Arts Festival A Go Despite Downtown OKC Construction

Jon Jordan, News 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The area surrounding the Myriad Gardens in downtown Oklahoma City is a maze of closed streets and construction cones, but that won't stop several upcoming events, including the annual Festival of the Arts from going off as planned.

The Festival of the Arts event draws more than 700,000 people each year. To make the popular event happen, crews have been working around the clock to make sure most of the construction in the area is complete by the time the festival begins April 26.

"We've pretty much come full circle," said Andrea French, the Public Affairs Liaison for Project 180. "The end of last year's festival kicked off the beginning of the construction and now we are seeing it beginning to open [around the Myriad Gardens]."

French says there will still be some crews working in the area, but streets should be open to handle the extra traffic.

The city isn't just preparing for the Festival of the Arts, but other big events such as Thunder playoff games and the much-anticipated Memorial Marathon.

Since the Arts Festival started in 1967 the event has only been canceled once. Organizers scrapped the event in 1995, after the Oklahoma City bombing.

Learn more about the Festival of the Arts in downtown Oklahoma City.

Learn more about the construction downtown as part of Project 180

Learn more about parking options in downtown Oklahoma City