The Woody Guthrie Folk Festival is held annually in mid-July to commemorate the life and music of Woody Guthrie. The festival is held on the weekend closest to July 14 – the date of Guthrie’s birth – in Guthrie’s hometown of Okemah, Oklahoma.

The festival is planned and implemented annually by the Woody Guthrie Coalition, a non-profit corporation, whose goal is simply to ensure Guthrie’s musical legacy. The event is made possible in part by a grant from the Oklahoma Arts Council.

The festival, which over the years has morphed into being called WoodyFest by attendees, was founded in 1998 and the inaugural festival included performances by Guthrie’s son Arlo Guthrie, British folk-punk-rock artist Billy Bragg, Ellis Paul, Jimmy LaFave, Joel Rafael, and The Red Dirt Rangers. For the festival’s founding, the Woody Guthrie Coalition commissioned a local Creek Indian sculptor to cast a full-body bronze statue of Guthrie and his guitar, complete with the guitar’s well-known inscription: “This machine kills fascists.”The statue, sculpted by artist Dan Brook, stands along Okemah’s main street – named Broadway – in the heart of downtown Okemah.

WoodyFest Auction 2023