Cross your fingers for good weather, Memorial Day weekend is here and central Oklahoma celebrates with four outdoor arts and music festivals.
More than 60,000 people are expected to attend the 38th Annual Paseo Arts Festival this Memorial Day weekend.
Oklahoma City’s Historic Paseo Arts District hosts more than 80 visual artists selling original work in a diverse range of media, from painting and photography to wood and jewelry. Many of the district’s galleries present new and special exhibits.
Dozens of musicians and live entertainers perform continuously on the event’s two stages.
The Acoustic Stage on the Paseo’s north end features folk, country and bluegrass singer-songwriters. The Electric Stage on the south side showcases dancers and some of the festival's most popular returning acts like The Grown Ups band from Oklahoma City.
Ted’s Café Escondido, Urban Wineworks, Dippin' Dots Ice Cream and 12 other vendors cater a food court on Paseo Drive and NW 29th Street.
Additionally, the Paseo hosts an “Artists of the Future” children's area at no cost. The kids zone gives youngsters a place to learn about painting and create art of their own.
The Paseo Arts Festival runs May 24 through May 26 from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Monday. A shuttle goes back and forth every 15 minutes between the festival and First Christian Church at NW 36th Street and Walker Avenue to accommodate overflow parking.
Medicine Park Mayor Dwight Cope invites you to enjoy three days of rockin’ ‘Red Dirt’ music. The Mayor's Red Dirt Ball takes place Memorial Day weekend.
The event features 15 acts at three open-air venues along Medicine Park’s arts corridor.
The lineup includes regional and local Red Dirt heavyweights like the Red Dirt Rangers, Carter Sampson and the ladies of the Tequila Songbirds.
Lawn chairs are recommended but no ice chests are permitted.
The complimentary music festival kicks off with a Main-stage performance by the Tear Stained Eye Friday, May 23 at 7 p.m. and runs from noon through midnight Saturday and Sunday.
The all-American sound doesn't stop in Medicine Park however, as Watermelon Slim, Graham Colton and several other notable artists play at the 24th annual 5th Street Edmond Jazz & Blues Festival.
What attracts more than 10,000 Oklahomans to bring out the lawn chairs and blankets for this Edmond tradition each year? According to event publicist Cyndy Hoenig, “It’s the music and it’s the food!”
The Meat House Neighborhood Butcher and Grocer provides Jazz and Blues lovers with sandwiches throughout the weekend alongside 19 other food vendors.
More than 20 artists set up booths to sell items like children’s toys and sand-art pieces as well.
The 5th Street Edmond Jazz and Blues Festival takes place Saturday, May 24 from 3 to 11:30 p.m. and Sunday, May 25 from 2 to 10 p.m. A full listing of the music lineup is available at the festival’s website and admission is free.
Cowboys and cowgirls looking for a down-home way to celebrate the holiday can check out the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum's 24th Annual Chuck Wagon Gathering & Children’s Cowboy Festival.
Visitors choose from authentic chuck wagon fare as children join in on numerous outdoor activities like pony rides, bandana decorating and temporary tattooing.
Families can take covered wagon rides and tour festival grounds in stagecoaches. Award-winning Choctaw author and storyteller Tim Tingle entertains guests Saturday.
The two-day, family-friendly festival takes place May 24 and 25 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and admission is complimentary for children 12 and under.
Oklahomans can explore the world of aviation at Sundance Airport in Yukon on Saturday, May 24 during the annual Discover Aviation & Airshow Spectacular.
Experts from the Sundance Flight Academy perform an air show and give helicopter-rides. In addition, pilots are on-hand to share stories and teach visitors about different careers in aviation.
The event’s gates open at 9 a.m. with the air show beginning at noon. Admission and parking are both complimentary.
For more ways to fill the 168 hours of your week, visit KGOU's event listings page.
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