Tumbleweed gears up for annual festival

Monique Headley

Good music, good times and what some would call good eats are about to come around again at the 18th annual Tumbleweed Calf Fry.

In previous years, the festival has brought upwards of 20,000 people to Stillwater, and ticket sales for this year have already surpassed last year.

“Each year the festival has grown. This event started as a gathering of 400 people on a Sunday afternoon to an event that may reach 30,000 people this year,” said Tumbleweed owner Hank Moore of the four-day event. “Calf Fry remains Stillwater’s hidden secret. People would be amazed at the scope of the venue. You have to experience it.

“We designed Calf Fry to take place the weekend before finals at Oklahoma State University to allow students a chance to get together and have fun. It’s the weekend before finals and typically quiet.”

The event usually sells out hotels from Stillwater to Guthrie, he said.

Whether it is referred to as edible offal, huevos del toro or prairie oysters, Stillwater has an appreciative history of cowboy caviar. Moore tapped into the culture and organized a festival to united hobbyists and dabblers.

“There were several groups unofficially doing calf fries around town. It’s big cowboy culture,” he said.

Bulls aren’t castrated just to provide calf fries. Doing so allows steers to gain weight faster, Moore said, and it can alter animal temperament and control breeding and growth of skeletal muscle suitable for beef.

According to a New York Times posting, “Although animal rights groups decry the castrating of cattle, pigs and sheep as cruel, it is a common agricultural practice intended to make males more manageable and their meat tender.”

The food isn’t the only thing going on at the annual Calf Fry. Music is also important. The event brings in all kinds of artists from country to Red Dirt, said Moore.

“We like to make sure a mix of artists are involved,” he said.

Moore said he created the prosperous event to make Stillwater the mecca for a feel good and dynamic party. To accommodate the large crowd, 300 staff members, volunteers and old-time employees will oversee the event.

“People come to have a nice, easy time,” said 15-year veteran bouncer Henry.

Several significant entertainment entities have recognized Calf Fry and Tumbleweed as a premier location and event including the Oklahoma Travel and Tourism Board, the Academy of Country Music and the Oklahoma Governor’s Conference on Tourism, Moore said. Country Weekly magazine considers the club one of the top 10 historic country music sites to visit in the United States.

In 1999, Gov. Frank Keating recognized Tumbleweed in appreciation for its efforts to assist Mulhall after the area was struck by a tornado.

The event is handicap accessible with provisions for tour bus parking.



CALF FRY

• WHEN: Wednesday-Saturday

• WHERE: Tumbleweed Dance Hall

• INFO: 377-0076, www.calffry.com