Haven't posted in a while for two reasons.
One: the Oklahoma City Arts Festival and
Two: I am on a knitting deadline for one of my favorite yarn manufacturers. I am privileged to be one of the first lucky people to knit with a new yarn that will be on the market this summer. I will have more details and some pictures of this beautiful yarn and fun project later this summer.
The Oklahoma City Arts Festival takes place during the third week in April every year. It's one of my favorite times of the year and a great showcase for so much of what makes Oklahoma City a great place to live. Who doesn't love an arts festival? Always something for every one. The inspiring arts and crafts, live entertainment all day long, and no better eating and people watching anywhere.
Oklahoma City's Festival of the Arts was started forty years ago and we have missed very few of them since moving here thirty years ago. For most of those years my husband's office was just a block from the Festival. We had free and easy parking and could just walk out his front door and down the street. Some years we have wandered through the booths and had dinner and dessert every single night of the Festival from Tues through Saturday. This year we made it twice which really didn't allow enough time for all the food sampling we would have liked, but there's always next year!
This year--with just a few little windy spurts and one very short rainshower--the weather was nearly perfect. The many and varied artists come from all across the states and represent nearly every medium and style. This year my favorites were some of the textile artists (no surprise there) who had sewn their hand-dyed silks and cottons into loose and flowy clothing.
I think it's probably accurate to say that the strongest draw to the fair is the food. Local restaurants and caterers team up with city non-profits and provide an incredibly varied feast. The vendors serve up every kind of savory wrap, roll, crepe, puff, wonton, taco, burrito and salad imaginable. But they really shine when it comes to desserts.
Fried peaches with home-made ice cream, "Caramel Knowledge" Sundaes, lemon curd crepes with blueberry compote, tequila bread pudding, skewered strawberries dipped in dark chocolate sauce, sugary crusted strudels and melt-in-your-mouth cinnamon rolls to name just a few and my all-time, every-year favorite must-have: "Strawberries Newport." Just ask any Oklahoman about the Arts Festival and he or she is likely to tell you that the first thing you need to do is get yourself to the Strawberries Newport booth.
I have eaten at least one nearly every year for the last 30 or so. It's a flakey puff pastry topped with vanilla custard, fresh strawberries, and home-made whipped creme with just the perfect sweetness. I think another thing that makes it so special is that you can't get it any other time of year. It is a Festival-time only dessert.
A percentage of the proceeds from both the art and the food sold goes to Allied Arts of Oklahoma City. Just doing our part for the arts! The entertainment from morning til night is as varied as the food. From opening until closing the main stage features local talent. We saw these terrific ladies wandering through the art booths early in the afternoon and couldn't help but smile. They are the "Not Just Country Line Dancers." They had tons of spunk and you could tell they were completely enjoying themselves.
We got to watch them perform later that afternoon and it was too much fun. We all should be so spunky when we're seniors. Everyone in the audience was smiling and clapping along. If you want to see them in action check out this video. It will make you smile.
This was the first site we saw as we came to the Festival this year. Interesting, no? We weren't exactly sure what it was, a snail or slug of some kind I think, but definitely unique and got lots of attention.
More about knitting on my next post....
Happy knitting, Josey
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