Okra will once again take center stage when Promise of Peace hosts its annual Okrapalooza food and music festival Sept. 6 at The Venue at Cope Ranch.
The event will run from 1 to 4 p.m. and feature approximately 10 chefs creating original dishes built around the festival’s namesake ingredient, along with live music, children’s activities, a silent auction and other attractions.
For Elizabeth Dry of Promise of Peace, however, Okrapalooza is about more than finding new ways to cook a familiar Southern vegetable.
The festival is entering its 17th year, and Dry said its purpose has always been rooted in bringing people together around food and community.
“Part of planning for Okrapalooza is connecting with hearts that care, because that sets the vibe,” Dry said.
That philosophy extends to the chefs and musicians participating in the event. Dry said several of the chefs have personal connections to food insecurity and share Promise of Peace’s interest in putting fresh, nutritious food on children’s plates.
Guests can expect the chefs to push far beyond traditional fried okra.
Over the years, Okrapalooza competitors have created dishes ranging from pork and okra kabobs to okra focaccia and biscuits served with peach marmalade, prosciutto and pickled okra.
Dry said no recipe has been repeated during the festival’s 17-year history.
“You will experience dishes you never even thought you could do with okra,” she said.
Rather than assigning recipes, organizers give participating chefs room to create something entirely their own.
“You don’t tell Matisse what they have to paint,” Dry said. “They create something that’s never been created before, so don’t limit them.”
Guests will be able to sample the dishes and vote for a People’s Choice winner using handmade okra-themed voting coins.
Chef David Anthony Temple, known as Chef DAT, is among those expected to participate. Temple is known for his underground dining events in Dallas and has become one of the personalities associated with Okrapalooza.
The afternoon will also include live music from Katie Wallace and Meredith Crawford.
Beyond the chef competition, organizers are expanding the event’s silent auction through a “Delicious Destinations” theme highlighting communities throughout Wood County.
Gift certificates and items from around the county will be grouped into packages designed to give bidders a taste of local places, attractions and experiences.
“The auction itself will be kind of a journey through Wood County,” Dry said.
Families will also find activities designed for younger visitors. Children under 12 will be admitted free, and plans include face painting, horseshoe games, flower crowns and flower arranging.
A butterfly tent will give children an opportunity to experience butterflies among flowering plants while also learning about their role as pollinators.
A community table will offer foods in addition to the featured okra tastings, while festival merchandise will feature Okrapalooza artwork by Cathy Pegues.
BackStory Brewery of Sulphur Springs is expected to provide beer, with wine from Kiepersol Estates.
This year marks Okrapalooza’s second year at Cope Ranch and its third year since the event moved to the Mineola area. It was previously held at the Mineola Nature Preserve.
While the setting has changed over the years, Dry said the connections made during the festival remain its defining feature.
“There’s a lot of love happening,” she said. “The connections that are made at Okrapalooza are very strong.”
Dry said she often overhears guests discovering that someone else at the festival shares an idea, interest or goal they have been considering.

“Those two people are going to meet, and maybe that dream is going to blossom,” she said.
Proceeds from Okrapalooza will help support Promise of Peace’s educational and farm-to-school work at Sunshine Acres, including crops being grown for Mineola ISD cafeterias, gardening tools and gloves for students, educational materials and the organization’s Soup It Forward meal-kit program.
Tickets are available online through Eventbrite and may also be purchased directly through Promise of Peace at its Saturday farm store, which is currently open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Dry said tickets purchased directly at the farm do not include the online service charge.
For ticket information, Dry may be reached at 214-240-9220.