Small Town Henryetta Packed with Thousands for Troy Aikman’s Music Festival

Henryetta, Okla. (KTUL) — Thousands braved the heat for a good cause in Henryetta on Saturday.

Legendary quarterback Troy Aikman kicked off a day long music festival to bring a lot of attention to his hometown.

“I’d like to welcome everyone to the 2022 Highway to Henryetta Music Festival! Stay hydrated, have a wonderful time, and it is now officially kicked off. Enjoy yourselves all day long. Thank you for coming,” said Aikman while addressing the crowd.

The cowboys legend and pro football hall of famer brought fans to his hometown of Henryetta, which was hit hard by the pandemic.

“In all honesty, I wish our town had a role model to do the same thing, because all small towns took a big hit,” said Jay Tucker, who drove seven hours from Mississippi to see Blake Shelton perform.

The event is raising much needed school funding for the Henryetta School District.

“It’s very surreal and very thankful, to Troy Aikman, Blake Shelton, AT&T, Cricket, Choctaw Casino,” said Henryetta Mayor Jennifer Munholland. “There’s just so many people that stepped up and said ‘let us be apart of that too,’ which they have no idea the impact and neither do we of what it’s actually going to be for our community because we don’t even know. We’ve never had anything like this.”

On Friday, Aikman handed out hundreds of laptops at Henryetta High School.

“You know. We’re giving away the computers, we’re raising a lot of money for programs here at the high school along with the athletic programs and all of that is good, but probably at the top of the list, what I’m most proud of is that this event is really giving this town a shot in the arm,” said Aikman. “It’s a chance for the people to be proud of this town.”

Organizers of the festival are deciding if this will become an annual event.