“Consider this our Save the Date announcement,” laughed Dust Bowl Days board member Kay Allen. “The days of the festival will be July 19-21.”
Now in its fifth year, the Dust Bowl Days Farm and Ranch Festival was the brainchild of a few locals who wanted to celebrate the pioneer heritage of the western Oklahoma prairie.
“There were many hardships, but they survived and thrived,” Allen explained. “And, through all that, they found ways to have fun with what they had. They took care of the land and each other. That is what this is really all about.”
The festivities will be similar to years past — with one exception. All the Dust Bowl Days festivities will remain downtown in Sayre.
“We will have everything downtown,” Allen said. “In the past, we did the parade downtown, but then moved all the activities to the Sayre City Park. We have gotten a lot of feedback that people would stay longer if everything was in the same place. The only exception will be that the Plum Jam, which will be in Sayre Park on Saturday.”
The activities will kick off on Friday with an antique tractor cruise-in on Main Street at 5 pm.
There is no cost to enter.
Cowboy Bingo and a bbq dinner from First Response BBQ will be available.
“The meal will be a simple one meat. We want to keep costs low for families.”
There will be old time games and a non-sanctioned cornhole tournament at the Shortgrass Museum.
“The Friends of the Library will be hosting cowboy storytelling and stargazing,” Allen said. “Joe Merrick and Jesse Osborne will provide cowboy music. The only charge will be for the bbq.”
On Saturday, the North Fork Electric Farm and Ranch Parade will kick off downtown at 10 am.
“We want to encourage family floats. We are also having a pet parade for those on a leash
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or contained in a wagon. Businesses and companies will also have floats,” Allen stated.
Food trucks, vendors, and two inflatables will be on site.
“Nelda Tucker will be doing her learn and play at Trinity Fellowship Youth Center at Broadway and Main,” Allen said.
The Dust Bowl Days will conclude at approximately 5 pm.
The Plum Jam Music Festival is coordinated by the Dust Bowl Days.
“The Plum Jam will then start in the Sayre City Park at 7 pm,” Allen advised The headliners will be Caroline Grace, Tyler Wilhelm, and red dirt legends the Great Divide.
“Caroline Grace and Tyler Wilhelm are both local, but popular and great. And of course almost everyone knows the Great Divide,” Allen stated.
The cost has been lowered to $30 per person.
If accompanied by a paid adults, children 12 and under are free.
During the music, the pool and putt-putt will be free.
