More than 475 vendors will pack two buildings at OKC Fair Park from October 23 through October 25, 2026, when Braum's Affair of the Heart returns for its three-day run of home décor, handcrafted gifts, boutique clothing, gourmet foods, jewelry, and seasonal décor. Children 12 and under get in free, and every standard adult ticket comes with a bonus: a complimentary re-entry pass.
The show has been running for more than 40 years, according to KOSU, and its roots trace back even further than that milestone suggests. An Affair of the Heart was founded in Oklahoma City in 1985 when eight local craft store owners, including Lois Rogers and Eleanor Blakeman, pooled just $800 to launch a small show with 60 vendor booths that drew 800 attendees, according to the Edmond Outlook. The show expanded to Tulsa in 1995 and eventually grew into a five-event annual circuit across the state, with three shows in Oklahoma City and two in Tulsa, the outlet reports.
Oklahoma-based ice cream and dairy chain Braum's, which operates more than 300 stores across the state and neighboring regions, became the event's presenting title sponsor in 2019, according to the Edmond Outlook's reporting. The show's reputation extends well beyond Oklahoma's borders: the Edmond Outlook reported that Sunshine Artist magazine's subscriber survey ranked An Affair of the Heart 15th among 200 craft shows in 2015.
A Business Shakeup Behind the Scenes
Big changes hit the event's ownership structure last year. In April 2025, national trade show producer Marketplace Events acquired all five annual Braum's Affair of the Heart shows across Oklahoma City and Tulsa from the event's original founders, Affair of the Heart Inc. Marketplace Events also runs the OKC Home + Garden Show and the OKC Home + Outdoor Living Show, and the acquisition brought corporate scale to an event still built on decades of grassroots vendor relationships.
Collectively, the five shows across the state draw roughly 1,500 exhibitors and more than 75,000 attendees each year, with vendors from Oklahoma and surrounding states taking part, per the Edmond Outlook's coverage of the acquisition. That kind of turnout requires serious square footage, which is why the fall show sprawls beyond its usual footprint at OKC Fair Park, located at 3101 Gordon Cooper Blvd.
Filling Three Buildings at the Fairgrounds
For the October run, Braum's Affair of the Heart uses the Bennett Event Center and the Centennial Building, according to KOSU. The Bennett Event Center, which opened in 2017, offers 201,000 square feet of contiguous indoor exhibit space and was built as part of broader modernization efforts at the OKC Fairgrounds, per the Sports Planning Guide.
The show runs Friday and Saturday, October 23 and 24, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and wraps up Sunday, October 25, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., KOSU reports. Free parking is included, and Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus are scheduled to make special appearances throughout the weekend, giving the fall edition an early holiday-shopping feel even before Halloween arrives.
Ticket Deals and Community Discounts
Standard adult admission runs $13, and groups of 20 or more can secure a discounted online rate of $10 per person, according to KOSU's event listing. Sunday brings its own perk for local educators: Teacher Day, sponsored by Christensen Media Group, gives teachers and school personnel 50% off one admission with a valid school ID, a recurring feature of the fall Oklahoma City show according to the event's attendee information page.
Shoppers looking to stretch their budget further have another option circulated in past promotional campaigns for the show: spending $25 on eligible items at Braum's Fresh Market locations and submitting the receipt has been used to secure free admission tickets, according to a post on the event's Facebook page. Combined with free re-entry passes and no-cost admission for children 12 and under, the promotions reflect an event still leaning on the kind of grocery-aisle familiarity that helped it grow from a handful of craft booths into one of the state's largest annual shopping traditions. Anyone with questions ahead of the October dates can reach organizers at (904) 622-9140 or through the event's website.
