Enjoy a Memorial Day weekend of family-friendly Western entertainment and authentic chuck wagon cooking at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum's 19th annual Chuck Wagon Gathering and Children's Cowboy Festival.
Chuck wagon crews will prepare cowboy favorites like beef stew, beans, cobbler and biscuits for guests to eat. The festival features 10 chuck wagons from states like Texas and New Mexico.
"It is an opportunity for kids, families, grandparents, everybody to bring out their kids," said Shayla Simpson, a museum spokeswoman. "It gives the museum an opportunity to showcase our heritage."
The event features two stages that will host an Old West Medicine Show and Western performers like Don Edwards and Devon Dawson, who provided the singing voice of Jesse the Cowgirl in the film "Toy Story 2." Kids can participate in leather- and rope-making, take pony and stagecoach rides, hear cowboy storytellers and more.
"We've got people who come in from 15 to 20 different states," Simpson said. "There are music festivals all over, but the one thing we've stayed true to is to make it a children's festival, so you can bring your family. The kids have things to do "¦ let them really learn how to love this culture."
The festival is 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 N.E. 63rd. Tickets include museum admission and are $14 for adults, $5 for children under 12 and free for museum members. For more information, call 478-2250.
"Caitlin Harrison
