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Arts, Crafts, Entertainment to be Part of 52nd Festival; 2nd Sugar Show Planned

March 9, 2023


Members of the Nescatunga Arts and Humanities Council are planning a three-day event this year for the 52nd Nescatunga Arts Festival in Alva, Oklahoma. It will be June 2-4 in a new location – Percefull Fieldhouse at Northwestern Oklahoma State University and in areas near the gymnasium.

The event kicks off Friday, June 2, at 6 p.m. with arts and crafts booths being open, as well as live entertainment taking place outside through 10 p.m. Saturday, March 3, the schedule is 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. for arts, crafts, inside entertainment and outside games. From 6-10 p.m., live outdoor entertainment will resume. Sunday, June 4, is the final day of the event from noon to 3 p.m. with arts and crafts booths available along with live indoor entertainment.

Booth registration for the arts festival is open to fine artists and crafters, and a form may be found online at www.nescatunga.org. Spaces for 12x12 booths are available either inside or outside and are $40 for the first space and $25 for each additional space. There are approximately 34 spaces available inside Percefull Fieldhouse. Other spaces may be available in a spill-over area inside as well as some spaces outside.

The early registration deadline is May 5. The fees will double after this date for any spaces that remain.

Students wanting to display their arts or craft items may register for one free booth. If extra booths are needed, each additional space will be $25.

All fine arts and crafts items should be handmade by the artist.

Fine Arts categories include oil/acrylic, watercolor, pastels, mixed media, graphics/pen and ink/pencil, printing making, photography, pottery, sculpture (wood, metal, mineral), fiber arts like quilting/weaving/basketry, and designer arts and jewelry. Book authors also are welcome.

Craft categories include wood toys/furniture, ceramics/glass, clothing, soft toys, decorative items, jewelry, craft food, repurposed items, home goods/accessories, and other items.

Fine artists are eligible for one award of cash and ribbons in each category. The awards will include a Best of Show prize for $200; first place $150; second place $100; and third place $75. The festival judge may award any place to an entry based on merit, and if, in the opinion of the judge, none of the entries in a category meet the standards of excellence, no award will be given.

Student artwork will be judged by the overall exhibit for a possible first-place prize of $25.

All work must be that of the exhibitor, and artists must be in attendance for work to be judged.

Artists and crafters should provide their own display setup, tables, chairs, etc., however, Nescatunga is offering a limited number of tables and chairs for a small fee.

Gourmet Food Booth, Concessions help fund festival, scholarships

One of the Nescatunga committee’s biggest fundraisers is the Gourmet Food Booth at the festival. Several volunteers provide the baked goods to sell at the booth on Saturday. Local bakers who would like to donate a baked item to the booth should contact Nicki Chaffee at (580) 430-5450.

A concessions area also will be available on Saturday of this year’s festival offering drinks and entrees. Selected food trucks also will be attending Friday through Sunday.

Funds raised through concessions and the Gourmet Food Booth help to fund scholarships for local arts-related students each year, as well as help fund the arts festival, the Sugar Show, First Friday Art Walk at the Runnymede and other activities.

Quilt Show in Percefull Fieldhouse

Another change for this year’s festival is moving the annual Quilt Show to the same space as the art show – inside Percefull Fieldhouse. Anyone interested in displaying a quilt should contact Rose Mary McFall at (580) 829-3011 by May 29. Quilters may call or text her if needing to arrange a drop-off/pick-up of quilts to display.


Sugar Show for bakers of cakes, cookies and cupcakes

A new attraction begun last year will continue this year in the Sugar Show to allow food artists to create decorated cakes, cookies and cupcakes. Decorated cakes should have at least two tiers, and a dozen decorated cookies and cupcakes should be created.

There will be three divisions: Professionals, who may enter the cake portion of the contest with non-edible “dummy” cakes and/or edible cakes; as well as Aspiring Artists and Students, who will enter edible cakes. All divisions may enter with cookies and cupcakes. Professionals will compete against professionals and aspiring artists against aspiring artists for first place, respectively, in the cake contest. Professionals and aspiring artists will compete head-to-head in cupcakes and cookies for first place. Students will compete against students in all categories.

Items will be judged on six criteria: Overall Appearance, Number of Techniques Used, Precision, Originality of Design and Level of Difficulty.

Professionals can win a $50 first-place prize for edible cakes as well as non-edible. The Aspiring Artist first-place cake will also win a $50 prize. One first-place prize of $50 will be given to the winners of the best overall cookies and cupcakes. All student category winners will receive a $10 prize.

The entry fee for Professionals and Aspiring Artists is $25 for the first category and $15 each for the second and third categories through May 5. Fees will double after this date.

Student entries are free.

Judging of entries will begin at 9 a.m. When judging is complete, the Sugar Show will be open to public viewing at approximately 10:30 a.m. where they will be allowed to cast votes for a People’s Choice winner from among all entries. Sugar Show contestants are encouraged to create something to donate to the Gourmet Food Booth.

Questions about the Sugar Show should be directed to April Ridgway at (580) 917-0101 or maxandapril@hotmail.com.

Questions about the event

For additional information on the arts festival, email the Festival committee at NescatungaArts@yahoo.com. More information also is available on the website at www.nescatunga.org or by visiting the festival’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/nescatungaarts.

Anyone interested in the arts is encouraged to help the committee with this year’s festival. Annual dues for the Nescatunga Arts and Humanities Council are $25 and can be mailed to P.O. Box 152 or paid online via PayPal at https://paypal.me/NescatungaArts. Donations to Nescatunga are welcomed to help defray costs for the festival and other activities of the Council.

The Nescatunga Arts Festival is sponsored by the Nescatunga Arts and Humanities Council, Inc., in cooperation with the Alva Chamber of Commerce, the City of Alva Tourism Committee and NWOSU.


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