THE BEST OF 2023
From astonishing concerts to glittering night markets, from new pollinator areas to BioHaven floating islands, a roundup of some of our best happenings from 2023 at the wonderful Scissortail Park!
This year was packed with successful events and we are proud to provide so much for our community! The wonderful response that we’ve gotten from our guests this year was extraordinary! More than 400,000 people visited and attended our events, markets and concerts and we couldn’t be happier!
Check out the highlights of our 2023 adventures and do not miss what we have in store for the 2024 Season!
Farmers Market at Scissortail Park
Our popular Farmers Market, located at the corner of Oklahoma City Boulevard by the Promenade, has gained popularity due to the quality of it’s vendors’ products, service, location, the wide variety of produce, bakery, meats, and artisans, as well as the great entertainment and wellness classes offered every week. We take pride in featuring the best local artists, singers, musicians and buskers, as well as the best Yoga teachers in the Metro.
Our Farmers Market is unique to Oklahoma City as it is a Producer Only market which is a direct-to-consumer marketplace that is exclusively available for producers that raise, grow or make their own products. All items for sale at our market must be homegrown, handmade and/or vendor-created from locally-owned operations within the state of Oklahoma.
Thanks to local farmers markets like this one, everyone can enjoy the mouthwatering taste of fresh, locally grown food. From organic produce to local dairy, grains and protein products, our farmers market offer tons of fresh options to help you eat healthier. Plus, when you buy local you help more than just yourself, you help support farmers and their families from around the community too.
We strive to bring music and arts for our diverse visitors of all ages. Our market is more than a great venue with quality products, great customer service and great entertainment, it is a place that promotes culture and community!
Our New Mid-Week Market
Our new Wednesday Mid-Week Farmers Market was introduced in 2023.
The market is located at the Hill Pavilion in the Lower Park section south of Interstate 40 and the Skydance Bridge.
Complementing our Saturday Farmers Market at Scissortail Park, our monthly mid-week market was created to provide an option for south Oklahoma City, and also as an option for shoppers who are unable to attend the Saturday market.
The mid-week market is hosted in the evening making it easy for downtown workers and residents to stop by after work.
We were thrilled to be able to bring more fresh, local produce to our community in 2023 thanks to grant frunding from the USDA.
Monarch Mountain energized by OG&E
Thanks to grant funding from OG&E, we worked with Connie Scothorn, Landscape Architect with CLS & Associates, to design a beautiful new garden filled with plants to support pollinators. The 8,900 square-foot garden features over 2,000 plants, including 5 species of milkweed, to provide beauty for Park visitors and sustenance for the pollinators. Special guests at the unveiling reception included Park staff, executives from OG&E and CLS & Associates as well as Girl Scout Troop 3 representing Okies for Monarchs who gave attendees monarch garden seed kits.
BioHaven Floating Islands
SWIFT & SKATE Rollin’ thru the ERAS at the Sky Rink!
Oklahoma’s Swifties came out in force to roller skate at the Sky Rink in the Summer and this was one of our most successful nights of the year! Girls, boys, teens and adults had a blast enjoying all of Taylor’s hits and our unique photo ops!
We had such a great time this summer at our SWIFT & SKATE nights and Hope to see you next season rollin’ at the Park!
Scissortail Concerts Series
Live from the Love's Travel Stops Stage and Great Lawn
Scissortail Park Concerts presented by American Fidelity has brought the best FREE entertainment and live music, featuring great artists, musicians and singers from around the world! The Love´s Travel Stops Stage has been the scene for more than 38 concerts since 2019.
For the 2023 Summer season, we featured a wide variety of Local and International Artists playing diverse music genres for all our diverse visitors. Scissortail Park is a community space that strives to be a venue that is safe and welcoming for all people, regardless of race, age, creed, nationality, language, gender, sexual orientation or ability.
We believe that Music Unites Us All; and here at the Park, we have experienced how music taken from diverse countries, genres, and traditions gives both singers and audiences windows into unfamiliar cultures, histories, and realities, and a way to connect to each other. Music is a way to not only to speak to one another but to hear each other, too.
This Summer we featured The OKC Philharmonic led by Maestro Alexander Mickelthwate, the Oklahoma-based band that explores a combination of pop, punk, and indie rock: Bee & the Hive; the Summer of Soul Night hosted by J. Stew starring Charlie Redd and The Full Flava Kings, the “Noche Norteña” a night of music inspired by the sounds of Northern Mexico featuring Conjunto Generacion with Real del Alamo and Tornado, and the 14-time Grammy award-winning artist, dobro master and member of the ground-breaking band, Alison Krauss & Union Station, Jerry Douglas for a Bluegrass Night at the Park.
Plenty of towns and cities across the United States host an outdoor concert series over the summer. They’re family-friendly, offer diverse genres of music, are almost always free and are a great way to enjoy being outside in the evening.
To find the best to attend this summer, USA TODAY 10Best Organization, asked a panel of experts to nominate their favorites, then readers voted for their top picks; Scissortail Park Concert Series won 3rd place as best outdoor concert series for 2023 out of the the 10 nominees from all around the USA.
Night Markets
Scissortail Park Night Markets are one of the most popular events of the year. Thousands of people shop locally during the spring and fall along the Promenade and enjoy the great vibes. The Market is also known for bringing great entertainment to the attendees with music bands, movies, dancers and the best Food Trucks with a variety of food, snacks, drinks and desserts.
Here you can find local Oklahoma small shops, businesses, crafters, & entrepreneurs featuring products like gifts, jewelry, home décor, food, candles, fashion, bath & beauty products, plants and more!
See you in spring 2024!
ScaryTale Park
A new and improved Halloween experience at Scissortail Park took place in October and we couldn’t be happier about the great turnout! Hundreds of guests attended the 3-day event. At ScaryTale Park, kids and parents traveled through a trail of storybook and fairy tale themed stations to pick up candy and other treats.
All of them had the chance to meet real-life characters like Winifred Sanderson, Snow White, Uncle Fester, The Witch Baba Yaga, Captain Hook & other characters like Dracula and the Headless Horseman!
Park Ranger Programs
Our Park Rangers are the eyes and ears of the park – but did you know they also lead most of our guest services efforts and educational programming thanks to sponsor Express Employment International?
Our Park Rangers (and many other team members) are experts in beekeeping and pollination, composting, wildlife conservation, and fishing. They give park tours, lead field trips, and set up many educational events for the public.
“Bees and Beekeeping”, “Outdoor Preparedness”, “Campfire Convos”, “B.A.R.K. Ranger Class” and fishing events are the most popular ones among the visitors and the best thing is that they are FREE!
If you are interested in Park Ranger programs check out our calendar and stay tuned for our 2024 events. Follow us on our social media (@scissortailpark) and be sure to check out our website at: https://www.scissortailpark.org/calendar/
‘Tis the Season at the Park!
The 2023 Holiday Season at Scissortail Park was a blast! Our Park became one of the most visited spots to enjoy the Holidays this winter. The Park displayed a beautiful Festive Lights Scenery, bright paths of luminaries, a 40ft. holiday tree and an amazing lights & music ambience at Union Station. Also during weekends in December, our visitors were able to enjoy Hot Cocoa with the collaboration of the well-known Junction Coffee Bus and the Lucid Bean Coffee Truck!
This year our Holiday Market and Concert went bigger and better than ever! Over 70 vendors were set up from the Love’s Travel Stops Stage plaza all the way to Union Station. We featured many of your favorite shops and artisans from our Night Markets and Farmers Market along with many new retailers. Also, our food trucks display went big! We had 13 of the best and most loved OKC food trucks with a wide variety of food, drinks and snacks!
Awesome activities and music were added to the Market’s celebration like the Holiday POP where kids were able to retrieve balloons with great prizes and enjoy Photo Ops with Santa, Elves, The Grinch and Lucy Lou! The Stage was full of Festive Music with Sam Kahre, The OK City Chorus and Montrae Tisdale & The Friends Chorale. The Grand finale couldn’t be more perfect with the grand entrance of King Cabbage Brass Band, serving up the party along the promenade all the way to Union Station; everyone accompanied the band along the way, dancing and celebrating in a festive holiday spirit and then stayed at Union Station to enjoy the OKC Thunder Drummers sipping from a cup of hot cocoa.
The holiday season was merry and bright thanks to our sponsors: SSM Health St. Anthony Hospital, Omni Oklahoma City Hotel, Kroger Delivery, J.P. Morgan Chase, and Tinker Federal Credit Union.
Do not miss ‘Tis the Season 2024! It will be Merrier, Bigger & Brighter!
