Discover Oklahoma: Seasonal shift brings September festivals

RON STAHL Comments 0
Published: September 6, 2009

September is a tweener. The month starts in summer and ends in fall, as temperatures begin their gentle decline to the cooler weather of October.

September in Oklahoma brings some of our most colorful and wonderful events. Festivals glorify a lowly vegetable, big-beaked birds, original American music, our ethnic heritage, flowers and even our gullibility.

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For more information on September events and festivals, go online to TravelOK.com, the state Tourism and Recreation Department Web site.

Food is always fun, and a festival that celebrates one of Oklahoma’s favorite foods also should be fun. Checotah celebrates with Okrafest on Saturday. You can pickle it, boil it, fry it and put it in gumbo. Okra may be the ultimate all-purpose vegetable, deserving of its own party.

And if we are honoring plants, don’t forget that most colorful of festivals, the annual Canna Festival in Carnegie on Sept. 26. Acres of the beautiful blooms at Horn’s Canna Farm make one of the state’s most beautiful landscapes.

Independent-film lovers have a couple of choice offerings in September. The Southern Winds Film Festival from Thursday through Saturday in Shawnee and the Osage Nation Film Festival in Pawhuska on Saturday both feature new and original films. Aficionados can probably squeeze in both festivals.

Music lovers also have plenty of choices this month. Claremore combines two great loves into the Bluegrass and Chili Festival from Thursday through Saturday. Heavener Runestone State Park is the backdrop for the "Singing on the Mountain” Bluegrass Festival on Sept. 26. Duncan’s 15th annual Fall Bluegrass Festival also includes gospel music Sept. 24-26. If your musical taste runs more toward B.B. King than Bill Monroe, the Stillwater Blues Festival on Sept. 18-20 is probably for you. King won’t be there, but John Lee Hooker Jr. will be, along with several other local, regional and national acts.

Oklahoma’s vibrant and varied ethnic heritage also is on display in September. Choctaw’s Octoberfest from Wednesday through Saturday features authentic German food and oompah bands. You might even be persuaded to release your inner fowl and do the famous chicken dance.

The Oklahoma Scottish Festival on Sept. 18-20 at Riverparks Festival Grounds in Tulsa features the food, crafts, music and sports of Scotland. You can double your fun by catching the Oklahoma Indian Summer celebration in Bartlesville the same weekend. That appropriately named festival celebrates American Indian culture, customs, arts and crafts. Lawton’s International Festival will celebrate many cultures Sept. 25-27.

Since we are so rooted in farming in Oklahoma, there is a festival to salute that industry. The Jay Farm Festival on Saturday includes food, fun and agricultural vendors.

Some people would rather not remind anybody that they once fell for a first-class con job, but not the people of Wetumka. In 1950, local sponsors and ticket buyers paid good money to an alleged circus promoter to bring the show to town. Sure enough, there was no circus, and there were no refunds. Instead of sweeping it under the rug, the people of Wetumka enjoy a good laugh and a good time at the Sucker Day Festival. This year, you can hear the whole story and laugh along Sept. 26.

Oh, and the big-beaked birds? That would be Grove’s Pelican Festival on Sept. 25-29.

Finally, if you must have a festival in September, why not just name it Septemberfest. There are two. Okmulgee’s 14th annual Septemberfest on Saturday in Dripping Springs State Park will feature gospel music under the stars Saturday.

Oklahoma City’s Septemberfest, also Saturday, is hosted by Gov. Brad Henry and first lady Kim Henry on the grounds of the Governor’s Mansion. It explores our state’s heritage and culture, with activities for the entire family.

Ron Stahl is co-host of "Integris Discover Oklahoma.”