Visit one of OKC’s most popular neighborhoods in the Plaza District
Every year, the Plaza District invites folks from all over to experience unique events such as the Plaza Walls Mural Expo and Plaza District Festival.
- The festival will feature live music, an artist market, food trucks, and performances from artists like Jabee and Lyric Theatre.
- In conjunction with the festival, the 10th annual Plaza Walls Mural Expo will showcase 50 artists refreshing the district’s murals.
- Proceeds from the festival support the nonprofit Plaza District Association and its local arts and culture programming.
From the live music and dance performances to the artist market and even the Ghostbusters who will be on call, Oklahoma City’s Plaza District is striving to live up to its motto of “experience local together” with its 26th annual festival.
“We want to be the place where we introduce you to your next new favorite artist that you haven’t heard of, or your new favorite restaurant or retailer, new favorite entertainment. And we take a lot of time to curate that,” said Plaza District Executive Director Rachael Crawford.
One of the big comeback stories of OKC’s 21st-century renaissance, the revitalized and popular Plaza District specializes in cultural tourism and artsy fun, including the free 26th annual Plaza District Festival, set for Saturday, Sept. 27, on NW 16.
Plus, the 10th annual Plaza Walls Mural Expo, another free, family-friendly event, is happening in conjunction with the Plaza District Fest, and it will bring in 50 artists to refresh the colorful murals that have become a major draw for visitors.
Here’s what to know about the 2025 Plaza District Festival:
When and where is the Plaza District Festival?
The 26th annual Plaza District Festival is set for noon to 11 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27, in OKC’s Plaza District, centered at 1745 NW 16.
The event is free, family friendly and open to the public. For the event’s full schedule and details, go to https://plazadistrict.org/plaza-fest.
“We’re trying to give a platform in a community festival. We’re trying to create opportunities for local artists, visual artists, entertainers, local nonprofits. And the idea is to bring everyone in the same place,” Crawford said.
“It’s one of the largest sales revenue days for our local businesses.”
The fest is the Plaza District’s biggest annual event, typically attracting about 30,000 attendees. All proceeds from the festival go to support the nonprofit Plaza District Association, which supports the district and wider OKC community through free arts and culture programming, including the monthly LIVE! on The Plaza and annual Plaza Walls Mural Expo.
Jabee, Lyric Theatre and more are performing at the Plaza District Festival
Event organizer, entrepreneur and hip-hop artist Jabee, whom Crawford described as “a powerful voice for Oklahoma City,” is headlining the 2025 Plaza District Festival. The rapper — who released his major-label debut album, “The Spirit Is Willing, But the Flesh Is Weak,” last year via the renowned Mello Music Group — will perform at 9 p.m. Sept. 27 on the festival’s main stage.
Performers from Everything Goes Dance Studio, a former Plaza District staple that has relocated to a larger space on NW 5, will kick off the festivities at noon on the Plaza Fest Main Stage, followed by neighborhood mainstay Lyric Theatre performing a 12:45 p.m. sneak peek of its Oct. 2-Nov. 1 production of the rowdy classic “The Rocky Horror Show.”
Punk rockers Limp Wizurdz, recently expanded indie-pop band Late Night Messages and self-described “Bluegrass Outlaws” The Bottom of the Barrel also will perform on the fest’s main stage. DJ Kora Waves will play the main-stage after-party following Jabee’s set.
The festival’s ACM@UCO Stage is fully produced by current students at the Academy of Contemporary Music at the University of Central Oklahoma, who are getting real-life experience in performing and producing a festival stage in the process. The lineup includes The Sweet Talkers, When’s Lunch, Magenta Burn and more.
Plus, the Plaza District has grown into the home of 70 locally owned businesses while serving as an incubator for local entrepreneurs like James Beard-nominated Chef Jeff Chanchaleune, owner of Ma Der Lao Kitchen and Bar Sen.
“We have more businesses doing their own entertainment. … This year’s festival more than any other time that we’ve done this — and I’ve been a part of the planning for nine years — feels way more like a South by Southwest,” Crawford said. “This is a direct result of us slashing our budget. We didn’t have the budget to have two large stages. So, I was like, ‘We have all these patios. Why aren’t we activating these patios more?'”
OKC Thunder DJs, local Ghostbusters and more to entertain in the fest’s expanded Family Zone
This year’s Plaza District Fest will boast an expanded Family Zone featuring fun from Magician Michael Corley, Wild Smiles Face Painting, the Oklahoma City Ghostbusters and more. DJ LiTEBRiTE & Friends, the official DJ for the OKC Blue and a concourse and special events DJ for the OKC Thunder, will keep the spirits high and the music going.
“What we’re actually going to do this year is take up the entire east end of the block between the Velvet Monkey Salon and Ma Der Lao Kitchen. We’re going to have three bounce houses, including one inflatable obstacle course,” Crawford said. “We’ll also have the Groovemeant Community, and they are a really popular and immersive street dance experience. … And we’ll have support from Oklahoma City Arts Council’s Art Moves.”
Art market, community partners and food trucks also are planned for this year’s festival
The festival art market will be set up on NW 16 between Indiana and Blackwelder avenues, and the street will be closed all day Saturday.
More than 40 Oklahoma artists, will be selling handmade goods, including fiber art, ceramics, paintings and more.
Plus, the festival will showcase half a dozen community partners, from the nonprofit civics organization Let’s Fix This to Classen SAS Middle School, and about a dozen local favorite food and beverage trucks in addition to the array of eateries and bars in the district.
“The nice thing about the street being closed is people can walk freely with the things that they purchase from existing brick-and-mortar businesses. We encourage businesses to do quick grab-and-go options because of the crowd size,” Crawford said.
What is planned for this year’s Plaza Walls Mural Expo?
The 10th annual Plaza Walls Mural Expo is set from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27, in the Plaza Walls Alley in the Plaza District. Another free, family-friendly event, the mural expo is planned in conjunction with the Plaza District Festival. For more information, go to https://www.plazawalls.org.
Fifty artists are painting 40-plus murals for this year’s event, and several of them have been working all week on their colorful creations.
“I definitely did not expect to be going this strong in 10 years. When we started it, we were just a group of misfit artists that wanted a large space to spray paint on the weekends. The fact that it evolved into this is amazing and unexpected, but also just beautiful that it grew organically. said Kris Kanaly, co-founder and president of the nonprofit, all-volunteer Oklahoma Mural Syndicate, which organizes the Plaza Walls mural program and the mural expo.
“When we started the project, we could barely name, I’d say, five or 10 muralists in town, and now we have a lineup that’s primarily Oklahomans. We’ve got probably 65% of our lineup is Oklahomans. This year, we tried to focus on bringing back some of the early artists that helped us pioneer the project.”
The Plaza District will be totally transformed by the time the expo ends. As the artists work Saturday on their creations, two DJ lineups will keep the beats as fresh as the new paint.
“We have a lot of support from the district. We’re very fortunate for that,” Kanaly said. “We are so fortunate to have such a great team here, because their committee closely works with our team. It’s a very symbiotic kind of relationship.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.oklahoman.com ’
