On a second Friday in July 2024, LIVE! on the Plaza spread along NW 16th Street. Bison Rocks played near Bad Granny's Bazaar. ARKANNA ran a DJ set by the Terra Stone building. The What I Do Concert Series started at 7 p.m. at Gatewood and 16th, and the local band showcase at Grand Royale didn't start until 9. The Mule held its Prairie Pink Night, and Empire Slice House sold a pie called "Midnight Cowboy" by the slice, according to OKC VeloCity's preview of that month's event.

That's the warm-weather version of the district's monthly block party: free, outdoors, 6 to 10 p.m., with a lineup built to run late. From November through January, the Plaza District Association moves it to second Sundays from noon to 4 p.m. That change puts the party in the middle of the afternoon, when the street's galleries, shops and brunch kitchens are already open. The winter editions are the ones where the storefronts on 16th carry the event.

The Winter Note On The Association's Calendar

The Plaza District Association's 2026 event calendar states the change plainly: LIVE! on the Plaza "goes back to 2nd Sundays from November 2026-January 2027 during winter months." The first winter edition was set for Sunday, Nov. 8, and the calendar says that event's marketing would center on "the return of 2nd Sunday LIVEs for the winter months."

The Sunday schedule has been used before. In March 2023, the Oklahoma Gazette reported that LIVE! had moved to second Sunday afternoons for that winter and returned to its regular second-Friday, 6-to-10 p.m. slot in March. The same article describes the spring lineup that followed, with an Earth Day LIVE! in April and Plaza Con in May.

The Friday version runs for four hours after most workdays end, and in the summer it lasts past dusk. The winter version also runs four hours, but it falls in the part of the day when a December afternoon is warmest and still light. The block party loses its late-night acts, and in exchange its window matches the hours that 16th Street's retailers keep on Sundays.

Noon To Four, Lined Up Against The Street's Sunday Hours

The table shows how the Sunday window overlaps with the businesses on 16th. Some hours come from each business's own website. Others are listed in the Plaza District Association's business directory, so check those before you head out.

The noon-to-4 window falls almost entirely within these hours. DNA Galleries opens an hour before the party starts and closes an hour after it ends. Dig It!'s directory hours of noon to 5 cover the whole event and an extra hour. Aurora's brunch service runs until 3, so a late breakfast and the first three hours of LIVE! happen at the same time. Grand Royale, which hosted the 9 p.m. showcase on that 2024 Friday, opens at 2 p.m. on Sundays according to its directory listing, about halfway through the winter party.

On a Friday night, the businesses that matter most are the ones still open at 9:30. On a Sunday afternoon, the gallery, the vintage shop and the ice cream counter set the pace, and the block party happens around them.

Bad Granny's Bazaar at 1759 NW 16th St. lists Tuesday-through-Saturday hours of noon to 6 p.m. in the directory and adds "occasional Sundays and late evenings." If it's on your list for December 13, check its own channels first.

December On 16th Street, In Date Order

Over the holidays, three events are scheduled on the street, and they fall on different days of the week. The Lyric run also includes one dated performance worth flagging.

1. Wednesday, Nov. 25, through Saturday, Dec. 26. Lyric's A Christmas Carol runs at Lyric at the Plaza, the theater at 1725 NW 16th St. Lyric lists the show as family friendly, with a runtime of about two hours including one 15-minute intermission.
2. Saturday, Nov. 28, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Shop Small Saturday. On its calendar, the Association describes it as a "heavy focus on small business foot traffic for holiday season."
3. Saturday, Dec. 5, 7:30 p.m. The ASL-interpreted performance of A Christmas Carol, part of the Lyric run in item 1.
4. Sunday, Dec. 13, noon to 4 p.m. LIVE! on the Plaza. The district's event calendar bills it as a chance to "celebrate the holiday season with us in the Plaza District." Lyric's cast schedule also lists A Christmas Carol on Dec. 13, with the Holly Youth Cast.

The Lyric run has two youth casts. Holly performs Nov. 25 and 28 and Dec. 2, 5, 6, 10, 11, 13, 15, 16, 19, 21, 22 and 24. Ivy performs Nov. 27 and 29 and Dec. 1, 3, 4, 9, 12, 17, 18, 20, 23 and 26. If you're planning around a child in the cast or a particular performance, check the cast calendar before you buy tickets. Lyric's box office at 1725 NW 16th St. is open Monday through Friday, noon to 5 p.m., and the phone number is (405) 524-9312.

Those two weekends follow the same pattern. Shop Small Saturday runs 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and the December LIVE! runs noon to 4 p.m. Both are daytime events built around foot traffic past storefronts, and both line up with the Sunday-afternoon hours in the table above. During the holidays, the district schedules its biggest days for when the shops are open.

The Weekly Routine Around The Party

The Association's calendar also lists events that keep their usual evening slots. Tuesday Trivia is free and open to all ages, with sign-up at 7 p.m. and the first round at 7:30. It's scheduled for Nov. 24, two days before Thanksgiving. Open Stage Night is set for Thursday, Nov. 19, from 8 to 11 p.m., and is open to anyone who wants to perform. So the weeknights still have evening events, while the block party moves to Sunday afternoon.

A Café At Blackwelder That Will Keep Daytime Hours

At the east end of the district, a coffee shop with Gatewood roots is setting up at 1625 NW 16th St., Suite B, on the corner of NW 16th Street and N. Blackwelder Avenue. The Journal Record reported in September that Arnold's Cafe comes from Caleb and Bekah Spann, Enid natives who now live in Gatewood. They named it for Caleb's late grandfather Arnold, a farmer from Mooreland in northwestern Oklahoma. The menu will include espresso made with Plaid Rooster Coffee's "Highlander" roast, clementine cake and madeleines, and the café will have a patio.

"Bekah Spann said the couple wants the cafe to serve as a gathering place for the neighborhood," the Journal Record wrote.

According to that report, Arnold's will be open 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday. It will be closed Sundays. Those Saturday hours cover all of Shop Small Saturday on Nov. 28. Opening-date updates are posted at arnoldscafe.com and on Instagram at @arnoldscafeokc.

Second Sunday, Block By Block

If you live in Gatewood and walk over on Dec. 13, start at the west end of 16th. At the July 2024 LIVE!, the artist vendor market was set up on that end of the district. DNA Galleries at 1709 and RADBAR at 1715 are both open by 11 a.m. Lyric at the Plaza sits at 1725, and Dig It! is at 1739, open from noon according to the directory. Roxy's Ice Cream at 1732 and Aurora at 1734 are across the way. Farther east, The Mule at 1800 and Empire Slice House at 1804 are open long after the block party wraps at 4.

Kaci and Kylie spend much of their time at Kaiser + Drake Realty walking older central OKC streets like Gatewood's. Neighbors who know which corners are busy on a Sunday afternoon in December are often the first to spot what a house a few blocks off 16th has going for it. If you're starting to think about a place near the Plaza, or about what your own Gatewood home is worth this winter, we'd be glad to compare notes over coffee. Work with Us.