Last Updated on June 30, 2023, 5:10 PM | Published: June 30, 2023
OKLAHOMA CITY — The blistering heat can’t stop the American spirit! Or at least, that’s what business owners and event organizers all across OKC are hoping as we head into an extended Independence Day Weekend.
It’s perfect for slathering on some sunscreen and getting out to catch all the best American food, music, and high-octane engineering you can handle.
With the July 4th holiday falling this year on a Tuesday, the preceding weekend is offering a packed selection of America’s favorite pastimes, including baseball, car shows, country music, and jet engines, and even a reminder of the country’s most enduring creative history.
‘Red, White, & Boom!’ with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic – Scissortail Park – Monday, July 3rd – 8:30pm
One of OKC’s most beloved recent Independence Day traditions, the Oklahoma City Philharmonic’s annual “Red, White, & Boom!” event is a free, under-the-stars extravaganza of American classical jams, virtuoso musicianship, and of course, the required fireworks.
“The atmosphere for ‘Red, White & Boom!’ is electrifying,” said Maestro Alexander Mickelthwate, Music Director and lead conductor of the OKC Phil. “The patriotic music, the cheering crowd, the fireworks. Last year we welcomed more than 20,000 people to the park, and this year we expect even more. We have a few surprises, too.”
Oklahoma City Dodgers vs. Albuquerque Isotopes – Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark – Tuesday, July 4th – 7:00 pm
Anyone that still considers baseball to be America’s greatest pastime is looking at a perfect convergence of happenings on Tuesday night: a hometown game in the city’s best stadium on July 4th evening followed by a full fireworks celebration.
And in case you think it can’t get any better, it’ll be $2 Tuesday, meaning discount beer and food.
Combine it all into one perfect Independence Day celebration and you’ve got the most incomparably American event since Washington crossed the Delaware.
Tinker Air Show – Tinker Air Force Base – Saturday, July 1st & Sunday, July 2nd
If fireworks, roaring crowds, and blasting Souza marches aren’t loud enough for you, then you’ll want to be at Tinker this weekend for the blaring fly-bys and sonic booms that can only be experienced at that most hyper-American of events: the air show.
The free event kicks off at 8:00am each day, and lest you think it’s all just about flexing military prowess or firepower, this year’s theme is actually “STEM Takes Flight,” highlighting the importance of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education and its role in aviation and flight.
Coffee & Cars OKC – Saturday, July 1st – Remington Park – 8:00am
If you prefer your celebrations of American engineering to be a little more down to Earth, then you’ll want to pop over to the July edition of Coffee & Cars OKC at their new meetup location at Remington Park.
The monthly meetup event encourages anyone to bring out their coolest and cleanest rides for nothing more than the appreciation and enjoyment of automotive manufacturing and car fan culture.
You can expect to see plenty of imports, but of course it’ll be the American muscle that attendees will be fawning over this month.
Fireworks at the Flagpole – Bricktown Flagpole Plaza – Monday, July 3rd – 7:00 pm
Few things will ever be as archetypically American as country and western music, and that’s what Bricktown’s Fireworks at the Flagpole event from the Oklahoma Opry is all about.
If you prefer your American music to have a lot more strumming and twang and a lot less tuba, then head over to Bricktown on Monday night and enjoy a lineup of some of the city’s best country music talents headlined by the Oklahoma Opry Band themselves.
There might be no better place to hear some country music than sitting in a lawn chair beneath the Bricktown flagpole at Reno and the railroad, especially when the bill boasts local singers Jake Simpson, Mallory Eagle, Kyle Earhart, Cindy Scarberry.
And when the music ends, you’ll be set up perfectly to enjoy the fireworks from “Red, White, and Boom!”
While you’re there, be sure to grab one of the exclusive, one-of-a-kind t-shirts to help fund the Opry’s music non-profits helping to benefit veterans and young music students in Oklahoma.
“Patterns of Knowing” at OK Contemporary Arts Center – Ongoing
America has a complicated history (to say the very least) and of course it existed long before that fateful 4th of July that announced the new nation’s official place on the world stage.
In the flurry of fireworks, patriotic parties and boisterous, red-white-and-blue-covered celebrations, it can be too easy to overlook the continuing histories of the cultures here long before the revolutionaries, and the vital creative contributions they’ve given to the country for centuries.
OK Contemporary’s ongoing “Patterns of Knowing” exhibition showcases the works of three groundbreaking Indigenous visual artists – Jordan Ann Craig, Jeri Redcorn, and the late Benjamin Harjo Jr. – and their explorations of how Native patterns and aesthetics have evolved throughout American culture and media.
In between the cookouts, the concerts, the fly-bys, and the fireworks, maybe take some time out this weekend to appreciate the creativity and resilience of the cultures that formed the lifeblood of this country, even long before there was a country at all.
Brett Fieldcamp has been covering arts, entertainment, news, housing, and culture in Oklahoma for nearly 15 years, writing for several local and state publications. He’s also a musician and songwriter and holds a certification as Specialist of Spirits from The Society of Wine Educators.
