Sacul Fall Fest
Sporting everything from monster trucks to hand-made quilts, the annual Sacul Folk Festival on Sept. 23 is expected to be bigger and better, organizers say.
The Folk Festival begins with a parade featuring the Cushing High School Bearkat band and cheerleaders, antique tractors, floats and horses. This year’s parade begins at 9 a.m.
The festival follows and include booths, a cake walk, Bingo, live entertainment, a kids play and splash zone, antique car and tractor show plus a hand sewn quilt raffle.
At the junction of Texas Highway 204 and FM 1648, Sacul is home to about 170 residents.
Its folk festival — which raises funds for the community center and volunteer fire department — is its largest annual gathering.
Typical attendance is about 500, though last year the heat put a damper on things, Bible said.
“It was about 130 in the shade,” she said, “and we still pulled in about 300.”
This year’s event has drawn five sponsors: Harry’s Building Supply, Cottage Wine Bar, Joe’s Plumbing, What the Fork Cafe and Millard’s Crossing.
Booths include the Cottage Wine Bar, Nacogdoches Cigar Co. and Burgess Forge. Specialty vendors will offer tools and fishing gear.
“We’re going to have a lot of things for the guys this year,” Bible said.
After the festival winds up at about 4 p.m., musicians begin gathering for a jam session near Highway 204 and Main Street, with the Sacul Bluegrass Opry beginning at 6 p.m. The concert is free, but donations for building upkeep will be accepted.
For those too tired to catch the bluegrass performance, the Sacul Opry is held every second and fourth Saturday of the month featuring musicians from the area.
“It’s a three-hour bluegrass concert. It’s a lot of fun,” Bible said.
But a key part of the community event will be missing this year. Lifetime Sacul resident and longtime festival volunteer Novis White died April 29.
White had helped organize the community’s first parade in the mid-1980s and remained involved until last year’s event. Shortly before her death, she’d asked volunteers to ensure the festival would continue.
“So here I am,” said Lauren Bible, 2023 festival co-chair and Sacul resident for the past eight years.
Date and Time
Saturday Sep 23, 2023
