Forty years after Footloose‘s release, Kevin Bacon will return to Payson High School to attend the school’s final prom.
Later this year, Payson High School will be relocating to a new location, leaving its current home of Main Street, Payson, Utah for the first time since 1967. The current location is also best known for the 1984 cult film Footloose, where it served as the fictitious Bomont High.
Payson High has since had a tremendous fondness for Footloose, and its students rallied together to campaign for the film’s star Kevin Bacon to attend their final prom night at its current location before the school torn down. It’s a timely campaign as well, seeing as 2024 marks the 40th anniversary of the iconic film.
After months of campaigning to invite Bacon for prom, Bacon has finally agreed to attend, breaking the news to its students via Today: “I have been so impressed with everything that’s been going on there with this crazy idea to get me to come back. I’ve been amazed at the work that all of you have been putting into this, with the musical and the flash mobs and the re-creations.”
Students at Payson High School, where “Footloose” was filmed, are on an all-out mission to have star Kevin Bacon attend their prom.
In a TODAY exclusive, @KayleeHartung reports on their viral campaign — and @kevinbacon‘s responds live! pic.twitter.com/03iduiYDUB
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) March 22, 2024
“It hasn’t gone unnoticed by me, not to mention the fact that you tied in SixDegrees.org, our foundation, and are trying to figure out ways to give back to your community,” he continued. “It’s really inspirational, so thank you. Thank you. And I’m gonna come. I gotta come!”
Over the last several months, students at Payson High have launched a social media campaign – led by the hashtag #BaconToPayson – to garner Bacon’s attention. This included students recreating scenes from the movie on TikTok, learning the iconic Footloose dance and organising several flash mobs.
Released in 1984, Footloose starred starred Bacon as Chicago teenager Ren McCormack who moves to a small town and challenges a local minister to overturn a ban on dancing.