© 2024 KGOU
News and Music for Oklahoma
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Entertaining The Hours Of Your Week With Festivals And StateImpact’s Climate Forum

Corey Taratuta
/
Flickr Creative Commons

Hundreds of visual, culinary and performing artists gather in downtown Oklahoma City for one of the state’s most anticipated annual attractions. The Oklahoma City Festival of the Arts continues through Sunday, April 27.

With nearly 50 years of history, the festival has developed into one of Oklahoma’s largest spring traditions.  This year, the Myriad Botanical Gardens’ Festival Plaza hosts nearly 300 entertainers, exhibitions by 144 visual artists and an international mix of more than two dozen food vendors.  

The Arts Council of Oklahoma City received over 500 applicants for the 2014 Visual Arts showcase. The display features a wide variety of visual media including sculpture, oil paint, photography and drawing. All of the artwork is original and for sale.

Whether it’s a Maui Wowi blend from Hawaiian Fruit Smoothie or hot “salchipapas” (french fries with sliced hot dogs) from the Inca Trail Peruvian Restaurant, the Festival of the Arts’ International Food Row features an eclectic cuisine Oklahomans will seldom find elsewhere. The festival’s culinary exhibition features 31 vendors in all.

Alongside several children’s activities in the Youth Plaza, the Myriad Gardens’ continuously host live performances on four stages throughout the week.

Jazz and choir make up much of the event’s music selection while the festival also features a number of other performances including a dance by the OKC Youth Ballet Thursday night and a performance by the Studio of Sooner Theatre Sunday evening.

The OKC Festival of the Arts runs from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

Coinciding with the Festival of the Arts is another one of Oklahoma’s favorite festivals. The Norman Music Festival takes place Thursday, April 24 through Saturday, April 26. 

The complimentary festival features more than one hundred live music performances at indoor and outdoor venues on the 100, 200 and 300 blocks of Main Street in downtown Norman.

Credit NormanMusicFestival.com
The official logo of Norman Music Festival 2014.

Headlining this year’s festival on the event’s “Main Stage” Saturday afternoon and night are six groups and one individual artist.

Norman native Caleb McGee opens Main Stage performances with an acoustic guitar concert at 2:30 p.m. The Bright Light Social Hour, a psychedelic rock band from Austin, TX, puts the final exclamation point on the festival with a main stage performance at 9:30 p.m.

Schedules, maps and samples of the artists can be found at the festival’s website.

Father Fadi Matni and Our Lady of Lebanon Catholic Church in Norman host this year’s Lebanese Heritage and Food Festival this weekend.

Credit Father Fadi Matni / MaroniteOK.org
/
MaroniteOK.org
OU's Lebanese Student Association dancing at the 2013 Lebanese Heritage and Food Festival.

The traditional celebration features authentic Lebanese food like falafel and tabouli served hot with customary dress and a live ‘dabke’ dance performance by the University of Oklahoma’s Lebanese Student Association.

The celebration also features lectures and information sessions about the nation’s ancient heritage, and children’s activities.

The Third Annual Lebanese Heritage and Food Festival takes place Saturday, April 26 from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. through Sunday, April 27 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and admission is complimentary.

Finally, StateImpact Oklahoma’s Joe Wertz and Logan Layden host a panel of experts at Picasso Cafe in Oklahoma City's Paseo Arts District for a public forum on how climate change affects Oklahoma's environment and economy.

The panel includes Clay Pope, the Executive Director of the Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts, and Dr. David Engle, Director of Oklahoma State University's Water Resources Center.

The public forum, “Is Oklahoma Prepared for a Changing Climate?”, takes place Wednesday, April 30th from 6 to 7 p.m.

For more ways to fill the 168 hours of your week, visit KGOU's calendar page.

__________________________________

KGOU relies on voluntary contributions from readers and listeners to further its mission of public service to Oklahoma and beyond. To contribute to our efforts, make your donation online, or contact our Membership department.

More News
Support nonprofit, public service journalism you trust. Give now.