SAND SPRINGS -- New Orleans has Mardi Gras and Conway, Ark., has
Toad Suck Daze. But in Sand Springs, the big event is the Labor Day
Weekend Festival.

This year's event will follow in the grand tradition of past
festivals with a wide array of family activities.
`The attendance should be a lot higher than past years because the
children's area has been expanded and Eddy Raven is holding a free
Sunday evening concert,` said Patty Massey, special events coordinator.
Other attractions will include carnival rides, stage
entertainment, truck and tractor pulls, an arts-and-crafts fair,
horseshoe tournament and rodeo.

Carnival rides will run 6 - 10 p.m., Wednesday. The carnival will
be open 6 - 11 p.m. Thursday and Friday and noon to midnight
Saturday and Sunday. Thursday is KVOO Pay One Price Carnival Night.
Prices this night will be $8 to ride all rides.
Stage entertainment begins Thursday night with Allison Pultz of
Newkirk, followed by Tulsa's own `Mesa.` Friday night will feature
performances by Telegraph Road and Audio Rodeo, both bands are from
the Tulsa area.

Saturday's entertainment begins at noon with the Sand Springs
Community Choir, Larry Spears, Telegraph Road and Audio Rodeo.
Sunday will wind down the weekend with Larry Spears, The Smokehouse
Band, Oklahoma Territorial Gunslingers, Mesa and Eddy Raven.
KVOO will again host the annual rodeo Friday and Saturday. Rodeo
events will include bronc riding, barrel racing, roping and bull
riding. Cost is $4 for adults and $2 for children.
Free tickets for the Friday rodeo are available at Drysdales in
Tulsa or at both Subways in Sand Springs.

A special children's area will be in place from noon to 6 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday. `Kid's Fest` will offer free stage
entertainment including a talent contest, magician Bradini, the
Sunshine Generation, Oklahoma Territorial Gunslingers, the Chin
Family and karate demonstrations.

An in-line hockey area with competitions and games will be set up
both days. Children are invited to bring their pogs and slammers to
play with or swap.

Other activities will include marble games, a `brick` building,
face painting, a sandbox, the `purple dinosaur` and ball card booths.
The Arts and Crafts Fair will be in place throughout the weekend
offering everything from paintings and quilts to woodcrafts.
The Green Country Tractor Pullers Association will host a truck
and tractor pull at 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The tractors will
range from 900-pound garden tractors to 2,800-pound mini-trucks.
Admission is $4 for adults and $2 for children.

The Sand Springs Sertoma Club will present its fifth annual
horseshoe tournament on Saturday. The entry fee is $5 per person.
Registration begins at 10 a.m. This is not a sanctioned event.
For additional information on any of the Labor Day Weekend
festival events, contact 245-2248.