July/August 2023

BY JEREMY MARTIN

FEED ME, SEYMOUR

Perhaps the second-most-often-told man-eating-plant story, Little Shop of Horrors , presented at The Pollard Theatre Company in Guthrie, is a stage adaptation of B-movie mogul Roger Corman’s 1960 film about a Venus flytrap that craves human blood. Somehow, romantic pathos—and several songs that are better than they have any right to be—ensue. (As you probably suspected, the most-oftentold man-eating-plant story is the one about the time Grandpa tried bok choy at the church potluck).

» Through July 1 + Tickets, $10-$35 (405) 282-2801 + thepollard.org

Oklahomans will become cheerfully airborne at the FireLake Fireflight Balloon Festival in Shawnee on August 11 and 12. (page 93)

For Patriot Fans

The exact details surrounding Paul Revere’s midnight ride often are contested by historians, but his legendary warning that those British jocks were coming to get their kidnapped mascot back from the pranksters at America High has forever linked the War for Independence to the tradition of Friday night lights.

Chelsea’s 4th of July Spectacular at the Chelsea High School football field continues the tradition with games, food trucks, and fireworks in celebration of the time the Eagles pushed the Bulldogs back, way back. » July 3 + Admission, free (918) 789-2220 chelseaareachamber.com/events

In

A GROOVE

Shop for music merch, cassettes, CDs, and, of course, stacks and stacks of “wax” at the Vinyl Record Show at Stoney Creek Hotel & Conference Center in Broken Arrow. Collectors can browse 45s, LPs, and even 78s ranging from $1 to whatever the market will allow. Conveniently, and possibly dangerously, an ATM will be available onsite.

» July 8 + Admission, $8 (210) 415-2972 + vinylrecordshow.com

Make A Splash

July is Park and Recreation Month, recognizing the special role public parks play in connecting neighbors and building communities. But let’s skip the city council-speech platitudes and dive right into a cannonball. Recreation Celebration at Ardmore Community Water Park offers an immersive introduction to the magic of shared civic spaces at a 300,000-gallon pool party with water slides, bucket drops, and aquatic basketball. There also will be games, prizes, and go-kart rides.

» July 15 + Admission, free-$5

(580) 223-4844 + ardmorecity.org

YEARLY YEE-HAW

The frequently challenging and lonely life of a vaquero (or buckaroo) was not for everyone, but National Day of the Cowboy at Chisholm Trail Heritage Center in Duncan promises fun for all age groups and foot-tenderness levels with its theme of Three States, One Trail. Ranch-style recreations will include ropin’ and ridin’ activities, storytelling, art, and live music. See, hear, smell, and feel a day in the life of a cowboy in the center’s 4-D Experience Theater—an experience that would probably make even the baddest of back-in-the-day hombres exclaim, “Well, what in tarnation?”

» July 22 + Admission, free-$17

(580) 252-6692 + onthechisholmtrail.com/events

Bottle It Up

Passing time turns one shopper’s trash into another shopper’s treasure at the Tulsa Antique Advertising & Bottle Show at SageNet Center in Tulsa. In addition to the advertised advertising (and bottles!), collectors can snatch up tin containers, jars, goods from old gas stations, and goodness knows what else Before Times detritus like they’re archaeologists studying the twentieth century Coca-Cola Dynasty at an extremely low-effort dig site.

» July 22 + Entry, free (918) 341-5475 tulsaantiquesandbottleclub.com/annual-show

Curiosity Shopping

One problem with big-box stores is those big boxes are filled with smaller boxes filled with a bunch of the same stuff. If you prefer shopping where the wares are strewn across card tables and stacked in milk crates, you might try Wanderlust Market at Payne County Expo Center in Stillwater. Vendors will have handmade and vintage items you won’t see at your local supercenter— and probably a few things you’d even have a hard time finding online because you wouldn’t know what to type into the search bar.

» July 22 + Admission, free

(405) 810-6977 revolve-productions.com/upcoming-events

Five Summer Concerts to Rock Out At

Whether you want to hear world music-informed punk, pop royalty, an idiosyncratic singer-songwriter, a Nashville Star, or the Starchild, you can hear them all here in Oklahoma this summer.

Gogol Bordello

Start wearing purple now. Eugene Hütz’s singular international folk-punk band will hit The Jones Assembly in Oklahoma City following the release of their eighth studio album, 2022’s Solidaritine, which features guest vocals from Bad Brains’ H.R. and a cover of Fugazi’s “Blueprint.”

» July 12 + Tickets, $35-$50

(405) 212-2378 + thejonesassembly.com

Madonna

While she probably won’t have time to perform all thirty-eight of her top 10 Billboard hits when she brings The Celebration Tour to BOK Center in Tulsa, her mononymous majesty will most likely not be debuting a new avant-garde opera, either. Expect plenty you can sing along to in a set list spanning four decades.

» July 27 + Tickets, $70-$170

(918) 894-4200 + bokcenter.com

Chris Young

The Nashville Star season-four winner and CMT Music Award recipient’s appearance at Enid Stride Bank Center will mark the venue’s tenth anniversary. Perhaps Young will bring his “Famous Friends” to the party.

» July 28 + Tickets, $59-$139

(580) 616-7380 + stridebankcenter.com

The Mountain Goats

They may not be the best-ever death metal band out of Denton, Texas, but John Darnielle’s shapeshifting musical project has to be one of the best ever former one-man-bands to record concept albums about professional wrestling, Dungeons & Dragons, and French historian

PARLIAMENT-FUNKADELIC

Got funk in the trunk? Good, because George Clinton’s mothership of intergalactic grooves is cleared for landing at The Criterion in Oklahoma City. Watch out when they take off, because they might just tear the roof off the sucker.

» August 4 + Tickets, $49.50-$89.50

(405) 840-5500 + criterionokc.com

Pierre Chuvin, to name a few recent examples from their twenty-one-album discography. Hear them at The Vanguard in Tulsa following the release of 2022’s action flick-inspired Bleed Out

» July 13 + Tickets, $40-$45 thevanguardtulsa.com

Stir It Up

An annual celebration of the miraculous fact that protest music born in 1960s Jamaica can still move crowds in twenty-first-century central Oklahoma, Bricktown Reggae Fest in downtown Oklahoma City pairs live music with Caribbean food and craft beer. Morgan Heritage said, “Reggae Bring Back Love,”

Bring your appetite and your antacids to the Salsa Festival at the Oklahoma Aquarium in Jenks, where the beloved condiment will be celebrated all afternoon. (page 94) but Bricktown Reggae Fest says bring your own blanket or lawn chair if you’d rather not “Get Up, Stand Up” the whole time.

» July 28 + Admission, free (405) 236-4143 + bricktownokc.com

Square Dance

Take some time to appreciate the fact that fabric patches of all shapes, styles, and sizes can come together to keep you comfy-cozy at Footloose, A Celebration of Quilts at Cole Community Center in Oklahoma City. Marvel at the handiworks on display, shop for materials for a masterpiece of your own, or buy a raffle to win a quilt and warm yourself the easy way.

» July 28-29 + Admission, $10-15 (405) 722-3693 + centralokquilters.org

Moving Pictures

Honoring the days when the area was known as Black Wall Street, before the affluent district was destroyed in the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, Greenwood Film Festival at OSU-Tulsa showcases the works of local and international black filmmakers, seeking out “fresh films that expose the ills of society, challenge us, force us to grow, speak truth to power, make us laugh and empower.” Because none of our problems have ever been solved by looking away.

» August 2-6 + Tickets, $20-$175 (323) 736-2470 + greenwoodfilmfestival.com

Free Barking

It’ll be a regular Dog Day Afternoon in the evening at Downtown Dogfest on the Courthouse Lawn in Enid. The fur babyfriendly event features games, giveaways, vendors, and other pooch-pourri, but after a quick look at IMDB, we realize that Dogfest is not at all like Dog Day Afternoon, which, despite the delightful name, is a gritty crime film starring Al Pacino. While you probably won’t be leaving with a bank bag full of money à la Pacino, the first 150 dogs will receive doggie bags. BYOBaggie, too, in case your best friend leaves a gritty crime of their own on the courthouse lawn.

» August 4 + Admission, free (580) 234-1052 + visitenid.org

Why I Ottawa

What do you get when you go to the fair? Do you get a turkey leg or a corn dog or a blue ribbon for the livestock you raised? Or do you just get a little dizzy on the rides? As the name suggests, whatever you get if you go to the Ottawa County Free Fair at Miami Fairgrounds in Miami, you will get in for free—as people have for more than a century now—and that’s something we can probably all get behind.

» August 5-12 + Admission, free (918) 542-1688

Float Your Boat

A few safety tips if you’re planning on spending an evening under the night sky at Full Moon Kayaking at Ardmore City Lake: Always wear a snug-fitting personal flotation device and dress expecting to get wet; practice how you’ll handle falling out and re-entering in the water; and if anyone turns into a werewolf, worry about the silver bullets first and save the dog-paddling jokes for later.

» July 30 + Registration, $15 (580) 223-4844 + ardmorecity.org

Different Drums

Long before the latest TikTok trend or even the Twist, First Americans were dancing the night away. The beat goes on at Wichita Annual Dance at Wichita Tribal Park in Anadarko, where gourd and war dancers dressed in traditional regalia will compete for top honors. Competition is open to Wichita Tribe members and their descendants, so no matter what the judges decide, they’re all First.

» August 10-13 + Admission, free (405) 247-9677 + wichitatribe.com

Full Of Hot Air

Whether you’re looking for a cool photo op or seeking a means of winning an illadvised wager against a dirigible-piloting coal baron, FireLake Fireflight Balloon Festival at Citizen Potawatomi Nation Festival Grounds in Shawnee probably will offer more than a few options. Book a ride yourself if you want to test the basic principles of buoyancy while suspended several stories in the air in an extra-large laundry hamper—or hang out on the ground with the food trucks, mini-golf, and acrophobia-prone events roundup writers.

» August 11-12 + Admission, free (405) 275-3121 + firelakeballoonfest.com

Tracking Mud

Participants in Brave the Mud Run—a particularly squishy-sounding 5K obstacle course beginning at the LeFlore County Fairgrounds in Poteau—can choose between four engagement levels ranging from a competitive race to an untimed fun run. A team run also is an option, and finishers receive a shirt and medal. Costumes are encouraged, but you might want to avoid anything that’s dry-clean only, because it sounds like everyone will finish looking like Arnold Schwarzenegger in Predator

» August 19 + Registration, $40-$60 (800) 349-7026 facebook.com/bravethemudrun

Cultural Immersion

Appreciators of fine cuisine and culture will love the music, merchants, fashion show, and food trucks at Asian Night Market Festival at Military Park in Oklahoma City. Meanwhile, fans of Hot Ones—the YouTube talk show where celebrities scorch their mouths on spicy chicken wings—won’t want to miss the pho-eating contest, which should be a similarly hilarious endurance test.

» August 19 + Admission, free asiandistrictok.com/anmf

Chips Ahoy

Do spicy dips taste better when you eat them in the company of aquatic animals? You’ll have the chance to find out at the Salsa Festival at the Oklahoma Aquarium in Jenks. Sample salsas and quesos, submit your own concoctions, and see if you

Watch colorfully attired participants whirl and twirl at Anadarko’s Wichita Annual Dance August 10 through 13. (page 93) can hang in the jalapeño-eating contest (make sure any water you guzzle isn’t housing any fish). If you haven’t entered any competitions and still feel judged, that may just be the hard stare of a sea turtle, nature’s harshest critic.

» August 26 + Tickets, $15.95-$19.95 (918) 296-3474 + okaquarium.org

BREWS GONE WILD

Eating local food and drinking craft beer is for the birds at Wild Brew at Cox Business Convention Center in Tulsa. This annual fundraising event features live music and art demonstrations; cuisine from area restaurants; and wine, beer, and spirits from Oklahoma and elsewhere. Proceeds benefit the George Miksch Sutton Avian Research Center, a nonprofit organization working to reintroduce southern bald eagles and other endangered grassland birds to Oklahoma. » August 26 + Tickets, $75 (918) 336-7778 + wildbrew.org