As the weather slowly turns warmer, it unofficially becomes time for one of my favorite types of events: street fairs! Having both been an attendee and a business rep at a street fair, I absolutely love the community atmosphere that forms around these events. Local businesses from all around the area came together for Open Streets OKC this past Sunday, and I’m here to tell you about the best of it!
The number one challenge (in my opinion) for street fairs is parking. My friend and I arrived about half an hour before the event’s official start time, so luckily we didn’t have any issues finding a spot nearby. I did see several churches and other businesses open their parking lots to the public for this event, which was a really nice, community-supporting thing for them to do.
All of the booths were colorful and fun, and I especially enjoyed the booths that had interactive components. My friend and I opened our experience with a rousing game of larger-than-life “trashcan pong”, provided by the OKC Parks and Recreation Department. I did not win. One of the huge hits of the day was the baby goats outside of The Escape Room. While petting a therapy dog is a great form of stress relief, I have never felt more comforted and joyful than while holding a two-day-old goat (just a suggestion for SAC).
The belly dancers and swing dancers both had live demonstrations of their dances, the OKC public transportation system had one of their newest buses on a walk-through display, and Dunkin Donuts gave away coupons for free goodies. Almost everyone had swag to give away, and I came home with free chapstick and a new water bottle.
I had a full two hours of fun and spent zero dollars. For a college student, this was an incredible deal, and I highly enjoyed this event. I’m sad that I probably won’t be in town this time next year, and won’t get to experience it again. For OCU students, going and being a part of the community through events like will make your college experience that much richer. Even if you missed this one, there’s always another street fair coming up! Watch out for Norman Music Festival, coming up in two weekends (4/26-4/28), and go support our fellow students in the bands performing.
Thanks to the following businesses for providing an awesome experience at Open Streets OKC this year (I couldn’t possibly name everyone, but these businesses really stood out to me):
The OKC Parks and Recreation Department
The Escape Room OKC
Aalim Bellydance Academy
EMBARK
This Land Yoga
Swingout OKC
Oklahoma Contemporary
Dunkin Donuts
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