Like many events, the 2020 edition of the Watonga Cheese Festival was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. But the festival is returning this October, and organizers are already beginning the exciting buildup with a contest to see who will design this year’s official festival T-shirt.
Dayla Luetkemeyer, director of the Watonga Chamber of Commerce, is one of the key festival organizers. She said the T-shirt contest originated in 2019, when the theme was “Okie Made.”
“We didn’t have many rules or anything like that,” Luetkemeyer said, adding that participants are encouraged to simply follow the theme and be creative. “They basically just used their imagination.”
The winning design by Katie Simmons featured a black coyote, to honor Watonga’s namesake, howling at a moon made of cheese.
This year, the festival theme will be “Lucky To Be Back,” nodding to the festival’s return as well as the opening of the Lucky Star Hotel & Casino in Watonga.
The casino broke ground in 2019 on a major expansion that grew the gaming floor and added a restaurant, conference center and fivestory hotel.
“So they’ll take that theme and they’ll somehow incorporate it into a T-shirt design,” Luetkemeyer said. That’s the only rule – keep the shirt on theme.
Those interested in participating can submit designs to thebigcheese1976@gmail.com. The deadline for submissions is June 1, and the winner will be contacted on June 15.
The winner will receive a $50 prize and a complimentary T-shirt, Luetkemeyer said.
The 2021 Watonga Cheese Festival is scheduled for Oct. 8 and 9. The festival began in 1976, and although the Watonga Cheese Factory relocated to Texas after Tropical Storm Erin struck in 2007, it continues to celebrate the town’s cheesy history (almost) every year to this day.