WoodyFest 2007, Part IV: What To Consider Before You Go

WoodyFest 2007, Part IV: What To Consider Before You Go

For the year that I covered WoodyFest representing a media corporate sponsor, I was given a reserved corporate sponsor motel room at a distance of approximately 30 miles from the festival. There is only one motel available for the festival in Okemah; it is booked exclusively for festival personnel and performers, and in the evenings after the program is over, the driveway is blocked and the festival personnel and performers have their own private parties.

The campgrounds are located on what appears to be a riding arena approximately one-two miles away from the motel and the center of town. This site seems largely undeveloped for camping and the year I was there it was having significant water and mud issues. There did not appear to be the type of campfire interaction between performers and festival goers that is common at other festivals, but that might have been due to the weather that year. Also, there was no AT&T cell phone service at Okemah, and no coffee shop or restaurant with wi-fi.

The campground site is also where the “Pastures of Plenty” outdoor main stage is located.

There is another local venue called The Grape Ranch Winery & Vineyard that is six miles south of Okemah. This appears to be an excellent facility, and was apparently part of the festival at one time. Performers from the festival went back and forth between the festival and this other venue.

I was interested in covering the festival again in 2008 when the weather was better, which I had hoped would produce a better overall impression on the above-mentioned subjects and other obvious disparities. But festival personnel would not extend me press credentials as the editor and publisher of folkatfestival.com, even though they widely circulated the coverage I provided in 2007 when I was writing for the Nightflying Media Guide, a corporate sponsor.

Therefore, based upon my 2007 observations of the unacceptable camping situation and lack of available motel rooms, plus the general lack of infrastructure, I cannot recommend the festival to my readers with children, or with health issues; or who would travel from such a distance that would prevent them from returning home quickly. Tent camping is not recommended.