Weekly Arts and Entertainment Highlights (Aug 30, 2012)

This weekend the metro will be filled with the sounds of classic muscle cars roaming the streets, wailing blues guitar, the stampede of the rodeo, and the excitement of finding a must-have piece of art.

The OK Corral Grand National Car Show is a celebration of American automotive innovation in the form of the Ford Mustang. Every year the Mustang Club of America and Oklahoma Mustang Club gather to show off almost every make, model, and color of the classic muscle car, from the 1964 and ½ to the most recent model of the current year. The Oklahoma Mustang Club began meeting in 1978 and became an officially charted group of the Mustang Club of America in 1984. Mustang enthusiasts gather to see 450 cars on display at the Mustang Town Center in Mustang, OK from Friday, August 31st through Sunday, September 2nd.

The Dusk ‘til Dawn Blues Festival comes to Rentiesville for the 22nd year in a row this weekend. Thirty five bands play at three stages from August 31st to September 2nd, including big names in blues such as Big Daddy Mack and Guitar Shorty. The festival also features local acts like Amy Lee and Second Line, and Miss Blues. Children can participate in activities in the Kid’s Village and make costumes, drum, create pottery, and have their faces painted. There are also music workshops to attend and barbeque. Performances begin at 6:00 p.m. on Friday and continue through Sunday.

The public is invited to bring lawn chairs and umbrellas to the 29th Annual Western Heritage Festival and Rodeo featuring the Arcadia “Blues in the Night” music festival this weekend. On Friday, blues acts including Garrett “Big G” Jacobson takes the stage at the Arcadia Municipal Park from 7:00 to 11:00 p.m. The festival also includes a Street Dance for children and Talent Show for the community. Businesses, elected officials, churches and other organizations participate in a parade on Saturday afternoon to kick off the rodeo that evening. A Gospel Extravaganza precedes the rodeo on Sunday.

Every Labor Day for 34 years, Oklahoma City Community College has opened its campus to artists and performers for the Annual Arts Festival Oklahoma. Over 160 booths hold art from local and regional artists to be purchased from September 1st through the 3rd. Buddy Holly impersonator Billy McGuigan performs on Saturday night during “Rave: The Buddy Holly Experience,” covering songs from the famous rock’n’roller’s career like “Peggy Sue” and “Raining in My Heart.” The Oklahoma City Philharmonic puts on a special show for the arts festival Sunday evening when they provide the special entertainment.

Other Events of Interest:

September 2nd is the last day to view a special collection of animation cels included in the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art’s exhibit “A Century of Magic: The Animation of the Walt Disney Studios.” The museum also closes “Vernet to Villion: Nineteenth-Century French Master Drawings from the National Gallery of Art.”

The Oklahoma History Museum holds a program highlighting combat soldiers in modern films on August 30th at 7:00 p.m. Dr. James Baker leads the discussion about movies such as “Sands of Iwo Jima” and “Saving Private Ryan” during “WWII and the Movies.”

For more information and events, visit the calendar page of our website.