Kevin Bacon visits ‘Footloose’ school ahead of its final prom

After a nearly two-year campaign to get him there, Payson High School students finally welcomed Kevin Bacon back to their school just in time for prom.

Payson served as one of the filming locations for Bacon’s 1984 hit movie “Footloose,” which turned 40 this year. The school is scheduled to be demolished at the end of this academic year, meaning the 2024 prom was the last-ever to be held in Payson’s hallowed halls.

Wanting to give their school a good sendoff, students went all-out trying to welcome back Payson’s most famous “alum.” They recreated scenes, wrote letters, put on the musical, threw a 1980s-themed homecoming dance, hosted a town-wide screening of “Footloose,” held a Mr. Bacon pageant, launched a #BacontoPayson social media campaign and website, raised money for Bacon’s SixDegrees charity and even got Utah governor Spencer Cox to make a video for their cause. Finally, at the end of March, the school called a special assembly to announce that they’d achieved their goal: Kevin Bacon would visit in-person ahead of Payson’s last prom.

And visit he did: On Saturday morning, the actor mingled with Payson students on the school’s football field as they put together charity resource kits for Utah organizations.

Saturday night, as Payson students took to the dance floor for their school’s final — and fittingly “Footloose” themed — prom, a prerecorded video of Bacon played.

“Tonight, it’s not about me, it’s about you,” he said in the video, “I want you all to have a great time, and most importantly, be good to each other. And don’t forget to cut loose.” Then a clip of the final scene of the film played and Kenny Loggins’ “Footloose” started up to kick off the dance. Lottie Johnson, a Deseret News reporter who covered the event, shared a clip of the moment on Twitter/X:

Don’t forget to cut loose!

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