In the fall of 1975, Paul Dodd paid Otis Wall of Wewoka $100 for a cane mill that was about 75 years old. Dr. Claude Knight suggested restoring it so people could watch molasses being made. The following October, the Seminole Nation Museum and the Wewoka Rotary Club did exactly that. That one demonstration became the Wewoka Sorghum Festival, and its 51st edition is this Saturday, October 24, 2026, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. As always, admission is free.
Most of the festival you'll walk through Saturday was added in layers on top of that mill. The parade, the 5K, the car show and more than 100 booths all came later, and they fill the blocks north of the museum. Knowing which layer sits where tells you how to spend the day.
The Festival Started at the Museum, and the Chamber Built Outward
The festival's own history describes two partners with two jobs. Since the late 1980s, the Chamber has shaped the modern festival and runs the parade, the car show and the 5K. The Seminole Nation Museum handles sorghum production and the living-history demonstrations, and the festival describes the museum grounds as its center for historic demonstrations.
The museum's syrup numbers show how far the original idea has grown. According to the Seminole Nation Museum's history of the festival, the first fundraiser sold about 40 gallons of syrup. Today the museum sells more than 400 gallons through its shop or the fundraiser, roughly ten times that first batch.
The festival's 2026 race listing describes what you'll find at the museum end: a mule-powered mill, syrup cooked over an open fire, historic reenactors and artisans, and Indian fry bread served with hot sorghum. The museum sits at 524 S Wewoka Ave., and the race listing places it at 6th Street and Wewoka Avenue. The vendor booths stop at 6th Street too, so the festival's busiest stretch runs right up to the spot where it began.
The Morning Runs on the Chamber's Clock
The first two hours follow a fixed order, and most of it is the layer the Chamber added:
- 8 a.m. The John Lively Memorial 5K starts, and the festival opens. The festival's run page puts the starting line at 2nd Street and Wewoka Avenue. Registration is $30 in advance or $35 on festival day. Food vendors open at 8 too.
- 8:45 a.m. Parade entries should arrive for lineup along Old Highway 56, entering the lineup area from EW 127 Road. Only emergency vehicles and horse entries come in from Park Street.
- 9 a.m. General vendor booths open.
- 10 a.m. The parade steps off on time. The route is about seven blocks long, and first-, second- and third-place awards go to the winning entries.
One line in the 2026 parade rules matters for anyone checking the forecast. The parade will not be canceled for bad weather. If Saturday is wet, the 10 a.m. parade happens anyway, so plan your morning around it.
The car show is the other part of the Chamber's program, and TravelOK's festival listing describes it as an antique car show downtown alongside the parade. If you plan to enter a car, get the current entry details from the festival's car show page before Saturday morning.
Two Sets of Blocks Do Two Different Jobs
The festival's 2026 vendor information splits Wewoka Avenue into overlapping zones:
- 1st to 4th Street: Food vendors, open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- 1st to 6th Street: General vendors, open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- 6th Street and Wewoka Avenue: The Seminole Nation Museum, with the mill, the open-fire syrup and the living-history demonstrations.
That gives the avenue a clear shape. The north blocks, 1st through 4th, mix food and shopping. Between 4th and 6th it's all booths, and the museum grounds anchor the south end. TravelOK lists kettle corn, Indian tacos, fry bread and hamburgers among the food, plus more than 100 craft and merchandise booths.
For families, TravelOK also lists pony rides, a stick-horse rodeo, inflatables, live entertainment, and an art and photography show. The festival's events page was still being filled in as of mid-October, so check the food and events page Saturday morning for stage times and the final list.
On parking, the museum's own directions point visitors to spaces in front along Wewoka Avenue, south along 6th Street, and a small lot west across Wewoka Avenue. Those are the museum's everyday directions, and on a festival Saturday the avenue in front will be full of booths, so plan on walking a few blocks.
This Year the Museum Has a Homecoming in the Gallery
The museum end has something new for the 51st festival. On October 5, Seminole/Muscogee installation artist and sculptor C. Maxx Stevens opened "My Baggage: Back to Wewoka" in the museum's Margaret Jane Norman Gallery. Wewoka is her hometown. Her career includes a major solo exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian in New York, along with a Joan Mitchell Foundation Sculptor Grant and an Eiteljorg Fellowship.
The Seminole Nation Museum's exhibition page describes the show this way:
"Titled 'My Baggage: Back to Wewoka', the show tracks the artist's life journey as a proud Seminole woman using vintage luggage and found objects to explore the concept of place."
According to the museum, Stevens will be in the gallery during the festival on Saturday, October 24, talking about her process and her work. The gallery is at the same museum whose grounds hold the mill demonstrations, so the exhibit sits right at the 6th Street end of the festival.
When the Booths Close at 4, the Festival Still Has an Hour
Food and general vendors both wrap up at 4 p.m., while the festival itself is advertised until 5. The museum's regular Saturday hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and admission is free, with donations encouraged. If the morning went to the 5K and the parade, that last hour at the 6th Street end is a good time to see the gallery and pick up syrup after the crowds on the north blocks thin out.
The museum stays open after the festival weekend, too. The public reception for "My Baggage: Back to Wewoka" is Saturday, November 14, 2026, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the museum. Since the exhibit opened October 5 and the museum keeps Monday-through-Saturday hours, any regular day before then works for a second look without the festival crowd.
The festival is held on the fourth Saturday in October every year, so it's an easy date to put on next year's calendar now.
Sorghum Saturday is one of the things that keeps Seminole County feeling like home, and I'd love to hear where your day starts, whether it's the 5K line at 2nd Street or the mill at 6th. If you're thinking about a place close enough to walk to Wewoka Avenue every October, Sarah Jane Johnson knows these towns block by block. Let's Connect.
