Bricktown will turn into a sprawling, free-to-roam concert grounds next Saturday, September 12, when the inaugural Bandwagon: Bricktown Music Fest takes over the district from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. Nearly 50 artists are booked across two outdoor stages and more than 20 participating venues, with genres ranging from rock, hip hop and country to reggae, DJ sets, urban Latin and reggaeton.
The festival is designed to be walkable and entirely free, according to KFOR, with attendees encouraged to wander between restaurants and bars while catching live sets throughout the afternoon and evening. The Main Stage, set up at 1 N. Oklahoma Ave., will be headlined by Heath Wright, lead singer of Ricochet, backed by the Oklahoma Opry Band, with additional sets from Jabee, Mariachi Orgullo de América, Souled Out, Bossa Collective, Ken Pomeroy and the OKC Thunder Drummers. Across the district, the Canal Stage — situated along the Bricktown Canal across from Charleston’s Restaurant — will host From A to Z Music, Mighty Green, Beau Jennings & the Tigers, Chase Kirby, Eric Himan and Diva.
A District Built on Music History
Rob Greenleaf, Bricktown district manager for the Downtown Oklahoma City Partnership, said the festival is intended to highlight Bricktown’s music history and its future, per KFOR’s reporting. That framing draws on a legacy stretching back decades before the district’s canal-front bars and restaurants existed. Bricktown’s musical roots trace to the historic Douglass High School, where legendary Black educator Zelia Breaux mentored pioneering jazz guitarist Charlie Christian and blues vocalist Jimmy Rushing, according to Visit Oklahoma City.
That history is embedded in the district’s physical footprint today. The $34 million Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, which opened in 1998 as part of the city’s MAPS program, was built directly on the former Douglass High School site, according to Bricktown OKC. Oklahoma City has also formally named several Bricktown streets after local music legends, including Charlie Christian Boulevard, Vince Gill Avenue, Wanda Jackson Way, Kings of Leon Way and Flaming Lips Alley, the latter dedicated in October 2007 despite some initial local controversy, per Atlas Obscura.
Canal-Front Growth and a Music School’s New Home
The Canal Stage sits beside one of Bricktown’s signature features: the mile-long Bricktown Canal, completed in July 1999 for $23 million as part of the voter-approved MAPS penny sales tax initiative, according to the City of Oklahoma City. The canal remains the district’s main pedestrian corridor and a backdrop for the festival’s outdoor programming…