That much seems true. Local restaurants have advertised Pie ’n’ Beer Day specials, and one local brewing company suggests pie-and-beer pairings on its website. The nonprofit radio station KRCL on Thursday held a Pie ’n’ Beer Day fund-raiser for itself at a bar in downtown Salt Lake City. Some of the menu’s pie offerings were savory — heirloom tomato and goat cheese, smoked cherry with rosemary crust — but there was also a Shaker lemon option.

The alternative holiday has “always been sort of underground, but now I think it’s a real thing,” said Brad Wheeler, the disc jockey who organized the KRCL event. “You can’t get more wholesome than pie, so in a weird way, I guess it does celebrate Utah, but at the same time kind of turns Pioneer Day on its head.”

In Utah, Mormonism is a pervasive presence, and relations between Mormons and non-Mormons are generally cordial. About 65 percent of the state’s population and more than 90 percent of state lawmakers are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As a result, the church’s moral codes and cultural practices often subtly set the tone for community life. Public officials typically tread carefully around their religious ties, but on July 24, no one seems to pretend those influences do not exist, said Ken Sanders, a Salt Lake City bookseller who specializes in Mormon history and culture.

Both in size and in meaning, Pioneer Day carries so much heft that much of the state — including state-run liquor stores — closes for business, and the calendar overflows with events. There are rodeos, fireworks shows, a Mormon Tabernacle Choir concert and re-enactment hikes that trace the routes used by pioneers. The parade in downtown Salt Lake City includes entrants from many religious, political and cultural backgrounds, but it also features floats handcrafted by Mormon congregations. It draws more than 250,000 spectators, many of whom camp along the route overnight to secure prime viewing spots.