Discover Oklahoma: State springs to life with colorful and artistic festivals
While eating breakfast about a month ago, my wife and I spotted a cardinal outside our kitchen window. The bird’s brilliant red color made me long for spring to arrive sooner rather than later! With spring comes beauty as nature reawakens from its winter slumber. So here are beauty-themed events, along with various art and film festivals to enjoy.
Celebrate spring at Oklahoma's largest spring bulb show at the Tulsa Botanic Garden through April 16. Tulsa Botanic Blooms has 150,000 tulips, daffodils, hyacinths and other spring bulbs. Because the arrangement uses early, mid and late flowering bulbs, it displays well for six weeks.
Weekly Bands & Blooms on Thursdays will start March 23 and run through May 4, with live music from 6-8 p.m.
And Sunday, April 2, is the En Plein Air Painting Exhibit and Sale. Over 15 local artists will be painting in the Botanic Gard and will exhibit and sell their paintings at a reception from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the Botanic Garden.
April 8-9, explore over 30,000 tulips in the gardens and enjoy family-friendly activities, food trucks and local vendors on the northeastern part of the grounds at the Myriad Botanical Gardens in Oklahoma City to celebrate spring. Bring your friends inside for wine and painting after springtime picture-taking amid the blooms.
The Azalea Festival has been occurring since 1968. Muskogee’s Honor Heights Park hosts what has become one of the biggest festivals during the month of April. The festival celebrates the opening of azalea, tulip, dogwood and wisteria buds as spring temperatures rise.
Take note of other events such as the April 8 Festival of Colors in Guthrie and the April 22 Tulsa Area Iris Society Show at the Tulsa Garden Center.
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Enjoy the arts this spring
The upcoming calendar is packed with opportunities to enjoy the arts, too.
Held since 1967, Oklahoma City's six-day Festival of the Arts celebrates visual, culinary and performing arts. Of course, Global Food Row is a Festival of the Arts fixture. After viewing the wonderful, original artwork, festivalgoers can taste the delicious ethnic food or the festival's classics.
On the first Friday of every month since 2007, the Tulsa Arts District has hosted the First Friday Art Crawl, when locals and visitors alike can peruse the district's various art galleries. This year it’s April 7.
Also in Tulsa, but on April 14, is the Art Crawl on 66, which is a great chance to see original works of art up close at a variety of local establishments. Every month from April through December, on the second Friday, local businesses and vendors will open their doors to the public and host live performances by musicians, performers and visual artists.
April 22, Sulphur's Artesian Plaza hosts Southeast Native American art during the Artesian Arts Festival. Live music, local food and more will be available.
The Chisholm Trail Heritage Center in Duncan hosts an annual fall festival called Reining in the Arts on April 8 to honor the community and artists. There will be art vendors, food trucks, wine and beer booths and many activities for children and adults of all ages. All the activities will be held at several locations around the museum. See Native American dancers, dance soloists, musicians and cowboy poets perform live as part of the festival.
And don’t forget The Arts in April Festival in Durant on April 14; Stillwater Arts Festival, April 21-22; the Walkin’ on Chalk Arts Festival in Altus on April 16; and the Montmartre Chalk Art Festival in Chickasha on April 6.
I do want to mention four film festivals taking place in the near future:
Sunny Side Up Film Festival: March 24-26, Coleman Theatre in Miami, Oklahoma.
Oklahoma Jewish Film Festival: March 26-30, Circle Cinema in Tulsa.
Tonkawa Film Festival: April 14-15, Wilkin Hall at Northern Oklahoma College.
Bare Bones International Film Festival: April 26-30, Roxy Theatre and various other venues in Muskogee.
Lastly, one of the more unique events is the Medieval Fair in Norman. This year it will be taking place March 31-April 2. If you have never been to this, you are really missing something quite fun! The location for the Medieval Fair is Reaves Park in Norman.
April 27-29, you can’t go wrong attending the entertaining Norman Music Festival.
For a comprehensive list of festivals and events, go to the official website of the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department, Travelok.com.
Dino Lalli is the co-host and one of the feature reporters for the weekly television travel show "Discover Oklahoma."
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Discover Oklahoma: Spring is a time of colorful and artistic festivals
