Saturday, September 28, 2024
LAKE WORTH — The 12th Annual Bullfrog West Fest is coming up Oct. 5 with family-fun activities like bull riding, mutton bustin,’ food trucks and more.
The Bullfrog West Fest was created 12 years ago by the Northwest Tarrant Lions Club. The Lions Club is a nonprofit organization that helps meet the needs of its local communities. Its main mission is to help blind and visually impaired individuals but it has extended its hand into other charities like aiding seniors plus the disabled community.
Lions Clubs International was founded in 1917 by Melvin Jones, a Chicago businessman, to be a service club. Some past prominent members of the Lions Clubs have been Helen Keller and President Jimmy Carter.
This is the third year the Bullfrog West Fest will be held at the Northwest Campus of Tarrant County College. The festival has been featured at several locations over the years. The first few years it was held at Lake Worth Park; then the event moved to White Settlement and now to TCC.
Renee Kolar is a member of the Northwest Tarrant Lions Club and is its fundraising queen. She has been running Bullfrog West Fest since the beginning. Kolar admits the first time the club put on the festival, she was inexperienced.
“I had no idea what I was doing,” Kolar said. “Our very first year, we did fairly well. I think we had about 30 vendors. We had vendors like Pampered Chef and Avon. Although we didn’t have a very large attendance, we had a lot of volunteers.”
Over the years, Kolar says the festival has gotten bigger, eventually growing to 50 or 60 vendors. Kolar always wants a variety of businesses and food trucks, but there are a few exceptions.
“I try to have a mix of all of that,” Kolar said. “We try not to duplicate too much, Although I will say last year, for the first time, we had three barbeque people. And I put one at each end of the event area. And it actually worked out well and they all made money.”
Some of the vendors that will be at this year's fest will be 199 Winery, Boyd Boys BBQ, Kona Ice and What to Fry food truck.
The Bullfrog West Fest’s foundation is family-friendly fun for people of all ages. Kolar said the kids’ favorite activity has been the mutton bustin.’ The person behind the mutton bustin’ is none other than Kelly Clark from Chute 2 productions.
Kelly Clark is a second-generation cowboy who followed in his father’s footsteps and had a very successful career in rodeo and bull riding. Clark also has been a successful rodeo clown. Clark retired from bull riding 18 years ago but still wanted to be around it, which led him to start Chute 2 Productions.
Chute 2 Productions has been around for 15 years and this will be its 12th year at the Bullfrog West Fest. Clark said Chute 2 Productions has been performing at the Bullfrog festival since the beginning. It all started when Kolar approached Clark after watching his show in Haslett and said, “We got to have this.”
Performing in festivals across the D-FW metroplex, Chute 2 Productions hosts a family-oriented show that includes an hour-long-plus performance of bull riding, mutton bustin' and musical talent in an arena with 1,500 seats in aluminum bleachers and offers VIP. seating. Chute 2 Productions also likes to incorporate the audience into the show with a calf scramble.
When asked how the first Bullfrog West Fest went for Chute 2 Productions, Clark admitted it didn’t go so well, but eventually it came around.
“For the first year and second year, we were early in our development of what we do and so we just thought just set up the event and the festival happens, but it has to grow,” Clark said. “We set it up and the first year there, I lost $24,000. The second year, it came around and did it again. The third year, it hit really big.”
Spreading the word about an event like this is no easy task. Kolar said planners will start promoting the event weeks in advance with giant banners.
“We bought 12 banners and our banners are 10 feet long,” Kolar said. “So, our banners tend to bring a lot of attention around the area.”
Kolar says each year, the event keeps growing and the goal is to provide an event people look forward to.
“But really what we want to do is provide a good, safe, family-oriented event that people can come out and enjoy and look forward to every year,” Kolar said. “It's really great to see the same families come back year after year and support the event.”
Tickets are $15 for adults, $5 for kids age 12 and under and free for kids age 3 and under. Bullfrog West Fest will be held from 3-9 p.m. Oct. 5.
For information about vendor booths and sponsorship opportunities, contact Renee Kolar at 817-237-9755 or realestate@reneekolar.com.
