Strike Up the Band, Here Comes the Festival

Bill Underwood 08/30/1995

SAND SPRINGS — New Orleans has Mardi Gras and Conway, Ark., has Toad Suck Daze. But in Sand Springs, the big event is the Labor Day Weekend Festival.

This year’s event will follow in the grand tradition of past festivals with a wide array of family activities. `The attendance should be a lot higher than past years because the children’s area has been expanded and Eddy Raven is holding a free Sunday evening concert,` said Patty Massey, special events coordinator. Other attractions will include carnival rides, stage entertainment, truck and tractor pulls, an arts-and-crafts fair, horseshoe tournament and rodeo.

Carnival rides will run 6 – 10 p.m., Wednesday. The carnival will be open 6 – 11 p.m. Thursday and Friday and noon to midnight Saturday and Sunday. Thursday is KVOO Pay One Price Carnival Night. Prices this night will be $8 to ride all rides. Stage entertainment begins Thursday night with Allison Pultz of Newkirk, followed by Tulsa’s own `Mesa.` Friday night will feature performances by Telegraph Road and Audio Rodeo, both bands are from the Tulsa area.

Saturday’s entertainment begins at noon with the Sand Springs Community Choir, Larry Spears, Telegraph Road and Audio Rodeo. Sunday will wind down the weekend with Larry Spears, The Smokehouse Band, Oklahoma Territorial Gunslingers, Mesa and Eddy Raven. KVOO will again host the annual rodeo Friday and Saturday. Rodeo events will include bronc riding, barrel racing, roping and bull riding. Cost is $4 for adults and $2 for children. Free tickets for the Friday rodeo are available at Drysdales in Tulsa or at both Subways in Sand Springs.

A special children’s area will be in place from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. `Kid’s Fest` will offer free stage entertainment including a talent contest, magician Bradini, the Sunshine Generation, Oklahoma Territorial Gunslingers, the Chin Family and karate demonstrations.

An in-line hockey area with competitions and games will be set up both days. Children are invited to bring their pogs and slammers to play with or swap.

Other activities will include marble games, a `brick` building, face painting, a sandbox, the `purple dinosaur` and ball card booths. The Arts and Crafts Fair will be in place throughout the weekend offering everything from paintings and quilts to woodcrafts. The Green Country Tractor Pullers Association will host a truck and tractor pull at 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The tractors will range from 900-pound garden tractors to 2,800-pound mini-trucks. Admission is $4 for adults and $2 for children.

The Sand Springs Sertoma Club will present its fifth annual horseshoe tournament on Saturday. The entry fee is $5 per person. Registration begins at 10 a.m. This is not a sanctioned event. For additional information on any of the Labor Day Weekend festival events, contact 245-2248.