Okmulgee Pecan Festival

Okmulgee Pecan Festival

Third weekend in JuneThe Okmulgee Pecan Festival is a nutty festival in Okmulgee, Okla., that made the Guinness Book of World Records in 1988 for the world's largest pecan pie. The pie had a diameter of 40 feet, and it weighed about 16 1 + 2 tons. Even with the help of the culinary arts department of the Oklahoma State University Technical Branch in Okmulgee, this was an enormous task. So in 1990 the big event was a pecan cookie with a diameter of 32 feet and a weight of 7,500 pounds. That was a bit of a chore, too. In 1991, it was decided to keep it simple and celebrate with the "World's Largest Pecan Cookie and Ice Cream Party." More than 15,000 cookies and 5,000 single servings of vanilla ice cream were served.
Okmulgee, a name that means "bubbling waters" in the Creek language, is the capital of the Creek Nation. It is also an area that raises a lot of pecans; some 600 acres near Okmulgee are devoted to growing pecans. The festival began in 1984 and has been voted one of the top 10 festivals in the state. Besides large pecan concoctions, it offers a carnival, a pecan bake-off, a pie-throwing booth, arm-wrestling contests, the crowning of a Pecan Prince and Princess, and a turtle race.
CONTACTS:
Okmulgee Tourism
208 W. 6th St.
Okmulgee, OK 74447
918-758-1015; fax: 918-758-0968
www.okmulgeetourism.com