2026 Ozark Heritage Festival set
Tue, 07/28/2026 - 1:05pm
admin
The 2026 Ozarks Heritage Festival in downtown West Plains, Mo., will be held Friday and Saturday, Oct. 16 and 17, 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. The annual two-day event in and around the West Plains Civic Center, celebrates Ozarks music and culture.
The festival seeks to celebrate, preserve, pass on and nurture an appreciation of the traditional music and folk life traditions distinctive to the Ozark Highlands. Admission to all festival events is free.
Organizers announce this year’s event will feature increased programming of music, dance, lifeways, and arts. Music will begin at noon each day and continue through the end of the headliner performance which begins at 7:00 p.m. Returning will be old favorites and new - the quilt show sponsored by Gammill Sewing Center, the Mule Jump sponsored by Hirsch Feed and Farm Supply, the pie competition sponsored by David Evans and a new activity, animals from the Springfield Zoo, sponsored by Travis Smith. More information on the entire event is available on the festival website http://Ozarkheritagefestival.com
VOLUNTEERS – Volunteers come from many different areas of the community, donating their time to assure a successful event, and the festival committee spends many hours during the year preparing for it. Volunteers are needed for the information booths and helping with simple surveys; helping with set-up on Thursday evening and Friday morning, or tear-down on Saturday evening.
Those interested in helping in any way should contact volunteer coordinator Stacey Tune, 949-887-4185, or sign-up online via the link on the festival website http://Ozarkheritagefestival.com
2026 Festival partners include the West Plains Council on the Arts, the City of West Plains, the Ozark Heritage Welcome Center, West Plains Civic Center, and Missouri State University-West Plains. Partial funding for this event is provided by the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency. Additional support has been provided by Missouri Humanities.
For more information on the festival e-mail info@westplainsarts.org, visit the website at Ozark Heritage Festival OR http://Ozarkheritagefestival.com or Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Old.Time.Music.Festival