34th Annual Pelican Festival Offers Fun for the Whole Family
From early September through November, the American white pelicans’ annual migration brings them to the waters of Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees. The Grand Lake region celebrates the return of these birds with the annual Pelican Festival.
The festival is four days of carnival rides, live entertainment, arts and crafts vendors, food trucks and fun fall festivities for the whole family.
Presented by the Grand Lake Association (GLA), the City of Grove and GRDA, the 34th annual Pelican Festival runs from Wednesday, Oct. 11 through Saturday, Oct. 14, at Wolf Creek Park in Grove.
Carnival Rides and Midway
The Pelican Festival fun started Wednesday and Thursday evenings with the opening of the midway and carnival. Pride Amusements, based out of Galena, Kansas, is operating a variety of exciting carnival rides for all ages, including the Avalanche, Dark Ride, Stampede, Zero Gravity and the Zipper, as well as the kid-sized fun of Dinos, Tractors and the Umbrella Motorcycles.
The carnival midway has an assortment of midway games from the duck pond, bust a balloon, hi striker and many more. There are also a number of games that allow kids to play until they win.
The midway will also feature a variety of food concessions that offer top-quality fair food at reasonable prices, including sweet treats like funnel cakes and cotton candy to salty treats such as corn dogs and popcorn.
The carnival is open 6 to 10 p.m. Friday and from noon to 10 p.m. Saturday. Unlimited ride bracelets will be available, weather permitting. The tickets are $25 from 6 to 10 p.m. on Friday, $25 Saturday from noon to 6 p.m. and $25 from 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday.
Ride tickets are also available for $1 each. All rides take either three or four tickets to ride. Games and food concessions accept cash.
Friday and Saturday Activities
On Friday and Saturday, the Pelican Festival has even more to offer visitors, including arts and crafts vendors, food trucks, live entertainment and many other fall festivities.
The festival is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday.
The GLA, the Grand Lake Sail & Power Squadron and Honey Creek Marina will be providing pelican boat tours from Wolf Creek Park. These tours are a fun way to catch a glimpse of the white pelicans that are visiting this time of year.
Reservations are $15 per person and are required. Seating is limited, so secure your spot today by calling the GLA office at (918) 786-2289.
Live Entertainment
The live entertainment at the Pelican Festival, ’70s and ’80s Throwback Weekend, begins on the main stage at 1 p.m. Friday. Grand Lake’s-own Phil Bethel & Company kicks off the fun with their easy listening ’70s and ’80s sound. The group will play until 4 p.m.
NighTTrain will be rocking the festival stage from 7:30 to 10 p.m. Friday. A straight-up classic rock band, NighTTrain covers “guitar rock” hits from the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s and 2000s with a few originals thrown in. The in-your-face performance style of NighTTrain has their fans declaring them the ultimate rock ’n’ roll party band.
NighTTrain performs at festivals and events from Oklahoma City to Fayetteville, Ark., to Kansas City, Mo. The band also frequently appears at casinos all around the region, including Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Downstream Casino, Cherokee casinos and Choctaw casinos.
From 7:30 to 10 p.m. Saturday night, festival-goers will find themselves partying like it’s 1999 as Vince & the Revelation presents A Tribute to Prince to close out the festival.
Fronted by Vince Gibbs, Vince & the Revelation is a Prince tribute band that recreates the excitement of being at a real Prince concert. Gibbs is one of the most sought-after professional Prince tribute artists/look-a-likes in the world. He was handpicked by Missy Elliott to appear in her “Work It” video in 2002.
Vince & the Revelation covers all of Prince’s greatest hits, including “1999,” “Little Red Corvette,” “When Doves Cry,” “Kiss,” “I Would Die 4 U,” “Take Me With U” and, of course, “Purple Rain.”
Also on Saturday, Har-Ber Village Museum will hold is annual PelicanFest Reduced Admission Day. From 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, the price of admission is reduced to $3 per person over the age of 6.
Har-Ber Village Museum is a pioneer-era village and history museum in Grove that transports visitors back to a simpler, hands-on way of life. While exploring the village’s historic buildings and exhibits, visitors can watch live history demonstrations, meet living history reenactors and enjoy hands-on activities.
The village is located at 4404 West 20th Road, in Grove. For more information, visit www.har-bervillage.com.
Concerned that attending the Pelican Festival will have you missing out on the Red River rivalry? No need to worry. The OU-Texas game will be playing on the big screen under the tent Saturday, courtesy of Aaron’s and Radio Shack.
The Pelican Festival will be held rain or shine at Wolf Creek Park, 963 North 16th St., Grove.
For more information about the Pelican Festival, visit www.PelicanFestOK.com.