About the Dancing Rabbit Music Festival

The Dancing Rabbit Music Festival is a free outdoor music event. It is made up of a series of live concerts held in downtown McAlester, Oklahoma. After the success of our first festival in the summer of 2021, we realized one season just wasn’t enough. So, we added another in the fall. Now, when we say DRMF, we mean a summer season made up of three Saturdays and a fall season of a single Saturday. Summer kicks off with a Saturday in May, then one in June, and ends with a Saturday in July. The fall season is made up of a single Saturday in November.

Each festival Saturday is held outside on an open-air stage. No Saturday is ever the same as each has a unique artist that keeps the sounds of the festival interesting and entertaining. Every event is free, there’s always food, and with the local hospitality of the city of McAlester, you always feel welcomed.

Our roster of artists has included: Jason Boland and the Stragglers, Hellogoodbye, Flobots, Stroke 9, Shawn Mullins, John Moreland, Charlie Parr, John Fullbright, Band of Heathens, and Parker Millsap. The festival day typically begins around 12 p.m. with opening acts taking the stage around 5 p.m. Each festival has unique activities, so be sure to check the individual event pages and our social media for details beforehand!

The headliner(s) perform at sunset each festival Saturday.

The Dancing Rabbit Music Festival began in 2021. The festival derives its name from the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, which first established the Choctaw Reservation in Oklahoma. Our organization and festival celebrate the heritage that allows us to be here at this time. The forced removal of the Choctaw people was abhorrent and that removal, along with the conditions under which it occurred, is not part of our celebration. Dancing Rabbit Creek in Mississippi was the site where the treaty that created the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma was signed, and we pay homage to that last place the Choctaw Nation existed in Mississippi and the creation of this place. The Dancing Rabbit is also the name of the yearbook published annually by McAlester Public Schools. From local yearbooks to a half-dozen area creeks called “Dancing Rabbit”, from a music festival to the name of the avenue where we gather to celebrate our community – we all honor the establishment and heritage of the Choctaw Nation in Oklahoma without endorsing the manner in which it was created.

DRMF is operated by the Dancing Rabbit Music Association – a disparate group of live-music-loving individuals who are local business owners and community leaders. Although the association hopes to bring a broad selection of entertainers to southeast Oklahoma, our hope is to also attract more tourists and fans to McAlester and southeast Oklahoma to showcase and feature the city that we love, and all of the great local businesses and attractions in the region.

For more information on becoming a sponsor, a festival volunteer or a DRMF artist, contact us.