The intersection of tradition and culture is where you’ll find this week’s OneSix8 offerings. And what a crossroads it is! In fact, the coming 168 hours could mark the best timespan this year for taking in film, art, dance, and music in a distinctively Oklahoma fashion.
This Thursday, June 6th marks the official launch of screenings and events tied to the 13th deadCENTER Film Festival.
Recently named by MovieMaker magazine as one of the top 50 film festivals “worth the entry fee” and among the “20 coolest festivals” of its kind in the world, deadCENTER has quickly become one of Oklahoma’s top attractions.
This year 120 films and shorts are scheduled to screen in venues on and near Oklahoma City’s Film Row – the historic district downtown where film studios once shipped films for distribution in theaters throughout the state.
Among this year’s most anticipated deadCENTER screenings/events with Okie “attachment” include: Somebody Up There Likes Me featuring this state’s own Megan Mullally and husband Nick Offerman, LoveTown – an Oklahoma-produced “pop-musical tale of a dysfunctional bar singer helping three wandering souls find their way back to love…” – and this year’s Film ICON Award presentation to noted film producer and Oklahoma City native Hunt Lowry of The Last of the Mohicans and Donnie Darko fame.
The 27th annual Red Earth Native American Cultural Festival begins Friday, June 7th at the Cox Convention Center in downtown Oklahoma City. This showcase of Native culture features more 1,200 artists, dancers and singers from Oklahoma and throughout North America.
This stunning visual and performance art event is one of the largest of its kind and offers patrons the rare opportunity to explore, celebrate and even accumulate the richness and diversity of “Native America.”
Friday’s 10:00 a.m. festival-opening parade serves as the perfect prelude to this distinctive event as representatives of more than 100 tribes, in full regalia, traverse downtown Oklahoma City.
Another annual Oklahoma City festival that with international appeal, and one which also illustrates this state’s rich cultural legacy, is the Charlie Christian International Music Festival.
Named after the man who “made history by bringing the electric guitar out of the rhythm section and into the forefront as a solo instrument,” the Charlie Christian International Music Festival serves as a reminder of the guitarist’s enduring influence both here at home and around the world.
The 28th annual Charlie Christian International Music Festival was to conclude with two nights of music (June 7th & 8th) on the “big stage” in Oklahoma City’s Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark where resident sensations, Matt Stansberry & The Romance and Grady Nichols were to share billing with world-renowned jazz icons, Joe McBride and Kirk Whalum, respectively. Sadly, the weather has forced organizers to postpone these concerts (‘new’ dates TBD).
Nevertheless, this Thursday evening’s “Battle of the Bands” is to take place in the Purple Martini on Sheridan (in Bricktown, OKC) at 7:00 p.m. Short Dogg takes on the 411 band for this year’s honors. Also remaining on the schedule is Saturday’s “Feel Deep Deuce” brunch at Urban Roots with live music and recollections of Oklahoma’s historic Deep Deuce district.
For more on these and other events in your area, visit our calendar page.
