A countywide effort brings the Strawberry Festival to life

By Glenda Graves, Communications Specialist

While the Stilwell Strawberry Festival may feel like a single weekend celebration, its roots and its reach extend far beyond city limits. The festival has always been as much about community collaboration as it is about strawberries.

“People sometimes think, ‘How could a town this size host something that draws this many people?’” said Dan Collins, secretary of the Kiwanis Club of Stilwell, Okla., which puts on the event. “But it’s not just Stilwell. This festival belongs to all of Adair County. There are organizations, schools, churches and volunteers from all over the county who help make it happen.”

Each year in the second week in May, more than 20,000 visitors pour into Stilwell for the festival from around Adair County and beyond, a number that continues to surprise first-time attendees. From local music performances and school talent showcases to the rodeo and downtown festivities, Strawberry Festival weekend is designed to celebrate both tradition and togetherness.

“Our county has real economic challenges,” Collins said. “So anytime we can create opportunities to support kids, families and local organizations, that’s a win for everyone.”

The Stilwell Strawberry Festival was founded in 1948 by the Kiwanis Club to showcase the county’s strawberry growers and celebrate the agricultural backbone of the community.

“Back then, strawberries were being shipped out by rail in 50-gallon barrels to markets all over the country,” Collins said.

**“This festival belongs to all of Adair County. There are organizations, schools, churches and volunteers from all over the county who help make it happen.”**

**Dan Collins,** Secretary of the Kiwanis Club of Stilwell

Not long after the festival’s start, the Strawberry Queen pageant was added as another way to honor the families and labor behind the berry fields. The winner of the pageant earns a $1,000 scholarship and spends the next year representing Stilwell, from speaking in schools to delivering strawberries to the state capitol.

Over time, both the festival and the contest have evolved, but the mission has remained the same. Today, Kiwanis remains responsible for organizing the festival, from coordinating vendors to managing logistics, a major undertaking for the roughly 40 members of the club.

“It’s a huge task,” Collins said. “This one event is our primary fundraiser for the entire year, and the success of the festival allows us to fund thousands of dollars in programs for children throughout Adair County.”

Economically, the Strawberry Festival provides a vital boost for local growers, even as strawberry farming has become increasingly challenging.

“It’s a very labor-intensive operation,” Collins said. “Over the years, we’ve lost some growers simply because of age and the physical demands of the work. And yet, every year, we still sell out of strawberries.”

Former local strawberry grower Jeff Collyge says the demands of strawberry farming are one reason so few growers remain today.

“The work is hard — and fewer people want to do it anymore,” Collyge said. “When I was growing up around Stilwell, there was a strawberry patch, a milk barn and a chicken house on nearly every corner. At one time, there were thousands of acres of strawberries here. Today, it’s less than 10.”

Even with improvements in plant varieties and growing methods, the work still requires constant attention. “When you’re dealing with a live plant, so much is out of your control,” Collyge said. “It’s all hands-on work, and that’s one reason it’s getting harder to find people willing to do it.”

Demand, however, continues to outpace supply. “The ones you see in the grocery store might be big, red and pretty, but when you cut them open they’re often white inside,” Collyge said. “The berries we grow here in Stilwell are red from the outside all the way to the center, and they’re the best thing you’ve ever put in your mouth.”

“If there’s one thing we wish we could do,” Collins said with a laugh, “it’s figure out how to get more strawberries.” Beyond agriculture, the festival fuels a wide range of local organizations. For Kiwanis, the festival is the sole fundraiser supporting youth-focused initiatives countywide.

“We award scholarships to the queen and runners-up, but we also cover mileage for practices so no one is excluded because of finances,” Collins said. “We even maintain a collection of donated dresses so that every girl who wants to participate can.”

The ultimate measure of success for the Strawberry Festival and the Stilwell community is the experience visitors take home with them. “We want people to leave feeling like they were part of something special,” Collins said.

After more than two decades of involvement, Collins said the festival still surprises him in the best way. “We’ve had very few years where weather caused major problems, and we’ve managed to keep this tradition going,” he said. “As long as we can keep doing that and keep finding strawberries, we’ll keep moving forward.”

The love for Stilwell strawberries starts young. Alivia Davis, Arden Davis, Asa Davis, Nora Felice, Carson Salomon and Caleb Felice enjoy the 2025 festival. (Photo by Andy Massie.)