The fest is yet to come
Sixty-two summer festivals
Summer festival season is upon us. As we collectively thaw out and reach for our shades, now is the time to get out and about and enjoy all the fun our fine city has to offer. Food fests, beer bashes, art parties, cultural events, and music blowouts are just a few of the kinds of happenings that remind us Tulsa was made for summer.
May
Saturdays and Sundays through June 2
Oklahoma Renaissance Festival
The Castle of Muskogee, okcastle.com
Travel back the days of yore to the village of Castleton.
2–4 Tulsa Noise Fest
Carson Studio, tulsaartistfellowship.com
66 acts push sonic boundaries. Click here to read more.
3 International Jazz Fest
Guthrie Green, tulsajazz.com
Performances include a Herbie Hancock tribute by the Free Samples, as well as The Elizabeth Speegle Band, Gemstar Caribbean Steel
Band, and more.
3–4 BBQ ‘n Blues Festival
Bixby, bixbyrotarybbq.com
Two days of smoked meats and smokin’ guitar licks.
3–5 Cinco de Mayo Festival
River West Festival Park
This three-day celebration of Mexican culture will feature live music and performances, food and drink, carnival rides, and a 5K run.
3–5 Germanfest
German-American Society of Tulsa, gastulsa.org
This annual celebration features folk dancing, polka bands, food, drink, and activities.
4 Tulsa VegFest
Guthrie Green, tulsavegfest.org
This inaugural festival will celebrate sustainability and plant-based lifestyles and will feature speakers, vendors, and food. Click here to read more.
4 Festival of Colors
Haikey Creek Park, Broken Arrow, iagtok.com
Celebrate Holi with free colors, games, and music.
4 Jenks America Food Truck Festival
Jenks, jenkschamber.com
Enjoy the live sounds of local music and the flavors of local food trucks.
4–5 Elote’s Cinco de Mayo Street Festival
Deco District, elotetulsa.com
See luchador bouts in the middle of Boston Ave. at this fest, which will feature food, margaritas, and local beer.
9–12 Rooster Days
Central Park, Broken Arrow, roosterdays.com
This 88-year tradition includes a parade, carnival, market, and live performances.
11 OK Eclectic Fest
Guthrie Green, okrootsmusic.org
This inaugural festival will feature contemporary dance, a talk by Rolling Stone’s first staff photographer, Baron Wolman, and a variety of live music, including singer/songwriter Valerie June.
11 Bristow Tabouleh Fest
Bristow, taboulehfest.com
Bristow celebrates its Lebanese heritage at this annual street festival.
11 Stilwell Strawberry Festival
Stilwell, strawberrycapital.com
Enjoy the sweet strawberries of Stilwell at this festival which also features, art, and music.
11–12 Festival of Kites
Wind Riders Field, facebook.com/tulsawindriders
Take to the skies at Tulsa Wind Riders Kite Club’s 26th annual festival.
17–19 Tulsa International Mayfest
Tulsa Arts District, tulsamayfest.org
In its 46th year, Mayfest is moving to the Tulsa Arts District. The festivals three stages will host dozens of local and regional acts, and with a new local-artists area, Mayfest will have more local art than ever.
18 Ales & Tails Crawfish Fest
Vinita, alesandtails.net
This fest in Vinita pairs Cajun cooking with Red Dirt music.
18–19 Habit Mural Festival
Gateway Building, habitfestival.com
Artists from around the country will transform the Gateway Building and create new murals at several other locations downtown and in the Pearl District.
19 The Hop Jam
Tulsa Arts District, thehopjam.com
Hanson will return to headline their festival, which will feature more than 100 breweries and music from Phantom Planet, The Weeks, Wilderado, and more.
23–27 Juneteenth Carnival
OSU-Tulsa, tulsajuneteenth.org
Tulsa Juneteenth hosts this family-fun carnival with rides, games, food, and more.
24–26 World Culture Music Festival
Tulsa Arts District, wcmtulsa.com
Oklahoma’s largest hip-hop festival will feature more performances by more than 60 acts.
24–26 Rocklahoma
Pryor, rocklahoma.com
Pryor’s rock-fest will feature performances by Shinedown, Gwar, Korn, Disturbed, and Bush.
25 Hip Hop 918
Guthrie Green, guthriegreen.com
Tulsa’s old school rap fest returns with Slick Rick the Ruler, Roxanne Shante, MC Lyte, and Bid Daddy Kane.
25 Route 66 Patriotfest
Historical Route 66 Village, rt66patriotfest.com
Celebrate Memorial Day Weekend with a classic car and motorcycle cruise down Route 66, historical displays, and live entertainment.
30–June 1 Tallgrass Music Festival
Skiatook, tallgrassmusicfestival.com
Performances by The Baker Family, Blue Moon Rising, The Moron Brothers, and more.
30–June 1 Chillin’ & Grillin’ BBQ Festival
Sand Springs, sandspringschamber.com
This once-small gathering of BBQ enthusiasts has grown to a competition featuring dozens of teams.
31 Real Okie Craft Beer Fest
Muskogee, friendsofhonorheightspark.org
This festival celebrates the art of craft brewing in Oklahoma.
31–June 1 Broken Arrow Rose Festival & Chalk It Up
Rose District, Broken Arrow, keepbabeautiful.org
This festival celebrates the natural beauty of Broken Arrow’s roses and the temporary beauty of chalk art.
31–June 2 Tulsa Pride
East Village District, tulsapride.org
Oklahoma’s longest-running LGBTQ+ celebration features a parade, live performances, speakers, a family picnic, the Rainglow Run, and more.
June
1 Big Dawg’s Crawfish Festival
Muskogee, bigdawgfest.com
This festival will feature a massive crawfish boil, live music, beer, and vendors.
6 Brookside Rumble and Roll
Brookside, rumbleandroll.com
Thousands of motorcycles will parade through town before arriving at a street party on Brookside.
6–8 Okmulgee Pecan Festival
Okmulgee, okmulgeechamber.org
Go nuts at Okmulgee’s annual festival.
6–8 American Heritage Music Festival
Grove, grandlakefestivals.com
This celebration of old-timey tunes also includes the Grand Lake National Fiddle Fest competition.
6–9 deadCenter Film Festival
Oklahoma City, deadcenterfilm.org
The biggest film festival in the state, deadCenter is a weekend of screenings, panels, and parties.
7–9 Tulsa Tough
Blue Dome and Tulsa Arts districts, and Riverside, tulsatough.com
Downtown Tulsa loses its collective mind during this weekend of cycling races.
8–15 OKM Festival
Bartlesville, okmmusic.org
This 35th annual festival features a wide variety of musical performances, including jazz, classical, bluegrass, and folk.
13–16 Tulsa Juneteenth
Greenwood, tulsajuneteenth.org
Tulsa’s Juneteenth celebration will feature art, music, and events, including a tribute to Prince featuring Morris Day and Sheila E.
20–23 Muscogee Nation Festival
Okmulgee, creekfestival.com
This festival features a wide variety of events including a Stompdance, rodeo, carnival, games, tournaments, and fitness events, and performances by national music acts.
22 Breaking the Bible Belt Fest
The Vanguard, thevanguardtulsa.com
This inaugural sludge fest will feature two stages of metal bands from the South and Southwest.
22 Boulder Dash
Tulsa Arts District, boulderdashtulsa.com
A day of highly competitive big-wheel trike races.
27–29 Bixby Green Corn Festival
Bixby, bixbyoptimist.com
Nothing too corny here, just old-fashioned family fun.
29–30 I AM Yoga Festival
Cedar Rock Inn at Redberry Farm, iamyogafestival.com
I AM Yoga features indoor and outdoor classes and workshops, group meditations, live music, and more.
July
4 Folds of Honor Freedom Fest
Veterans Park and River West Festival Park, freedomfesttulsa.com
Celebrate our nation’s independence with live music, activities, and one of the largest fireworks displays around.
5 Fuck You We Rule OK!
The Vanguard, fywrok.com
The punk fest will bring The Unseen Defiance, Monster Squad, The Oi! Scouts, and more to The Vanguard.
10–14 Woody Guthrie Folk Festival
Okemah, woodyfest.com
Wish Woody a happy 106th birthday on a visit to his hometown with musicians who have followed in his footsteps.
12 Tulsa Funk Festival
VFW Post 577, facebook.com/tulsafunkfestival
The second annual funk fest will feature performances by Collidoscope, Groovement, Cherokee Rose, and more.
12–14 Tokyo in Tulsa
Stoney Creek Conference Center, tokyointulsa.com
Oklahoma’s largest anime and pop culture expo has a cowboys vs. aliens theme this year.
18–20 Porter Peach Festival
Porter, porterpeachfestivals.com
This small-town fest dedicated to Porter’s delicious peaches has been a summer tradition for nearly 60 years.
20 Taste of Summer Ice Cream Festival
Broken Arrow, tasteofsummerba.com
Blue Bell offers unlimited ice cream at this Broken Arrow summer staple.
25–27 Exchange Choreography Festival
Tulsa Performing Arts Center, thebellhouse.info
Exchange features performances, workshops, and events that blur the line between performer and audience.
27–28 Tulsa Powwow
Cox Business Center, tulsapowwow.org
Tulsa Indian Club hosts their 67th annual powwow.
August
9–10 Okmulgee Invitational Rodeo & Festival
Okmulgee, okmulgeechamber.org
Okmulgee Invitational was the nation’s first black rodeo and is one of the state’s longest-running rodeos.
9–11 IICOT Pow Wow of Champions
Mabee Center, iicot.org
The Intertribal Indian Club of Tulsa hosts their 42nd annual powwow.
9–11 Green Country Roots Festival
Tahlequah, gcrfestival.com
This roots music fest will expand to three days for its second year.
10 Will Rogers/Wiley Post Fly-In
Oologah, willrogers.com
More than 100 small aircraft fly-in to the Will Rogers Birthplace Ranch to celebrate small plane aviation and the lives of Rogers and Post.
24 Maker Faire Tulsa
Central Park Hall at Expo Square, tulsa.makerfaire.com
Maker Faire celebrates hobbies, experiments, and projects of all kind.
24 Wild Brew
Cox Business Center, wildbrew.org
Support wildlife conservation while sampling your choice of more than 200 beers and food from more than 50 restaurants.
30–31 Blue Whale Comedy Festival
Tulsa Arts District, bluewhalecomedyfestival.com
Tulsa’s premiere (read: only) comedy festival returns with shows by national and local comedians.
30–September 1 Dusk ‘til Dawn Blues Festival
Rentiesville, dcminerblues.com
True to its name, dozens of blues bands perform from 5 p.m. to 5 a.m. each night of this one-of-a-kind festival.
September
2 Tulsa’s Great Raft Race
The Arkansas River, tulsaraftrace.com
Hundreds brave the treacherous waters of the mighty Arkansas in homemade dinghies.
6–7 Bluegrass & Chili Festival
Wagoner, bluegrasschilifest.com
This chili competition and showcase of top bluegrass talent has been an end-of-summer tradition for 40 years.
6–8 WizardWorld Comic Con
Renaissance Hotel and Convention Center, wizardworld.com
The biggest name in fan conventions returns to Tulsa.
13–15 ScotFest
Broken Arrow, okscotfest.com
Now in its 40th year, ScotFest is a celebration of Scottish and Celtic culture, music, food, and drink, and the area’s largest Highland Games.
14 MisFEST
Guthrie Green, misfest.com
MisFEST returns for its third year celebrating women in music.
14 The Big Om at Home Yoga Festival
Pearl Beach Brew Pub, bigomyogaretreat.com
The Big Om will host classes, workshops, entertainment, and music under downtown’s skyline.