NYE Opening Night out. Festival of the Arts goes from six days to four days, although they extended the hours in the morning.

The new hours will be 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday, April 25; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, April 26-27; and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday, April 28.

https://www.oklahoman.com/story/lifestyle/2023/07/12/arts-council-oklahoma-city-opening-night-new-years-eve-discontinued-festival-of-the-arts/70403782007/

For as long as I live, I will never understand why Norman Music Festival and Festival of the Arts continue to have their events overlap with each other just about every year.

I like these changes, the NYE thing has been dying for a while. And like the article mentions, the winter weather seems to always be ugly around then. As for the Arts Festival, I always thought it was strange to close up shop so early, so much money to be made even on concessions after 7pm.

For as long as I live, I will never understand why Norman Music Festival and Festival of the Arts continue to have their events overlap with each other just about every year.

I'm pretty sure the Arts Festival has always been the last full weekend in April since 1967 (except for the June COVID year) I doubt that will ever change.

The real downside is now we will only have 4 days of rain instead of 6.

I'm pretty sure the Arts Festival has always been the last full weekend in April since 1967 (except for the June COVID year) I doubt that will ever change.

Yes, I think the most logical solution is for NMF to just move back a week, but I'm assuming they don't want to do that due to the first weekend in May being the weekend before final exams at OU.

For as long as I live, I will never understand why Norman Music Festival and Festival of the Arts continue to have their events overlap with each other just about every year.

Went to Norman Music Festival for the first time this year. We went to the Arts Festival the next day. I thought it was kind of cool to be able to do two events like that kind of back to back but I also can see how they might cannibalize each other a bit.

I support the changes made by the Arts Council.

I'm pretty sure the Arts Festival has always been the last full weekend in April since 1967 (except for the June COVID year) I doubt that will ever change.

The NMF has been going 15 years and is the largest music festival in the state. NMF is growing every year and will not alter a successful formula.

As much as I liked to attend Opening Night in the past, ever since we have had an NBA team there has been a home game on New Year's Eve and the events were basically done when the game was over.

As much as I liked to attend Opening Night in the past, ever since we have had an NBA team there has been a home game on New Year's Eve and the events were basically done when the game was over.

the game is over by 930 or 10 .. opening night is over at midnight ??

Going to be a long year with the Arts Council eliminating NYE.

the game is over by 930 or 10 .. opening night is over at midnight ??

Holt said the cancellation was due to dimenshing interest/attendance. Might be bb, but who knows.

I never went to opening night. It has never motivated me enough to get out in the cold that late.

The increased evening hours for the Festival of The Arts will be nice.

Obviously the fireworks were at midnight and open to the public. I believe that the entertainment in the venues ended at 10 pm. I was given free wristbands one year and wanted to attend one of the venues but the entertainment was over as we got in. We had to kill time for 2 hours until the fireworks started. Fortunately, there was a band playing in front of the Civic Center. Incidentally, that venue didn't require a wristband to get in.

The real downside is now we will only have 4 days of rain instead of 6.

This!

To me, these changes are a testimony to how much more there is to do in OKC.

I remember when the Arts Festival was about the only thing going on in the spring. Now, there are tons of festivals, farmers markets, restaurants, food trucks, etc.

Just look at how much is going on at Scissortail Park and the Myriad Gardens almost every weekend.

^ ^ ^ Agree ^ ^ ^

Hope Presti can get Cason Wallace (Dallas native) and our 50th pic Keyontae Johnson (Norfolk native) to the Oklahoma City Memorial Museum (if he hasn't already done so) and places like Bricktown, Zoo, OKCMOA and many of the construction areas where they can appreciate the direction our city is moving.

Recall Cason's remark 'There's not a whole lot to do in Oklahoma City' and show him what our city has to offer and keep him focused at the same time.

Let's not forget what Presti had to give up (move from 12th to the 10th pic) to acquire Cason Wallacee. It's all good, he'll grow to appreciate what we have here, especially since his expectations are low.

Wallace is 19 and Johnson is 23. The Memorial and OKCmoa are not where they are looking to go weekly. They may go once to see but these are not party spots. Come on, you know it is about the nightlife and being on the pedestal at the party. There is no paparazzi here or super celebrities or spots to be seen for these kids. I mean most of the pics you would see of Westbrook in Okc were of him shopping at the grocery store or walking around Penn Square. While we do have nice places we are not the destination that late teens/early 20’s think of living during those party years.

^ ^ ^ Agree ^ ^ ^

Hope Presti can get Cason Wallace (Dallas native) and our 50th pic Keyontae Johnson (Norfolk native) to the Oklahoma City Memorial Museum (if he hasn't already done so) and places like Bricktown, Zoo, OKCMOA and many of the construction areas where they can appreciate the direction our city is moving.

Recall Cason's remark 'There's not a whole lot to do in Oklahoma City' and show him what our city has to offer and keep him focused at the same time.

Let's not forget what Presti had to give up (move from 12th to the 10th pic) to acquire Cason Wallacee. It's all good, he'll grow to appreciate what we have here, especially since his expectations are low.
These guys aren’t hanging out on OKCTalk to learn about all the stuff we are discussing and getting jazzed about. They need to understand the community, but more about the people they represent than the edifices. They don’t go to the Memorial to see how cool it is, but to understand the soul of the community.