2009 Oklahoma Folklife Festival this Saturday at Oklahoma History Center
Contact: Rodger Harris
(405) 522-5207
rharris@okhistory.org
Oklahoma City, OK
June 16, 2009
For Immediate Release
The 2009 Oklahoma Folklife Festival will host music, dance, traditional crafts, and other Oklahoma traditions this Saturday at the Oklahoma History Center, 2401 North Laird Avenue in Oklahoma City. A special event as part of the Folklife festival is the "Oklahoma's Official Statewide Prevarication Review and Good Ole Fashion Liar's Contest." The festival begins at 9:00 a.m. and runs to 4:00 p.m. Admission to the Oklahoma History Center is free Saturday.
This years event includes music and dance in the Mexican, Irish, and American Indian traditions as well as music from the Latin America, Scotland, and other places. Luthiers (musical instrument makers) will demonstrate how guitars, mandolins, and other instruments are crafted. Other wood working will include wood turners and carvers.
American Indian basket weaving will be demonstrated, as will many Native crafts, including corn-shuck doll making, dream catchers, cane flutes, and other objects.
Rope makers, lace makers, and tall-tale tellers will also be present.
A special feature of this year's Folklife Festival is the Liars Contest. Americans have long enjoyed the tradition of telling lies for entertainment. Sometimes the lies are just exaggerated account of an actual event. Some lie for political commentary, and others delight audiences around the camp fire or the kitchen table. Some of America's greatest storytellers told lies on stage. Most notable was Will Rogers who's exaggerated facts and conclusions many Americans smile or laugh out loud. Mark Twain told silly lies as commentary. Abe Lincoln was well known to tell a few whoppers to entertain audiences.
Dick McGuinn's quote, "never let the truth stand in the way of a good story", was the tag line he often used when people asked him if the story he just told was really true. The late McGuinn was a native of Halett, Oklahoma. He was a WWII veteran and a career officer in the US Air Force. He was also a delightful entertainer who got laughs and smiles from many audiences. His favorite stories were about chasing rats around his Hallett home and eventually blasting a persistent rat with a shotgun. Dick's audiences, large or small, received the full treatment and he often had more fun than his audiences. His storytelling was typical of many American storytellers who told lies to entertain.
The Liars Contest runs from 2:30 to 3:45 p.m.
For more information on the 2009 Oklahoma Folklife Festival, contact Rodger Harris at (405) 522-5207.