There is so much going on in downtown Tulsa this weekend that all this crappy weather probably won’t even matter. It could rain or just stay gloomy and humid, but people will still flock downtown for art, music, food and people-watching. The two most obvious things going on this weekend (you’ll run into them if you’re driving anywhere downtown) are Mayfest and the Blue Dome Arts Festival.
Mayfest – May 13-16 (Thurs-Sun)
Mayfest is Tulsa’s sign that summer is actually approaching and it’s time to walk around downtown eating, drinking and looking at art. The festival is a family-oriented celebration of springtime (how great is May in Oklahoma?) and all things artistic and musical.
Blue Dome Arts Festival – May 14-16 (Fri-Sun)
The Blue Dome Arts Festival is almost like the hippy cousin of Mayfest, and this year the two are happening the same weekend. “This year, we are working with Mayfest to draw more people to the beautiful streets of Downtown Tulsa,” said Michael Sager, Founder of the festival. Perfect. Just take a little walk through downtown and you can experience an eclectic variety of art, crafts and music that Tulsa has to offer.
Stephen Egerton
Personally, my highlight of the weekend is on Saturday at the Crystal Pistol. Stephen Egerton, local music producer and member of some legendary bands (Descendants, All, 40 Engine), is hosting his CD release party for his new album “the Seven Degrees of Stephen Egerton”. Stephen is somewhat of a legend in the punk scene and he produced an album for a band I was in called Megatron, so I am very excited about seeing him play in Tulsa, especially in an intimate and hip place like the Pistol. He has a character named after him in the movie “SLC Punk” (Stevo), he made a brief appearance in the movie “the Philadelphia Experiment”, and he’s performed and collaborated with some seriously big names, plus he’s just an awesome guy to hang out and talk with. This show is kind of a big deal, and one can expect special guests who contributed to the album to come out and support him (pop/punk icons Tim McIlrath (Rise Against), Chris DeMakes (Less Than Jake), Mike Herrera (MxPx) just to name a few).
Tickets are $10 at the door, and the show starts at 8PM. There will be a few opening sets, including some fairly popular names like Drag the River and the John Moreland Band, so this is an event you just can’t miss. Tulsa has only recently begun to get back some of its punk attitude with bands like Bearhug and First Lady Assassins, but this is an event that should bring out everyone who is even remotely in ‘the scene’.
Get out this weekend and have some fun in downtown T-town. Don’t let a silly little thing like rain or a tornado or ‘extremely severe weather’ get in your way of celebrating this wonderful creative energy that is vibing through Tulsa. Did I mention pop/punk icons and semi-famous musicians coming to Tulsa to rock out all night?
