FC Tulsa Embraces Mayfest For Match Against Pittsburgh Riverhounds

Mayfest kicks off on Friday and FC Tulsa is getting in on the action as part of this week's match. Team Creative Director Victor Schwanke joined News On 6 at Noon to talk about what they have planned.

Reagan: Well, we see the jersey right here come a little bit about why the team planned to do this. Yeah.

Schwanke: So our motto at FC Tulsa is "For Tulsa" and everything that we do sort of stems from that. We want to exist at the intersection of Art, Sport, and community and just tell really interesting hyperlocal stories about Tulsa. And Mayfest is one of the marquee events in Tulsa. And, you know, it seemed like a great alignment to tell a story through jersey.

Reagan: So what kind of the story is behind the design?

Schwanke: Yeah, so the story behind the design. The Dragons represent strength, wisdom, prosperity, and it's designed by a local artist. Her name is Dan Lim Pham. She was born in Vietnam. And yeah, she just wanted to tell a really bold story that you know, matched up with the really art-forward energy of of Mayfest, and I think she did a fantastic job. Part of the thing she wanted to do is, you know, tell those stories of you know, strength, wisdom, prosperity, and have the players bring that on the field and take that into their match tomorrow night at 730. That's awesome.

Reagan: That's awesome. This jersey thing has become kind of a big deal. You guys rep different jerseys to represent different things in the city. Talk a little bit about that and why that's so important.

Schwanke: You know, telling diverse stories, unique stories that are specifically Tulsan is something that we're really passionate about. And we've been doing through jerseys for the past couple of years, and we're just really excited to continue doing that and really center different voices around the city.

Reagan: I feel like the sports teams, they can really make an impact because they're seen by a lot of people

Schwanke: Yeah, yeah. And you know, the reception for all these jerseys has been amazing. You know, whether it's a Crybaby Hill, Tulsa Tough jersey, whether it's Mayfest jersey, or the things like Vamos Tulsa, or Oktoberfest, you know, we just really love the energetic bold design and in telling those stories.

Reagan: So speaking of bold design, I've got myself a scarf that you gave me. So how can people get their hands on a scarf, or poster, or jersey?

Schwanke: Yeah ShopFCTulsa.com is where you can get all this merch and we'll also be out at in front of one oak field at the main gate tomorrow, starting at noon, all the way up till kickoff at 7:30 We'll have a live printing in collaboration with printed theory as well with really unique Mayfest designs, and we'll have this merch out there as well.

Reagan: There's got to be something that fans really get jazzed up about.

Schwanke: Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's it's it's really fun to be able to do this, you know, almost on a monthly basis.

FC Tulsa and Pittsburgh Riverhounds Saturday night, 7:30 at Oneok Field.