Bluegrass And Chili Festival's Impact On Local Businesses, Economy

The City of Wagoner said the Bluegrass and Chili Festival has brought in $500,000 to $1 million in the past. They said this year could be even bigger.

The festival features live music, food, and entertainment for the whole family. Mayor Albert Jones said the festival is an event not only benefiting the city of Wagoner, but the rest of Oklahoma as well.

“Oklahoma is the only in the United State where cities rely solely on sales tax. With that great influx of people here, they’re not only here at the festival supporting it, but they are also eating locally, shopping locally. So, all those sales tax(sic) are definitely significant and they are very impactful for this community," Jones said.

Howard and Lynn Holloway and their Grandson Tanner, are food truck vendors. It's the first time they've brought their truck, "Star Bar's," which makes sweets, to an event. They said the festival has been welcoming, and a lot of people came to see them.

"We had to make a big order before we got to come down here. So, we showed up and hopefully we got enough in the next day to entertain the people," Holloway said.

Mayor Jones said more than 30,000 people are expected to attend the event, which will help not only local restaurants and stores, but hotels as well.

“We counted them, there were about 35 different states in America when we counted them that were represented here when we were walking through the parking lots. So, great state impact not just from local people here, but from all over the United States come here and they’ll stay here the whole week," Jones said.

The Bluegrass and Chili Festival will run until 11 p.m. Friday night and resume at 11 a.m. Saturday morning.