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Wednesday night we rolled into town and grabbed some dinner at McNelis. The local magazines, like The Current, featured D-Fest on the cover and the waitress briefly asked if we were in town for the event, but other than that, things seemed pretty low key. Thursday morning was no different. As I walked through the vacant streets of Tulsa, I couldn’t get Oklahoma-based Shiny Toy Gun’s “Ghost Town” out of my head, there was just no one around and the tune seemed all to fitting. There were traces of D-Fest setting up, a few stages up here and there, but no other sign of a normal urban civilization. Extremely tired and jet lagged from traveling, we had trouble even finding a coffee shop open past 6:00 and after wandering around, aimlessly following a tip that we might find caffeine inside of an office building that still might serve us, we gave up. We called the cab, which I’m pretty sure was one of the only cabs in Tulsa, which wasn’t an exaggeration because I couldn’t count past one hand the number that I saw the whole week, and headed back to the room. I began to wonder where on earth these 60,000 anticipated festival partakers would come from.

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4.71 (7 votes)

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Thursday night after walking out of the D-Fest kickoff party, I felt like I had entered one of those scenes in a musical where people randomly burst into song and dance on a street corner. A crowd of people had formed and was dancing circles around a man playing a very elaborately constructed homemade drum kit. This wasn’t just a drum and some sticks; this was a very intricate creation consisting of a wooden frame, pots, pans, buckets, cymbals and a kick drum, made entirely of household items. The crowd was instantaneously captured by his beat and he seemed to secure additional hostages as more and more people spilled out of the venue, seeking out some after hours entertainment. It was a picture-perfect, and almost choreographed scene: a girl holding her shoes in her hand yelled “You gotta dance people” to everyone that walked by and one guy got so lost in his ‘moves’ that he rolled his ankle in the process. The “T-Town” trolley rattled thru the streets and passengers cheered as they passed by. As our street corner friend drummed away, people drew on the ground with sidewalk chalk, scribbling all kinds of messages and imaginative images. Before I jumped into my cab, I looked over my shoulder and noticed a hopscotch had been drawn and those that had moved on from dancing had transitioned into hopping thru their own personal Alice and Wonderland.

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4.60 (5 votes)

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Sunday morning, we woke up to the once again empty streets of downtown Tulsa. It would have been nearly impossible to detect any trace of the crowd, if it wasn’t for them tipping the streets with their leftovers: ticket stubs, ripped off bracelets, beer bottles, etc… After the whirlwind of participating in the urban chaos that was D-Fest, a taste of the countryside, tall grass, prairies, and the emerald rolling hills of Oklahoma, sounded like a delightful and much needed retreat. And how about some bison? When is the last time you drove your car down a gravel road and had to pause to let a few of those boldly cross in front? I had to see it to believe it, so we jumped in a car and headed to the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve.

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4.40 (5 votes)

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Diversafest (D-Fest), aka Oklahoma’s Music Conference and Festival, is an annual event with a primary focus of “promoting and empowering emerging artist from around the United States.” The annual event, which takes place in the streets of downtown Tulsa OK, features independent and emerging artists. In addition to the budding stars, the evenings of the two-day festival are topped off with well-known headliners, in an attempt to draw out the large and energetic crowds that are stereotypical of festivals.

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4.40 (5 votes)

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Mary Beth Babcock is the proud owner of Dwelling Spaces, a jewel in the heart of downtown Tulsa. The store will have graced the streets of the Blue Dome District with its presence for almost 3 years this coming August according to Mary Beth, who remembers the day that she stumbled upon the building. “I remember coming in and it was rough and dirt everywhere. I told the landlord, I have a vision.”

Dwelling Spaces is known for it’s unique merchandise and events that unite the town thru supporting local music and artists. The store has gatherings every month featuring DJs, local artists, and art shows. “We just have little restaurants around here cater the events and try to keep things creative,” explains Mary Beth.

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4.40 (5 votes)

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