It’s one of those Oklahoma City weekends where the city can’t decide if it wants to be festive, artsy, or aggressively nostalgic – so it's doing all three.
From Scissortail’s big holiday glow-up and OKCMOA’s buzzy Paul Reed opening to felt-based emotional support in the Stockyards, here’s what’s worth getting off your couch for this weekend.
SPARKLE Holiday Walk & Night Market – Opening Night
Fri., Nov. 21 · 5:30 p.m.–10 p.m. · Scissortail Park
SPARKLE is back to do what downtown does best – string lights on your seasonal depression until it blinks out. Expect glowing trails, vendors, sugary things on sticks, hot cocoa and maybe even a Coyne family photobomb. Bring your coat, your crew and your love or tolerance of all things merry and bright.
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Art Now 2025: Materials and Boundaries – Oklahoma Contemporary
Fri.–Sun. · Nov. 21–23 · Gallery hours each day
If you need a break from full-tilt Christmas mode, the Contemporary is serving the antidote: sharp, nuanced work pushing at the edges of form, material, and whatever counts as “acceptable” in the Oklahoma art scene. It’s thoughtful, free, includes the work of Denise Duong, and is guaranteed to make you utter a slack-jawed, “Oh, wow!" at least once. A very sophisticated thing to do before you go slurping queso at Iguana.
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The Muppet Christmas Carol – Rodeo Cinema Stockyards City
Fri.–Sun. · Nov. 21–23 · multiple showtimes
A perfect seasonal watch: Michael Caine acting his ass off opposite felt puppets. Rodeo’s cozy, indie theater energy – plus this unfailingly wholesome movie – equals the safest way to slide into holiday mode without surrendering your peace to Mariah Carey. Take kids, take a date, or just sneak out solo and let Gonzo narrate you into nostalgia.
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Paul Reed: A Retrospective – Oklahoma City Museum of Art
Sat., Nov. 22 · 7 p.m. opening night · Gallery opening
If you’ve been craving something visually big, bright, and legitimately exciting, this is the one. Paul Reed’s work lives somewhere between mid-century precision and acid-trip geometry, and the OKCMOA retrospective is a major get – the first devoted to the artist. Opening night will definitely draw the zhuzhed art crowd in black jackets, bold frames, and a few silverbacks in bolos, but go anyway!
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If you’re getting up to some interesting, fun or weird stuff this weekend, let’s hear about it in the comments.
