The 47th annual Watonga Cheese Festival is getting ready to hit the streets and it promises to be a jam-packed weekend.
The opening ceremony will take place at 12:30 at Centennial Park. This will include a special dedication ceremony as well. All venues will open at 1 p.m.
The winners of the cheese poster contest will be announced at 4 p.m. at Centennial Park. Venues remain open until 5 p.m., including the art show at Oasis Church.
That evening at 7, the Watonga Eagles will play the Hinton Comets in football at Hinton.
Bright and early the next morning, Saturday, runners can register for the Great Rat Race beginning at 8 a.m. by signing up at the police station at Weigle and Second St., in the old city hall building. There are really three races, a 1 mile, 5K and a 10K. The first 75 runners to register receive a free Cheese Festival t-shirt.
The race will take off at 9 a.m. Noble House.
When asking for suggestions to improve the festival, some citizens expressed a desire for rides. This year those rides are on tap, beginning at 9 a.m. They are free of charge, courtesy of Love’s in honor of that company’s 60th anniversary. The kid’s zone will include a petting zoo, rock wall and zipline as well as other rides and fun activities for the littles.
A lso kicking off at 9 a.m. is the entertainment, beginning with Kristyn Hightower, followed by TLC dancers. Each event is in Centennial Park.
Speaking of littles, there will be a pedal pull for kids ages 4-12. Sign ups begin at 1 p.m. in front of the Armory. The pedal pull is sponsored by Atlas Fitness.
The annual Cheese Festival parade will wind down Noble beginning at noon.
Cecil Gray Native American Blues band will hit the stage at Centennial Park at noon as well.
The fun keeps on churning as more than 50 vendors and food trucks will line the streets and fill the armory.
There will be a cheese tasting line and a cheese food contest. Over in the armory, the Kiwanis will be selling the namesake of the festival, Watonga Cheese.
And even when the festival shuts down at 5 p.m. (6 p.m. for food trucks) for the night, there is still more going on.
Over at the Blaine County Fairgrounds, a ranch rodeo is going on. A little different than traditional rodeo, many of these events are team participation.
The Cheese Festival is sure to be a busy one for the town. Not only is there the festival going on, but there is also a cross country meet in Watonga and some of those teams are bound to want to take in Main Street while they are in town. The forecast is for not a chance of rain and high temperatures of 8788 degrees.
“We’re hoping for falllike weather,” said City Manager Karrie Beth Little. “It is a fall festival.”
Little also noted the event couldn’t happen without a lot of people helping out.
“Our sponsors are essential to the success of the Cheese Festival. And there are plenty of people in the community who are working to better the community. We really appreciate all the volunteers who participated in this planning journey.”
Some of those sponsors include Loves, Bank7, and Lucky Star Casino at the platinum level, which indicates a donation of $5,000 or more.
Devon Energy, Mercy Healthcare and First State Bank are also staunch supporters at the gold level, which is $2,500 or more.
Wheeler Brothers never misses an opportunity to promote Watonga, and sponsored at the silver level, which is $1,500 or more.
Cimmaron Electric and the Watonga Motel were in at the bronze level, indicating a donation of $1,000 or more and Pioneer, Steve Poulson/Edward Jones, State Farm/Mary Lee Jones, Atlas Fitness, B&W Ready Mix, the Plant Place and Blaine County Home and Community Education all chipped in at the diamond level, for donations of $500 or more.
Each year the planning committee has t-shirts made to mark the Cheese Festival. This year the shirts carry the slogan – Cheese More in ’24 on the front on a black background and the Love’s logo on the back with the tagline ‘We Love Watonga,’ commemorating the start of the business here some 60 years ago. For more information or to purchase a tshirt, contact city hall.