Free for all

The best things in life (and in Tulsa) don't cost a dime. We present 100+ cost-free things to see and do in Tulsa from now until the beginning of summer.

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JUNE

June 1 // Visit the restored Frisco 4500 Steam Engine, passenger car, caboose, and oil derrick (look up – sucker’s 194 feet tall, and it’s the historic site of the oil strike that made Tulsa the “Oil Capital of the World”) at the Route 66 Village, found along historic Southwest Boulevard in west Tulsa.

June 2 // Tulsa’s water playgrounds and splash pads – there are 29 of them in all, almost one for every day of the month – switch on the weekend before Memorial Day. Berry Pool and Whiteside Pool, both free and open to the public, open today.

June 3 // Rub elbows with amateurs and legends alike at one of the monthly meetings of the Route 66 Harmonica Club, which meets on the first Tuesday of every month at the Western Country Diner, 1905 S. Sheridan Road. Sometimes the meetings convene instead at The Dusty Dog, 51st and Harvard, when blues and jazz hall of famer Jimmy Jr. Markham hosts a jam, open to all. (A full-year membership to the club is $10.) 

June 4 // New issue of The Tulsa Voice! After you pick up your copy, head to midtown to give it a read at the feet of the Tulsa Driller, the 76-foot landmark watching as a sentinel over the Expo Center, what’s said to be one of the largest clearspan buildings in the world.

June 5 // On one hand, you could get twee with Booksmart Tulsa as part of The Wes Anderson Experience event, an evening dedicated to the work of the filmmaker behind “The Royal Tenenbaums” and “Moonrise Kingdom.” On the other, there’s the spectrum that is the Brookside Rumble & Roll, a parade of bikers benefitting Make-A-Wish Oklahoma that starts at the TU Reynolds Center that erupts into a street party on Peoria between 33rd and 36th Streets.

June 6 // Sit in on a free showing of “D-Day Remembered,” a 54-minute documentary screening offered free at Circle Cinema, 10 S. Lewis, in memory of the lives lost and as thanks to the veterans who served. 6 p.m.

June 7 // Start the day with chrome and classic cars at Route 66 Blowout in Sapulpa. Then, head northeast on Route 66 to downtown Tulsa for the June edition of the Blue Dome Music Series, a set of small concerts featuring Tulsa’s top acts in some of our hippest locales every first Saturday. If you’re in the mood for a road trip, consider the opening-night festivities at the 2014 OK Mozart music festival in Bartlesville; closer to home, there’s the Asian American Festival, a day of free music and performances in celebration of Asian culture, at Martin Regional Library.

June 8 // Who says you have to sit on the sidelines if you don’t have thighs of steel or a fancy bike when the Tulsa Tough Ride and Race comes to town? Register for the Tulsa Townie, an easy-going, 8-mile trek for the rest of us. And there’s always Crybaby Hill, now a proud Tulsa tradition where the only price of admission is the biggest, loudest cowbell you can find.

June 9 // Head north on Highway 75 for the OK Mozart music festival in Bartlesville, which offers several music showcases free. As part of the Children of ALL Ages Series, Jenny Parrott, self-described as a child at heart, has prepared material just for kids to be debuted during this performance, geared to get kids to join in and dance. More free showcase events at okmozart.com.

June 10 // Find out what it takes to be a champion at the Pinto World Championship Horse Show at Expo Square, the largest gathering of pinto horses anywhere, June 9-21.

June 11 // Watch Oklahoma history come alive as local actors and professors don the clothing, personalities, and memories of the Oklahomans you haven’t heard from since history class at Oklahoma Chautauqua, held this year at Tulsa Community College Southeast Campus. Full schedule and list of actors at okchautauqua.org.

June 12 // Visit the final resting place of the man who put Cain’s Ballroom on the map, The King of Western Swing, Bob Wills. His headstone, located at Memorial Park Cemetery at 51st and Memorial, is inscribed “Deep Within My Heart Lies a Melody,” the first line of his signature hit, “San Antonio Rose.”

June 13 // Go rock hunting at the Elsing Museum on the campus of Oral Roberts University, at 81st and Lewis, said to be the largest exhibit of priceless minerals and natural crystal formations in the area. Don’t miss the four-foot ship carved of jade.

June 14 // Head to either campus of Philbrook Museum of Art for its Second Saturday event, when grown-ups get what museum goers under the age of 18 get every day – free admission.

June 15 // Dad gets in free at Oklahoma Aquarium (Happy Father’s Day!)

June 16 // Meet New York Times bestselling author of “Robopocalypse” and “How to Survive a Robot Uprising” Daniel H. Wilson (he’s a Tulsa native, by the way) at, where else, the Hardesty Fab Lab Tulsa. He’ll be there at 7 p.m. to talk about his new book, “Robogenesis.” Via Booksmart Tulsa.

June 17 // Earlier this year Tulsa City-County Library expanded its Freegal Music service. Now, library card holders – it’s free to get a card, and anyone who lives, works, or goes to school in Tulsa county is eligible to apply – can download five free songs, in high-quality, DRM-free, MP3 format, from dozens of genres and more than 7 million songs from 10,000 music labels, including Sony Music Entertainment. Freegal Music is popular at TCCL – it saw nearly 150,000 downloads last year. The best part: Each song is yours and free forever. Go to tulsalibrary.org/music to get started.

June 18 // New issue of The Tulsa Voice! Read it to the Council Oak Tree, the burr oak that marks the “busk ground” chosen in 1836 by the Lochapoka clan of Creek Indians, who, as it’s said, deposited ashes from their last fires in Alabama before their removal to Oklahoma.

June 19 // The Henry Zarrow Center for Art and Education hosts a performance by TU student musicians the third Thursday of every month in the Sherman Smith Family Gallery as part of its free TU Jazz Happy Hour event. Guests can peruse Zarrow Center exhibits while students perform under the direction of TU School of Music Director Vernon Howard. 5-8 p.m.

June 20 // Road trip idea: Over 390 animal and 806 plant species call the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge home. Near Lawton, the Refuge was established in 1901, making it the oldest wildlife facility operated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The area includes forests, open prairies, and mountainous rocky outcroppings.

June 21 // According to Tulsa Library, one in six adults can’t read the prescription label on a medicine bottle, fill out an application, or understand the newspaper you’re reading now. Ruth G. Hardman Adult Literacy Services promotes adult and young-adult literacy in Tulsa, and it doesn’t cost a dime to become a tutor. June group training sessions start today 2901 S. Harvard, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and finish July 19. Learn more at tulsalibrary.org.