OKMULGEE – Oskē could not stop the inaugural Festival Car Show from featuring an array of classic and modern cars, motorcycles, and trucks. The show took place at the Safe Space Facility parking lot on Saturday, June 6. The top-voted vehicles in each category took home cash prizes.
The family-friendly event featured food trucks and vehicles from Tribal departments. MCN Lighthorse brought their tactical armored vehicle, Terradyne, along with parade motorcycles. MCN Emergency Management brought their drone truck. A kids’ choice tent allowed kids to vote for their favorite vehicles. Each voter received a prize.
Muscogee (Creek) Nation Fleet Operations Supervisor Derek Powell (Mvskoke) served as the car show coordinator. Powell enjoys car shows; one of his favorites is the Sapulpa Route 66 Blowout. He remarked that this year’s show saw a good range of older and newer vehicles. He particularly enjoys the atmosphere found at car shows.
“Everything’s upbeat and going,” Powell said. “Everybody is just out looking at cars and enjoying nice vehicles. Usually, we see a lot of families out there. Kids enjoying vehicles, it’s nice having younger generations enjoy vehicles as well.”
Steve Perry and Kim Perry (Cherokee) were two of the registrants at this year’s car show. The couple has been married for 40 years and is now retired. They started showing cars in 2021. They have shown cars in Texas, Missouri, and Arkansas. This year, Steve Perry showed a red 1930 Ford Coupe.
“It’s got a four-inch chop on it. It’s got a 350 Brodix motor, all aluminum. It has a 650 blower and two 750 Holly carburetors, and it puts about 850 horsepower to the back tire. It runs pretty good. It’s a lot of fun,” Steve Perry said.
Kim Perry showed a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro, a car that was hard to miss in blue with white stripes. According to Kim Perry, her car just had new parts installed. It features 500 horsepower at the rear wheels.
“I have a 454 Big Block in it. I just redid my trunk. It’s Leman’s Blue,” Kim Perry said.
Powell remarked that organizing the car show took a lot of hard work. Despite the stress, Powell said it was an honor to host the first car show during a major anniversary.
“It’s been a lot of work, but being the first, it’s been a joy to do. It’s been fun, it’s been stressful, but being able to do the first car show at the 50th Festival anniversary means a lot,” Powell said.
The Festival Car Show is not the only car show that will be featured during the Festival this year. The Rez Car Contest is scheduled for Saturday, June 20, from 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. at the Claude Cox Omniplex. That event will exclusively feature Native American car owners showing beat-up four-wheel vehicles. It will also feature cash prizes for first, second, and third place.
The list of this year’s winners of the Festival Car Show is below.
2026 Festival Car Show Winners
Cars
- Dennis Bible – 1985 Chevrolet Camaro IROC Z28
- Dee Russell – 1957 Ford Thunderbird
- Shane Holuby – 1989 Ford Mustang
Trucks/4×4
- Keith Barnett – 1967 Chevrolet Pickup
- Brad & Penny Neal – 1970 Ford Bronco Sport
- Billy Farned – 2017 Ram 2500
Motorcycles
- Mark & Tamera Hale – 2018 Harley Softtail
- Jon Deere – 2024 Kawasaki KLX300
- Iyla Jean Bowles – 2025 Indian Tike
