lace caught on the pedal and he could not jump, so watch the last one.

Unlaced. Nothing threaded yet.

Nothing threaded

A new pair, unlaced.

Bomont was put together from American Fork, Lehi, Payson and Provo. Four of the places you will thread are already gone.

Where we read it

Which places stand for which scenes: Payson High (school), American Fork (church), Lehi (the mill), Provo (the drive-in and the bar), Geneva (the montage) and Payson (the tractors). The order of the eyelets is this page’s, not the film’s.
Wikipedia: Footloose (1984 film)Utah Film Commission: Footloose, 40 years later (30 April 2024)Wikipedia: American Fork Presbyterian Church Wikipedia: Geneva Steel AFI Catalog of Feature Films: Footloose (1984)

Bomont city ordinance · the county line

Over the line.

In the film the seniors hold their prom at a grain mill just over the county line, beyond Bomont’s jurisdiction. Slide it there yourself.

Bomont · no dancingNext county

Move the prom

Still inside Bomont. Under the ordinance, there is no dance.

Where we read it

The prom at a grain mill just over the county line, beyond Bomont’s jurisdiction, and the Reverend’s prayer for the students.
Wikipedia: Footloose (1984 film)

A green motorway exit sign for Wynnewood and Elmore City on a dry grass verge — Exit 66 on Interstate 35, signed for Wynnewood and Elmore City, November 2008. A view of the way to Elmore City, not of the town. Scott Nazelrod · CC BY-SA 4.0

The real town · Garvin County, Oklahoma

Elmore City, 1980.

In Elmore City in 1980 there was no line to cross: the mayor argued that a school function was not a public event, and the school board let the prom go ahead.

The film was loosely based on events in Elmore City, which had banned public dancing in town since before Oklahoma became a state.

In 1979–80 the students lobbied for a prom. Most of the first town meeting was against it, but the mayor argued a school function was not a public event, and the school board allowed it.

737 people lived there in April 2020.

A small town 58 miles south of Oklahoma City; from Interstate 35 take exit 66 for Wynnewood and Elmore City.

Where we read it

Lehi and Vineyard

Two mills.

Ren works at one mill and dances at another. One still makes flour. The other has gone.

A tall white wooden mill with red trim and painted lettering, silos behind, a street in front — The Lehi Roller Mills on East Main Street, Lehi, in October 2016. An Errant Knight · CC BY-SA 4.0

833 East Main Street, Lehi · open

Flour: Lehi Roller Mills

The mill is where Ren works in the film.

Bacon never worked there, but he spent time packing flour to learn how it was done. The owner, Sherman Robinson, said yes to the crew only after state and OSHA officials told him filming would be safe.

A scene in which the mill burns down was cut from the film, and a dance set at the mill was shot at the Osmond studio.

Lehi Mills has milled here since 1906. The store is open Monday to Saturday, 11am to 6pm.

The mill store is open Monday to Saturday, 11am to 6pm. Flour, mixes and syrups.

Where we read it

Two tall chimneys over half-built furnaces, snowy mountains behind — The Geneva steel mill under construction in November 1942, below the Wasatch Range. Andreas Feininger for the Office of War Information. Andreas Feininger · Public domain

The former Geneva Works, Vineyard, on the east shore of Utah Lake · gone

Steel: Geneva Steel

The Geneva steel mill was the setting for a dance montage by Ren.

It was built with federal money between November 1941 and December 1944 by U.S. Steel’s Columbia Steel Company.

It closed in the early 2000s; the 1,750-acre site was sold in 2005, and Utah Valley University bought 125 acres of it in 2014.

The mill is gone and its land is being redeveloped as Vineyard. Nothing of the film’s mill can be visited.

Where we read it

And a studio in between.

The mill’s owner told the Deseret News in 2004 that a dance set at his mill was really shot at the Osmond studio, and that a scene in which his mill burned down was cut. Wikipedia puts Ren’s montage at Geneva. The two accounts do not agree, so both are here.

Where we read it

The Osmond studio and the cut fire scene.
Deseret News: Flour mill grows up after ‘Footloose’ (2004)
The montage at the Geneva steel mill.
Wikipedia: Geneva Steel Wikipedia: Footloose (1984 film)

Viator · Ad / affiliate

Utah County and the Wasatch

Provo and Utah County

Live marketplace results for trips around Provo and Utah County. None is a Footloose tour; the mill, the church and Payson are easy to reach by car along I-15.

Live marketplace results · itineraries change

Compare tours

Provo

Provo, after dark.

Where the kids went to get out of Bomont: a burger drive-in and a bar with a dance floor. Both have gone. Here is what stands there now.

Gone

A wide suburban road with traffic lights and trees, mountains behind — North 500 West (US 89) in Provo, June 2016, looking south towards where the Hi-Spot stood. A view of the street, not of the site. An Errant Knight · CC BY-SA 4.0

North 500 West, Provo

The Hi-Spot site, Provo

The drive-in scenes were shot at what was then a branch of the Hi-Spot burger chain in Provo.

Nothing of the Hi-Spot is left on North 500 West.

Nothing is left of the drive-in. North 500 West is an ordinary city road.

Where we read it

Gone

A glass and brick convention centre on a downtown corner with cars at the lights — The Utah Valley Convention Center on Center Street, Provo, in August 2018. It stands where the Silver Spur bar was. Ben P L · CC BY-SA 2.0

220 West Center Street, Provo

Utah Valley Convention Center (the Silver Spur)

The bar scene was filmed at the Silver Spur bar in downtown Provo; the bar and the buildings around it were later pulled down for the Utah Valley Convention Center.

Local extras danced in the Provo bar scene.

The convention center opened in 2012.

The bar has gone. The convention centre on its site opens for events; the downtown block around it is free to walk.

Where we read it

Hines Mansion

Hines Mansion, Provo

Downtown Provo · Rates on the booking page

A Victorian bed and breakfast at 383 West 100 South, two blocks from the convention centre on the Silver Spur’s site. Rooms are for two; check-in 4 to 5pm, check-out 11am. Book on the house’s own site or by phone.

See the rooms

Payson High School · 1050 South Main Street

Ren’s locker.

The school that played Bomont High stood for 58 years. When it came down, one locker was carried out of the old hall and built into a row in the new school. Carry it across.

1983

Undercover

Before filming began on 9 May 1983, Bacon spent a few hours as a Payson student to prove to himself he could pass for 17. He was 25.

Where we read it

Before filming began on 9 May 1983, Bacon spent a few hours as a Payson student to prove to himself he could pass for 17. He was 25.
AFI Catalog of Feature Films: Footloose (1984)

A long low tan school building across an empty parking lot under grey cloud — The 1967 Payson High School building in June 2016. It was demolished in June 2025. An Errant Knight · CC BY-SA 4.0

Red-brick and stone commercial buildings on a small-town main street — Main Street, Payson Historic District, July 2009. David Jay Fullmer · CC BY-SA 4.0

Main Street and the Payson Historic District

Payson

Footloose is set in the fictional town of Bomont but was shot in Payson, starting in 1983.

The high school and tractor scenes were shot in Payson.

Walk Main Street through the Historic District; the old school site is at its south end.

Where we read it

A green street sign with arrows to the Historic District, Memorial Park, Peteetneet Academy and the hospital — A Payson street sign pointing to the Historic District and Memorial Park, September 2012. A view of the town near the park, not of the park. Dan Convery · CC BY-SA 3.0

Main Street, central Payson

Memorial Park, Payson

The Utah Film Commission names Payson Memorial Park among the Footloose locations still standing in 2024.

The town and the area around it still hold other Footloose locations: the park, the Lehi Roller Mills and the American Fork church.

A city park in the middle of Payson, a few blocks north of the old school site.

Where we read it

The people

In the box.

Lori Singer in March 1983, two months before filming began in Utah. Anefo press photograph. Rob C. Croes for Anefo (Nationaal Archief) · CC0
Lori SingerAriel Moore · March 1983
Kevin Bacon at Cannes in 2004, twenty years after the film. No free photograph of him from 1983 or 1984 could be found. Georges Biard · CC BY-SA 3.0
Kevin BaconRen · photographed 2004
John Lithgow at the Emmy Awards in August 1988, four years after the film. Alan Light · CC BY 2.0
John LithgowReverend Shaw Moore · 1988
Dianne Wiest at the Academy Awards in March 1990, six years after the film. Alan Light · CC BY 2.0
Dianne WiestVi Moore · 1990

Kevin Bacon played Ren, Lori Singer played Ariel, and John Lithgow and Dianne Wiest played her parents, the Reverend Shaw Moore and Vi. Chris Penn was Willard, Sarah Jessica Parker was Rusty and Jim Youngs was Chuck, Ren’s opponent at chicken. Herbert Ross directed from Dean Pitchford’s script; Ric Waite shot it and Lynne Taylor-Corbett choreographed it. For the hardest dancing Bacon had doubles: Peter Tramm for the dance numbers and Chuck Gaylord on the horizontal bar.

On set, Ross played existing songs to set the mood of a scene. Most of the film’s own songs were written afterwards and fitted to the pictures; the title song was the exception.

Only Lori Singer’s photograph is from the time of the film. We could not find a free photograph of Kevin Bacon from 1983 or 1984; his is from 2004.

9 May 1983First day of filming, in Utah County
107Minutes long
$80mTaken in North America: seventh of 1984
2Academy Award nominations, both for songs

Paramount released it on 17 February 1984.

Where we read it

Cast, director, writer, cinematographer, running time, takings, Academy Award nominations and release.
Wikipedia: Footloose (1984 film)
The choreographer, the doubles, the songs fitted after filming and the first day of shooting.
AFI Catalog of Feature Films: Footloose (1984)

Go there.

Where it is now

8 places on the map: 7 in Utah County and Elmore City in Oklahoma. The old school, the Hi-Spot and the Silver Spur have gone, and the map shows where they stood. Geneva Steel has gone too; its land is being rebuilt, so it has no pin.

Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.

General reference · Restricted access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. The 1967 building is gone. The new school stands a stone’s throw away and is a working school: see it from Main Street.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: area · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Walk Main Street through the Historic District; the old school site is at its south end.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A city park in the middle of Payson, a few blocks north of the old school site.

The 1967 Payson High School building in June 2016. It was demolished in June 2025. An Errant Knight · CC BY-SA 4.0
1050 South Main Street, Payson · gone
Payson High School
Payson High School was the backdrop for many of the film’s best-known scenes; Kevin Bacon danced through its halls.
The 1967 building is gone. The new school stands a stone’s throw away and is a working school: see it from Main Street.
Where we read it
Main Street, Payson Historic District, July 2009. David Jay Fullmer · CC BY-SA 4.0
Main Street and the Payson Historic District
Payson
Footloose is set in the fictional town of Bomont but was shot in Payson, starting in 1983.
Walk Main Street through the Historic District; the old school site is at its south end.
Where we read it
A Payson street sign pointing to the Historic District and Memorial Park, September 2012. A view of the town near the park, not of the park. Dan Convery · CC BY-SA 3.0
Main Street, central Payson
Memorial Park, Payson
The Utah Film Commission names Payson Memorial Park among the Footloose locations still standing in 2024.
A city park in the middle of Payson, a few blocks north of the old school site.
Where we read it

Stay

Downtown Provo.

A Victorian house two blocks from where the Silver Spur stood.

Hines Mansion

Hines Mansion, Provo

Downtown Provo · Rates on the booking page

A Victorian bed and breakfast at 383 West 100 South, two blocks from the convention centre on the Silver Spur’s site. Rooms are for two; check-in 4 to 5pm, check-out 11am. Book on the house’s own site or by phone.

See the rooms

Go there