By Mindy Ragan Wood
Staff Writer
The Piedmont Founder’s Day festival could be the biggest turnout ever, organizers say.
The festival kicks off Saturday morning with a 5K race and parade followed by a large vintage and antiques show, Junklahoma.
Joyce Leach, owner of the Old Store, organizes Junklahoma ever year.
“We are going to have a record number of vendors this year,” Leach said. “I think we will have 50 more booths than we usually do. That alone is going to be pretty awesome.”
Leach said she expects to have at least 200 vendors, some of which will spill over into the First Baptist Church and other areas. Her show is set up along the front and side of her store at 100 Monroe Avenue.
Around 30 booths with handcrafted goods will be available. Games and activities for children will be ongoing throughout the day after the 10 a.m. parade.
It’s a record year for food trucks too. The Piedmont Museum will serve pulled pork sandwiches and homemade pies, but with only a few trucks last year, Leach said they couldn’t feed everyone.
“We’ll have 10 more food trucks this year,” Leach said. “Food vendors in the past have told us they sell out by 2 p.m. With the added crowd, you can’t have just a few food trucks for all these people.”
The headcount is hard to pinpoint in the past because the city does not keep track, but on Junklahoma’s Facebook page event invite, at least 21,000 people have shown interest in the festival and an additional 90,000 people would have seen a billboard ad the committee paid for near town.
“It’s hard to tell,” Leach said. “The crowds stay pretty consistent until about 3 or 4 in the afternoon.”
The event last year was hailed as the top vintage and antiques show in Oklahoma in Flea Market Style magazine.
With so many people pouring into town it takes some organization to accommodate parking and other needs like more seating and clean tables.
“This year we have The Bridge Church who will tackle the parking situation. They will have 40 volunteers manning right there at Piedmont Road and 164th directing traffic, making sure everyone is parked correctly so no one gets blocked in. The wet ground will take away some of our spaces, so we’re staying on hard ground. It will fill up the co-op area (on Piedmont Road), the middle school and primary parking lots will be available and they will have transportation for people who are not parked within walking distance,” Leach said.
An additional improvement to the festival will also include a customer pick-up tent where large items people have purchased can be stored while patrons continue to enjoy the festival.
