3 minute read
Herbal Affair History & News
At the Herbal Affair and Festival,” said Grant Gerondale, the Community Development Director of the City of Sand Springs, “you can find heirloom tomatoes and native plants that you can’t just get on aisle seven of Home Depot.”
Founded in 1989 by Sand Springs resident Ruth Leib, the Herbal Affair and Festival started as a small street sale that attracted around 800 visitors. Today, the Herbal Affair and Festival, Oklahoma’s largest outdoor celebration of herbs and gardening, boasts more than 25,000 attendees, which is larger than the entire population of Sand Springs. The event has certainly grown!
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According to Grant, who has operated the event for 16 years, there are some guests who have attended for the last ten to twenty years, eagerly marking their calendars each year for the next event. “The Herbal Affair and Festival is not all about tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers, though,” said Grant. The show is also known for its arts and crafts collections and diverse food options. This year, more than 100 vendors will participate in the event, including a Missouribased bonsai artist, stained glass designers, and makers who weave wicker baskets and create sculptures with metal.
Grant encourages attendees to come hungry, too, since there will be plenty of unique food options, including traditional Indian tacos, German bratwursts, and chicken and noodles from an Amish family out of Rogers County. There will be around a dozen food vendors for visitors to choose from. Per tradition, the Boy Scouts and Eagle Scouts will have a canoe filled to the brim with ice-cold root beers and cream sodas for sale to help raise money for their organization.
With assistance from the Parks and Recreation Department and the Sand Springs Police Department, the City of Sand Springs is able to produce this event each year. The Parks and Recreation Department helps provide water, electricity, and shuttling services while the Sand Springs Police Department offers security during the event.
In conjunction with the timing of the Herbal Affair and Festival and just adjacent, the folks at Okie Spice will be hosting their third annual event, Westival, right on Main Street. The event will feature wine and food vendors and live music from The Jennifer Marriott Band, providing even more shopping and entertainment for Herbal Affair and Festival goers.
The City of Sand Springs and the staff at We Are Sand Springs invite you to attend and explore the 31st annual Herbal Affair and Festival in the historic Triangle Park District on Saturday, April 18th and marvel the growth the event has experienced since its original show in 1989.
The Herbal Affair and Festival runs from 8am to 4pm on Saturday, April 18th and is free to attend. Parking is available in the Charles Page High School parking lot, and a free shuttle with transportation to the event is provided by the Parks and Recreation Department.
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