Volunteers Hard At Work Ahead Of This Year's Mayfest

With severe weather being a strong possibility for Saturday, Mayfest volunteers are hard at work getting ready for Fridays start.

The three day arts and music festival is no stranger to bad weather. Organizers told News On 6, they're prepared for whatever comes their way.

With thousands of people excepted here throughout the Arts District over the next several days and with storms in the forecast, organizers tell News On 6, if need be they can evacuate the site in about five to ten minutes.

On the eve of the iconic music and arts festival, Mayfest is gearing up for its 46th year.

"We are really really excited to be here in the Tulsa Arts District and Historic Greenwood and are just so thrilled with the welcome that we have received in the area as well,” said Executive Director Heather Pingry.

The three day festival is changing some things this year, like getting rid of coupons for drinks and food and almost doubling the amount of artists participating.

"We've got the addition of 80 local artists this year and we've typically had about 100 artists that come from all around the country we have those as well," said Pingry.

But besides the food, music and fun, organizers are also gearing up for the possibility of severe weather on Saturday. To start the festival is using an emergency alert texting system.

“We use for our artists our volunteers the media to let people know in the case of emergency closure for any reason most of the time which is weather related," said Pingry.

Festival staff will be monitoring the weather, Tulsa Police Officers will be on site and there is an evacuation plan in place.

"Fortunately and unfortunately have put it to the test several time so we are really good at evacuating the site," said Pingry.

Artists told News On 6 while they are not concerned, they are ready.

"I have a tent I have water barrels I'm ready to go I can with stand the wind," said Artist Kevin Frosch.

"All of my stuff is sealed so I'm not concerned about that. If it gets real windy or stormy I'll just drop the sides," said Artist Jim Harris.

As the festival gets ready to kick off Friday morning.