If you're looking for an experience like the one available at the art store in the mall, don't follow the tens of thousands of art lovers to Tulsa's Blue Dome District May 15.
About 200 of Tulsa's best-loved artists, along with some newly hatched talent, set up shop under the early-summer sun in the middle of one of T-Town's most happenin' entertainment districts at the Blue Dome Arts Festival.
At this Big Kahuna of local indie arts events, it's easy to strike up a conversation with the artist who has created something that catches your eye. It's about more than a bunch of artists getting together in hopes of unloading their stock. It's about sharing and community. When it comes to art festivals, it doesn't get more intimate or friendly than at the Blue Dome.
If all that art and elbow-rubbing with creative types makes your stomach growl, just skip over to one of the bustling, indie restaurants along Elgin Avenue. Grab a burger and a beer at McNellies, a slice of pizza at Joe Momma's or a full-pound pastrami sandwich at Dilly Deli. If you get around early, stop in for a gut-busting breakfast and Blue Dome Diner.
Festival hours are Friday the 15th, noon-9 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m.; and Sunday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Find the hubbub between First and Second Streets and Elgin and Detroit Avenues. Wanna learn more? See the article on Blue Dome Arts Festival and Art Car Weekend by Holly Wall in this week's Urban Tulsa Weekly.
Know what's fun to do after a Friday afternoon of milling around the Blue Dome Arts Festival? Get wild and crazy at Mayfest. Know what'd make it 237 times easier to get wild and crazy at Mayfest? A couple of VIP passes, which get you through the lines of the food and drink stands absolutely free. That's zero dollars. Cero dinero. Or something.
EDIT//Make that, through the line at the VIP tent for their food and drinks, absolutely free. Did I say free? Twice in English and once in, er, something else? Okay, just checking.
To enter to win a pair of VIP passes to Friday night Mayfest, along with vouchers for a t-shirt and a poster, simply do the following:
Tell me one of your Mayfest/Blue Dome Arts Festival/Art Care Weekend memories. Or, if you lack one, tell me why you'd like to head downtown this weekend and make a memory or two. Tell me now, and tell me again later. Tell me as often as you want to until 8 a.m. tomorrow morning.
Or, call me names you wouldn't repeat in front of your grandmother. It's whatever. Just enter this contest and make grams proud of you, rather than cause her to hang her head in shame and loathing of the day you were born.
BONUS: Not from 'round these parts? Maybe you're from Plano, Pawhuska, Paris or Dallas. Or Springdale or Sallisaw or St. Louis or Topeka. Or Texarkana or Topeka or...okay, I'll stop. From wherever you are, a short, inexpensive drive to Tulsa for our many festivities this weekend isn't sounding bad at all.
So, I'll tell you what. For every time you out-of-towners submit an entry to this contest, I'll give you four more. That's five total chances at winning this contest for every person who enters who won't be coming to downtown T-Town from somewhere in the Tulsa Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Art lovers, start your engines. It's time to truck it down memory lane. Hop on Twitter, Facebook and Myspace and give me some good material for storytime. Stories in the form of comments on this post, tweets on Twitter and posts on my wall on Facebook and Myspace all count as entries.
A sucker for giveaways? Head over to Tulsa Art Blog for your chance at some free gyros and art from Tulsa Stained Glass Company.
17 comments:
Hanging out with my friends Donna Prigmore and Mel Cornshucker at their Blue Dome Booth.
Yes, come one and all to Blue Dome! The Tulsa Craft Mafia will be set up, and you don't want to miss that.
My favorite Blue Dome memory is from last year. I had a booth, and I decided to park in the free parking on the street, confounded as to why others weren't doing the same. Well, it turned out that I was parked right where the Art Car parade was to be. At least I had a really good view of the cars as I was trying to sneak on through. :)
My favorite Blue Dome memory is hanging on my bridge. An awesome magnet that is a photo of the Center of the Universe.
Mayfest has always been special because my birthday is in May! Every year in middle and high school, my dad and I would come and wander the artists on Saturday looking for just the perfect birthday gift for me. Rows and rows of the best jewelery, photos, painting and more. I think I had the most varied art collection of any freshman going off to college.
I'm now 37, married with two kids, so I will always remember the special May memories with my dad.
I ran sound for the second largest stage one year back in the 90's. (believe it was the Miller stage? was on the east side of the bridge when they had Mayfest over on the Brady side of the tracks.) Long days, even some rain, good and bad music, but most of all remember having some drunk guy come up and want to fight to show off to the girl on his arm.
Yet another memory, took my girlfriend (now wife) in 94 to Mayfest, ate some great apple strudel, listened to some great jazz at the stage by the water fountain in the main mall. First kiss later that night. Guess the Mayfest magic worked.
wooo wooo...almost ready for blue dome! can't wait its gonna be such a fun weekend. thanks for getting the word out!
Last year at Mayfest I was VERY PREGNANT w/ twins. Hoping to put myself in labor I walked from Mayfest to the Blue Dome everyday...there are some pretty big hills. I was so incredibly huge that artist (who were strangers)were actually giving my unborn twins gifts! I love Tulsa.
I don't have many memories of any of these things. I've been to Mayfest, but not in many years. I went off and got married and had some really cute babies. We just moved back this past October and I am stoked to introduce my family to all the goodness of Tulsa. We are a very artsy family. Mayfest has always been my favorite Tulsa event to attend. I haven't heard of the Blue Dome so I think it would be awesome to go check it out this year!
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I didn't even discover the Blue Dome Arts Festival until last year! I will do better this year!
I wait all year to eat deep fried candy bars. Luckily I work in downtown Tulsa and salivate all during the month of April for an ooey gooey 3 musketeers! :)
This will be my first Mayfest and Blue Dome Arts festival and many locals have told me it's all the rave, so I really need a free t-shirt and poster so I can truly appreciate the experience...no?
Win or lose (and I had better win because Tasha has already let me down before - I'm not gonna count the one time she proved how awesome she was) - I hope to meet interesting people and be impressed (as this new transplant to Tulsa has continuously been) with what this small little town has to offer.
My best time at Mayfest was in 91 with my husband, then boyfriend, and our loveable pit bull Chance. We were going down to hear Local Hero play, Chance cleared paths for us everywhere. Funny it was. We love Mayfest and drive from Beaty's Creek to go each year. Our daughter can't wait! Now that should count for 5... Yeah!!
High School...went to see Admiral Twin perform in the plaza in front of city hall. Afterward? Joan Jett.
Oh man. The memories.
One memory I have of Mayfest was being down there with my husband and needing to use the bathroom. I had to use one of the wonderful porta potties and when I got done I couldn't find him anywhere! I was standing in the middle of this huge crowd and felt like I had been abandoned!
I did finally find him but it scared me to death. We've been a couple of times since them and I won't let him out of my sight!
Not a great memory but one that I will indeed remember!
I'm preparing for a badass weekend. See you there!
A Mayfest story?
I got one:
It was the 2001 event. I was in the company of a co-worker. I did not know her very well, but she had overheard me telling my boss that I was going and she sorta invited herself.
We were listening to some band that was not very good. We had bought some coneys and were lucky enough to find an empty bench to sit on. Good food and good seating; how could I have asked for more?
Then the band played a slow, bluesy song. My companion grabs my hand and tells me how nice it would be for me to ask her to dance.
But I had found comfortable seating and I was eating coneys. It would have taken a tornado to move me at that moment. So like the yutz that I am, I just sat there and did not ask her to dance.
The next thing I know, I get a large-sized cup of strawberry soda dumped on my head and a styrofoam tray of half-eaten coneys smashed in my face.
And as I watched my, now very offended, companion stomp away; it occured to me that I probably did not handle that particular situation very well.
Not surprisingly, she never spoke to me again.
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