From onion burgers to calf fries, these 15 food festivals will satisfy your cravings
If you missed out on Festival of the Arts, there's no need to be sad, we know it'll be back next year as good as ever and in the meantime, Oklahoma is home to a number of other great festivals to keep you busy.
If it's the food you're craving, you're in luck because Oklahoma has a whole slew of upcoming food-centric festivals and events to inspire your palate and your plate with delicious bites.
Take a look below at the list of upcoming food festivals. See something missing? Send a note to [email protected].
Upcoming food festivals across Oklahoma
1. El Reno Fried Onion Burger Day Festival — Downtown El Reno, May 6. The 35th annual iteration of this festival celebrating the popular burger created in El Reno and known throughout Oklahoma. The festival will include the cooking of the World’s Largest Fried Onion Hamburger.
2. Prague Kolache Festival — 1100 Block of Main Street, Prague; May 6. An annual celebration of Czech heritage and the founding of the town with polka music, dancing, food, Czech costumes, a parade, beer garden, wine tasting booths, vendors and more.
3. Exchange Club Chili & BBQ Cook-Off — 3601 Arline, Muskogee; May 12-13. For the last 39 years, the Exchange Club in Muskogee has hosted its fundraiser Chili & BBQ Cook-off, raising more than a million dollars to invest back into the community in times of need. Attendees can purchase a tasting kit to sample chili, beef brisket and spare ribs from more than 100 award-winning cooking teams from a five-state region.
4. Stilwell Strawberry Festival — Downtown Stilwell; May 13. Stilwell is known as the "Strawberry Capital of the World," and the festival includes games, live entertainment, free strawberries and ice cream.
5. Bristow Tabouleh Fest — 1 Railroad Place, Bristow; May 13. This festival celebrates the Lebanese heritage of Bristow, brought to the state in the late 1800s by immigrants from the Middle East. Their heritage is celebrated with Middle Eastern music and foods, like tabbouleh, and belly dancing.
6. Bixby BBQ'n Blues Festival — Washington Irving Park, 13700 S Memorial Drive; May 19-20. This festival is exactly what the name says, an annual celebration of barbecue and blues featuring food trucks, competitions and live music. Special people's choice categories have been added for this year and there is even a kid's cooking competition.
7. Huckleberry Festival — Downtown Jay; June 29-July 1. Celebrate the wild huckleberries that thrive near Grand Lake O' the Cherokees by visiting Jay for the annual Huckleberry Festival. Watch the parade or grab a glass of huckleberry lemonade and meander through downtown to see the vendors, car show, carnival, pie contests and auctions and more.
8. Blackberry Festival — Veterans Park, Sixth & Park streets, McLoud; July 7-8. Annually the town of McLoud hosts this festival, one of the oldest continual festivals of the state, which began in the 1940s as a celebration of the local cash farm crop, blackberries.
9. Porter Peach Festival — 617 S Main Street, Porter; July 13-15. Georgia isn't the only place known for peaches, and while recent years have seen struggle in fruitful peach crops the peach festival in the "Peach Capital of Oklahoma" lives on thanks to the local orchards like The Peach Barn and the state's largest peach orchard, Livesay Orchards.
10. Stratford Peach Festival — 701 S Pine Street, Stratford; July 13. Just like Porter, the central Oklahoma town of Stratford is home to its share of peach orchards and holds a peach festival accordingly. Visit Stratford on the third Saturday in July for a day full of peach-inspired food, drinks and more.
11. Rush Springs Watermelon Festival & Rodeo — Jeff Davis Park, East on Main Street, Rush Springs; Aug. 10-12. Nothing says summer quite like a ripe watermelon and the people of Rush Springs will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the festival, which serves upwards of 50,000 pounds annually.
12. Wild Brew 2023 —Cox Business Convention Center, Exhibit Halls B & C, 100 Civic Center, Tulsa; Aug. 26. The 25th anniversary iteration of Oklahoma's oldest craft beer festival will feature all-inclusive access to more than 200 beers from artisan brewers from the U.S. and around the world and food from 50 of Tulsa’s best restaurants. The event is a fundraiser supporting the George Miksch Sutton Avian Research Center, best known for their work with bald eagles.
13. World's Largest Calf Fry Festival & Cook-off — 915 E Apperso Road, Vinita; Sept. 23. For more than four decades, Vinita has been home to this festival celebrating the "Rocky Mountain Oyster," and after pausing for a few years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it's back. Those hoping to sample the fare can do so alongside other treats including beans, cobblers, salsa and breads, made by the various cook-off teams. Attendees can also enjoy vendors, games and activities for children, and more.
14. National Indian Taco Championship — Downtown Pawhuska; Oct. 7. The annual celebration of the Indian Taco invites competitors from across the country to compete and try to claim the title of national champion.
15. Watonga Cheese & Wine Festival — Downtown Watonga; Oct. 13-14. Held on the second Friday and Saturday of October, the Watonga Cheese Festival includes a parade and musical entertainment as well as a wine and cheese tasting, art show, quilt show, fiber arts show, children's games and the annual "Great Rat Race."
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: 15 Oklahoma food festivals from fried foods to fruit to check out
